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My booster plug experience

36K views 50 replies 22 participants last post by  Bobber Fett 
#1 ·
I have a 2018 with x pipe, V&H, and stock airbox with modified filters. The V&H map was installed by the dealer. I have always thought my bike has run fine and was a booster gadget skeptic for sure.

This past week I was caught in town traffic where I had a lot of 2nd gear creeping from light to light. I realized how hard the bike was to ride smoothly at this low speed. It was also evident in low speed roundabouts. It took a lot of clutch work to keep the bike from surging and jerking at the low speed steady throttle times. The bike loves to be fed throttle but doesn’t like low speed lugging. After once again being caught in a long line of traffic due to road construction, I decided to try and make this thing better.

I read the reviews of the booster plug and the theory behind it. For the money, I decided it was worth a try and if it didn’t work, I would never tell anyone I bought it. :wink2: It took only a few minutes to install. I didn’t cut and lengthen the sensor cable and I will not do so. The bike seems to be smoother at the lower rpms and sounds better to me on deceleration. I went though the same roundabouts where it jerked and chugged before, and now it was smooth. It does much better at low speed low throttle input.

I don’t feel like this is a performance item and really don’t feel any difference in power although I certainly didn’t lose any. It just seems to run better at low rpm and that’s what I was after.
 
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#4 ·
I never recognized extensive surging, jerking or e popping on my Bobber (late 2017 EU version). Airbox and exhaust are stock, no X-pipe installed. When the dealer did the 1000km service, they updated the mapping and calibrated the throttle bodies. After that, the bike ran even smoother than before!

The bike runs like a charm even on constant speed with lowest revs!

As far as I know, Triumph provides different mappings for the US and Far East versions of the bike and also different for the V&H pipes first of all in order to match the different quality (octane numbers) of the available fuel! Maybe you guys have other mappings than me?

Cause the ECU is adaptive and thereby adjusts the air to fuel ratio according to the measurements of the O2 sensors, I guess the surging, jerking and popping is not assigned to the air to fuel ratio, which you might like to trick with the Booster Plug! My advice: Update the mapping and calibrate the throttle bodies!

Werner Wernersen0:)
 
#5 ·
My bike does have the mapping for my region, V&H exhaust, and 91 octane. I also had the throttle bodies synced a few weeks ago.

I was skeptic that the booster plug would do anything, but I can certainly say that it makes my bike run better at low speeds such as driveways, traffic, and slow speeds/low revs in town.

By theory, I guess the booster plug is making it a tad richer. Maybe that is just what it needed.
 
#6 ·
Surely if it was running richer, more unburnt fuel would result in more pops and bangs on the over run not less as I think has been mentioned?

In any case I think the issues being experienced would be better resolved via some mapping on the dyno. Dumping extra fuel in isn’t a great idea without it being mapped in precisely and can/will cause issues with the plugs and other areas of the engine.

Are the ecu’s fully programmable does anyone know?
 
#7 ·
Mike, if you read in full my link to the booster plug site including the pdf download of the full report, you would have read the BP cuts out after a short time as rpm is increased and the stock ecu takes over as normal. The fuel enrichment is only at low rpm so should not be a concern. I suspect (with good advice) that the issues here are due to strict emission regs.

To subject a new bike to a dyno is your option as a remapping does not cure most of the low rpm issues.

I have read but have no experience that the ecu's are programmable but not by the end user.
 
#8 ·
I’m curious to learn if it’s a case of the dealers are limited to simply reflashing the ecu with a generic map based on specific upgrades or if it’s possible fully control all aspects of mapping. If it is the latter then removing the issues being experienced by some at lower rpm would be very easy to remove via simple air fuel ratio correction.
 
#10 ·
It would be a foolish business practice to allow dealer techs the ability to custom map A/F ratios giving them the ability to entirely screw everything up while having to stand behind it under warranty.

