XTR said:
One of the things he pointed out was that with a PCIII you can go in and see what it's recorded while you were riding and diagnose some performance issues/points with out having to put the bike on the dyno. How useful is that, can you dp the same thing with TB?
I have used several Power Commanders. I don't know how useful the PCIII can be for diagnosing anything. Look at the installation documents. The unit is a piggy back emulator. It is wired in to the harness, and reads throttle position and rpm, but disconnects the oxygen sensor and alters the ECU fuel curves by giving the ECU a false sensor signal, and changing the outputs the ECU sends to the injectors. The ECU can never work in closed loop with the oxygen sensor while the PCIII is on the bike.
With a Power Comander, you can add fuel, but not take it away at a specific rpm/throttle position in all cylinders. You cannot alter ignition timing. You cannot alter rev limit. You cannot alter start up and idle rpm. You cannot check the sensors.
Tuneboy/TuneEdit allows a tuner to actually alter the tables in the ECU and diagnose sensor inputs and faults. Because you actually have access to the ECU, you can alter just about anything it controls, including the fuel curves in each cylinder, and ignition timing. Comparing the abilities of each one directly is not even close, the TuneBoy software offers so much more than a PCII ever can. EVERY time I show someone the abilities of the TuneEdit and TuneBoy software that knows anything about tuning bikes, they are jealous that TuneBoy is not available for their bike.
A PCIII is cheaper than the TuneBoy cable. And almost all cycle Dynojet owners will tune a bike using one. You will pay extra for the dyno tuning. Many shops refuse to use anything else, or let you do your own tuning. For many guys the PCIII is a good option, or their only one.
If you have access to a TuneBoy cable, A TuneEdit tuning key for your bike is cheaper than a PCIII, and there are lots of good maps/tunes available for it (more all the time) that will get your bike very close without the need for a trip to the dyno - although tuning your specific bike and modifications will make things even better.
Find a few guys that have tuned (or had tuned) Triumph Speed Triples using the PCIII and talk to them about their experiences. Read a few of the threads on this site about the results of guys that have simply downloaded a tune and installed it in their bike using TuneEdit, or have done specific tuning with TuneEdit. Read the information on each site. And decide which works best for your needs.