Featured 2018 Speed Triple Rs – Ownership Thread

Right then, here's what you want to know...but you need some details first, to get things into perspective.

It was a 130 mile trip and we took a very mixed route, avoiding motorways in favour of fast A roads, with a mix of country lanes and some stretches of the A1 and A14 too.

By the time I got there, I was wondering why I was bothering, because there's just nothing wrong with my RS. There were no flat spots, she runs smooth and strong...but I still had that nagging 'I'm sure there's some missing torque at lower revs' feeling.

Jeff at Hilltop (who I think might be related to Harry Potter) gives a detailed explanation of what he does, why he does it, and how it all works. He ran the RS on the dyno and said that she was running surprisingly smooth with no issues, other than being on the leanish side of lean.

It takes about 30 minutes for the firmware to upload and then comes the second run. She sounded smoother...kind of sweeter.

Jeff didn't show me the dyno graph and sent me for a short test ride...and the low-end punch is definitely back (which is a relief, because it means I haven't been imagining it).

Then we looked at the graph. There's no more power and there's no more torque...pretty much exactly as it was before. But, boy does it deliver it earlier

The 130 mile ride home was spectacular - a super-smooth and linear power delivery, from very low revs (hard 4th gear acceleration from 60mph feels like its party trick).

Here's the graph - the printer 'shat the bed' (Jeff's words) and chopped the end off. No matter...the important bit happens between 2,000 and 6,000 rpm...



PS. Baffle was in and has stayed in.

 

The MT-10 gained a little overall and really smoothed out in terms of how it runs - it was quite lumpy at lower revs and didn't pull away smoothly. It has a de-cat system though, and I guess it needed more attention.

I've got to say, that the free flowing, no cat, no baffle, MT-10 sounds utterly glorious - see if this sound clip works (recorded from OUTSIDE the 6 inch thick sound-proofed bay door).




(the red/blue colour coding is reversed in comparison to my chart...the MT-10 didn't get worse )

 

It's worth remembering that Jeff says that I'd have seen a better result if I'd left the original Arrow system in place. I'd love to see the dyno result for a standard RS

The interesting thing about the Hilltop solution, is that I can re-fit my Arrows (which I'm not planning on doing), or remove the baffle, and the firmware will adjust the fuelling automatically.

I've no idea which countries are covered, but Jeff supplies re-sellers with a remote device, so he can apply the firmware to a bike anywhere in the world. Something to look into maybe

 

No adjustments are made at all, so the postal service is effectively the same thing...that said, it looks like a pain in the bum to drop the ECU out from under the seat and I'd be somewhat uncomfortable in sending it in the post. You obviously wouldn't get a before and after report, or any diagnosis or detection of any issues. A bit of an empty experience I'd say

It isn't a 'map' - if I've got this right (doing my best here), it uses the existing O2 sensors to measure the exhaust gas temperature, and his firmware (which sits on unused space on the ECU's processor) reads the inputs and hijacks the outputs to make the fuel adjustments...which I think explains why you can mess with the hardware set up and it adapts to what it finds.

Nothing changes with your rain, road, sport modes etc (other than he said that rain mode would be more punchy, so take care).

Also, it can't be overwritten, because the firmware sits on a separate partition, in an area that Triumph won't be able to access. So Triumph updates aren't a problem.

 

It sounds like that would work perfectly Bryan...but personally, I'd prefer to visit - see my previous post

 

Here's my RS sound clip (baffle in) and here's the MT-10 sound clip (baffle out). Both recorded from outside the closed dyno cubicle, which has a six inch thick sound-proofed door.

The runs are made in sixth gear with the intention of exposing the weakest performing areas. They are very careful with their approach to the before and after reading, even making sure that the same person performs both tests (because more weight on the bike, increases traction with the roller and generates more power).

 

Jeff explained what the O2 sensor is for, but said that they exploit its ability to measure heat. I can only repeat what I think he said

 

It wasn't nice heading out - a cold 6º with foggy mizzle for the first 90 mins, but later it dried out, the sun came out, and it was 17º on the way back.

We took an A-road route via Harlow, Bishops Stortford, Buntingford, Baldock (A507 is the most exciting road in the area), St. Neots, Kettering, Lutterworth and Hinkley, only hitting the A1 and A14 for very short sections.

Coming via Chelmsford, you'd need another 45 mins I'd guess. It took us 3:45 with two leisurely petrol stops (that MT-10 just loves petrol...35mpg to my 53mpg).

My son scoffed at my heated gloves, but I'm not the one that had to use the hand dryer in the petrol station toilet to warm up.

Really nice ride...and even better on the way back

 

They do remote updates as I described earlier - perhaps email them and ask if there are 'remote dealers' in your area?

http://www.hilltopmotorcycles.co.uk

From what I understand, he supplies the dealer with a bit of hardware that attaches to your OBD port. They do the physical dyno stuff at your end and Hilltop connect remotely and run the updates. At least I think that's how it works.

I'm just not sure how many locations are available, other than he was doing one in Australia when I last called him (agreed that's a big area and possibly not convenient for you ).