They cannot custom map your bike.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I don’t doubt for a second that the tech’s at the average Triumph dealership aren’t able/capable of mapping the ecu. I’m pretty confident all they can do is upload a pre set map into the ecu.

But here’s a thought... do you really think Triumph will stand behind the warrenty if they find out someone has installed a booster plug? For that matter I’d question wether they would honour the warrenty in relation to any area of the bike that has failed and happens to half an non Triumph aftermarket part involved somewhere in that area!

Assuming someone had managed to unlock the ecu and tune it independently of Triumph, it would in reality be easy enough to return the ecu back to the factory setting. Like wise it would be easy to retro fit any Triumph part in the event of having return the bike back to Triumph for scrutiny. Short of having cracked the engine open to fit new cams etc! 0:)
 
#14 ·
I’m certainly not trying to get funny about it chaps so please don’t take it that way. I come from a background of motorsport tuning, and although be it in the car world the principles remain the same.

With the booster plug in place some people have reported less pops and bangs on the overrun as a result of the map running richer. But pops and bangs come from unburnt fuel so increasing the mixture would create if anything more pops and bangs?

Again because of the tuning I’ve been involved with other the years, I wouldn’t personally feel comfortable fitting anything that messes with mixtures/ratios without first reviewing the map to see exactly what it’s doing. I’ve just witnessed the consequences first hand of things running to rich and too lean.

It could well be that all of the R&D has been done with the booster plug and such answers are there already. So, “my point” is to simply ask the questions so that I can build my knowledge and understand :wink2:
 
#17 · (Edited)
Mike, you can argue this all you want, but the fact is that decel pop on a 4stroke is almost always caused by a lean condition in the pilot circuit. If it was a carbureted machine, the first step to get rid of it would be to step up (richer) the pilot circuit. Surely you would know this from your tuning experience. Personally, I have seen backfires come and go...and adjusted for them by swapping brass on race bikes as the outside temps changed. (No fuel injection to compensate like on our bikes)

An explanation of the science of what is going on:

1) When the throttle valve is in the idle position, fuel does not flow out of the main system (needle, needle jet, main jet). Fuel is only delivered to the engine by the pilot (idle) system.
2) The combined effect of the closed throttle and elevated engine rpm is to create a fairly strong vacuum in the intake manifold. This vacuum, in turn, causes a high air flow rate through the small gap formed by the throttle valve and carburetor throat.
3) Under these conditions the pilot (idle) system cannot deliver enough fuel to create a normal, combustible air/fuel ratio. The mixture becomes too lean to burn reliably in the combustion chamber. It gets sent into the exhaust system unburned and collects there.
4) When the odd firing of the lean mixture does occur, it is sent, still burning, into the exhaust system where it sometimes ignites the raw mixture that has collected ---- the exhaust then pops or backfires.


It should also be noted that an exhaust leak that is introducing fresh oxygen rich air to the system under vacuum can also have a tendency to produce or increase backfire.
 
#24 ·
I received my booster plug today, purchased as I do notice what appears to be underfuelling occasionally when pulling off, and a lots of overrun pops since fitting new pipes.
My question is, what website are you guys viewing in the Eu.
Their .com site gives an error.

I was looking for sensor position recommendations, and the instructions reference bike specific instructions on the .com site.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I have the pdf file, but we can only post up to 20kb and the file is 460kb. I'll try to copy/paste what I can.


Installation Tips
• Install the BoosterPlug module as per the general installation papers.
• The pictures below should help you locate the AIT sensor where the BoosterPlug is installed.
• Remove the left hand side cover to access to the AIT sensor in the left hand side of the air filter box.
• See the pictures below to locate the AIT sensor in the air filter box.
• You have several choices for the BoosterPlug sensor location, but our favorite place is near the steering head or under the head
light. Next to the airbox snorkel air intake hole is another very good spot.
• Just stick to the simple rules in the general installation instructions for placing the external sensor, and you’ll be fine.
Pictures
For:
• Triumph Bonneville Bobber


For some reason I can't get the pic of the plug to attach, but if you do a google image search for bobber boosterplug install you'll be able to scroll down to see pics with a red circle in them, which are the pics from the boosterplug pdf. There are 2 pics with a red circle in each.
 

