Hi everyone, RidgeRacer here…

Many of you are familiar with my work in the field of hacking motorcycle ECUs over the years. However most of you are probably not familiar with the work done by Don Guhl, owner of Guhl Motors. Don and I have been collaborating for several years now and he is probably the most experienced bike ECU tuner out there. With his Guhl Universal Tuning System (GUTS) he has been offering ECU tuning to the microSprint Racing Community since 2007.

We have decided to team up and he will be handling my ECU reflashing work from now on. This will allow me to spend more time doing what I do best, hacking ECUs, and less time running to the post office etc. In addition to Guhl Motors excellent track record serving the ECU flashing needs of the microsprint racing community their Pennsylvania location will reduce shipping costs and turn around time for those of you back east. (I’m about as far North West as you can be in the lower 48)

We can currently reflash many of the following models Denso ECU equipped models…

Kawasaki ZX-6, ZX-12
Suzuki Hayabusa, GSXR1000/750/600
Yamaha R6

Has some of you have read we recently added the Mitsubishi ECU equipped 2006/2007 ZX-14. This will soon be followed by the 2006/2007 ZX-10 and then the 2008/2009 ZX-14 and ZX-10.

What is "Flashing"?

The Engine Control Unit (ECU) that controls the fuel injection, ignition, etc. is essentially a self contained computer. Flashing or remapping is the process of reprogramming the computer's software to change the operating characteristics of the ECU to increase performance.

Why Flash?

One of the most compelling reasons to reflash an ECU is to give it capabilities that are not available any other way. For example raising the rev limiters or changing their operation from cutting fuel to cutting ignition.

Another reason is reflashing the ECU is the best way to overcome performance limiting problems because it is the way the factory intended the system to be modified. Take the top speed limiter for example. While there are other methods to 'fake out' the ECU such as shaving a corner off the speed sensor nut or using the speedo healer these solutions also have undesirable consequences. With ECU flashing you simply increase the speed limit the same way the factory did with out any negative effects on other things such as the speedometer or ram-air fuel calculations.

The TRE is another example. The average ECU makes 50 or more decisions or calculations based on what gear the bike is in. Faking the ECU into thinking it is always in one gear may have some desirable effects but there are also undesirable, unintended effects besides just disabling your gear position indicator. While the net effect may be beneficial imagine how much more beneficial it would be if you could simply select the good gear map changes and leave the others stock. On the GSXRs for example we program the ECU to use the less restrictive 5th / 6th gear ignition maps in all gears while leaving the other gear based functions, like the gear position indicator, remain unaffected.

Also it has been our experience with the GSXRs and ZX-6 that remapping the secondary throttles provides more power than simply removing them.

We have only very recently gained access to the ZX-14 so at this point we only offer extended rev and speed limits. As we gain more experience with the 14 we will add the features that are available now with the other bikes.

What about Fuel tuning?

It is possible to tune the fuel and ignition maps of the ECU on the dyno and obtain a higher performance tune than is possible with piggy back fuel devices such as the Power Commander or Bazzaz. Don does it every day at Guhl Motors. At this time however we are not making our tuning software available for sale to the general public. We do hope to have it available in the coming months once we feel confident we can protect our investment in time and money perfecting this technology from being bootlegged.


So how do I get my ECU flashed?

Contact us to verify that we can flash your specific year make model and discuss what you want done to it and payment options. Then you mail your ECU to Guhl Motors, we flash it to your specs and return it to you. We do not do exchanges or core charges. The ECU send will be the one you get back.

What does it cost?

We are offering an introductory discount price of

Denso ECU (All Suzukis, Kawi ZX-6) $275

Mitsubishi ECU (06/07 ZX-14) $375

What about shipping and turn around?

The price includes free return ground shipping with in the US mainland. Turn around is usually same business day.

What if I get my ECU flashed and then decide the settings need to be changed?

We will reflash an ECU we have previously flashed for a $30 fee plus shipping costs.


I’m sure there is something I forgot to cover feel free to contact us or post any specific questions you have. Also be sure to ask us if you have a specific performance issue you would like us to address. Chances are whatever it is we can address it.