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#29 ·
Curious if anyone has noticed burning more fuel with their plug? My Bobber seems to need filling up more often than what I see others say here. Not sure if it's just tendency to over-accelerate combined with liking to hear my sleeper pro pipes revving, or the booster plug, or some combination...
 
#32 ·
Hi all,


Fitted my Booster Plug this weekend (The Netherlands) and I’m very happy with it.
I took the Bobber Black out for a ride before I installed the BP to make a good comparison. I don’t know if it had something to do with the cold temperature but it sounded louder and more “raw” than before..
The installation itself was a 1 minute job, but it wasn’t easy to get the cable unplugged and plugged again; there’s so little space or my hands are too big.

Once plugged I did had the same RPM than without the plug, which surprised me.
But from the very 1st acceleration the difference was amazing! Much more smooth and it seemed to have much power. (which isn’t really true as the BP doesn’t do that but it really felt like it)
I didn’t bought it because it didn’t ran smooth but after I’ve experienced this I’m wondering if Triumph couldn’t make it at least a bit smoother.

I bought it because I don’t want to use the clutch or shift down at roundabouts anymore. For this the BP does the job very well.

At first I was a bit disappointed because I was looking for a louder sound but with the BP it seemed to be less. But after a while I noticed that it’s only the case when release the throttle. When pulling the throttle is just as loud as before but a slightly different sound.
 
#33 ·
I installed a Delkevic full exhaust system, took off the CAT completely, the bike gained noticeable power with the Delkevic BUT the power gain also introduced sensitive throttle at low speed, maneuver in the parking lot and other tight places became more challengeable, the bike jerks more than the stock configuration. A few days fast forward, which was yesterday, I installed the booster plug, took me about 2 hours, mainly tried to decide how to route the cable and temp sensor. I finally hide the connector behind and airbox, zip-tied cable alone the fuel line tucked under and fuel tank on the left side; this way I was able to tie the temp sensor just right in the front and under the fuel tank, where it could get fresh air for more accurate reading. The result is surprisingly good! No more jerking at all speed, the booster plug introduced even more power, I can feel the engine is more free-revving, deeper exhaust note, and a little bit louder as well. BTW, I have used similar products with my last bike, a 2016 Moto Guzzi V7II, that made a major difference as well. The booster plug does work! Happy riding guys.
 
#34 ·
Hi all.
I have 2017 UK bobber with x pipe and v and h pipes.
I also find it a bit jerky at low speed. Can kinda stop if with being very touchy feely with throttle but would like it smoothen out a bit. Been thinking of getting the booster plug for some time. Is it a vast improvement or is it one of those things you "think" feels better?
 
#35 ·
Hi all.
I have 2017 UK bobber with x pipe and v and h pipes.
I also find it a bit jerky at low speed. Can kinda stop if with being very touchy feely with throttle but would like it smoothen out a bit. Been thinking of getting the booster plug for some time. Is it a vast improvement or is it one of those things you "think" feels better?
You owe yourself to try it. It is not that expensive and reversible of you don't like it. But, I highly doubt you will regret it.
 
#38 ·
Having the same issue - jerky throttle response at 25 mph in 2nd gear. That's the speed limit on my local streets and I don't want to attract attention by going faster. Trident pipes, OEM Cat. What I did find was switching to rain mode at these low speeds helped smooth out the throttle response. I'll research this Boosterplug, thanks for the suggestion.
 
#40 ·
How are you enjoying the TFC bud , much of a performance step up in power and braking?
 
#47 ·
Squaredeals or TEC bike parts both stock them. I've used both companies over the months and never had an issue with either of them 👍
 
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