[KTMasean]

A sad experience with ordering motorcycle parts from Europe into Thailand.
So far I had always followed the advice most foreign biking groups in Thailand give:
DON'T HAVE IT SENT BY THE EXPRESS SERVICES (DHL/EMS etc.) AND ADDRESS IT TO A THAI PERSON.
Ordering a Rapid Bike EVO from the factory in Italy, I asked them to send it by regular mail which they refused as these do not offer to track and are not insured, I asked them to make an invoice saying 'test unit, no commercial value' which they say they can't due to Company regulations.
The service went really smooth, dispatched April 2nd, late afternoon, arrived in Bangkok early hours of April 4th.
It Will be send to my forwarder in Nong Kai to transport into Vientiane, Lao PDR after the Thai import tax of THB 5,407.08/Euro 149.52/US$ 175.95 is paid.
Not a happy camper atm and the charges to get the RBEVO into Laos are not even on here.
To be continued . . . . . .

 

[Ede]

Yes, that happens. And to be fair not only in Thailand.
Normally I also try to follow the rule to use "normal" mail and no courier. I use my (foreign for Thais) name and with normal mail I never had to pay.

Recently I received a package from the electronic company Mouser from the USA - ordered on their Thai website. I made sure I order enough to get free shipping from Mouser. It was shipped with DHL.
On arrival in Thailand I had to pay tax and duty on the parts and shipping. The Thai customs estimated that my "free" shipping was valued more than the parts. Summary: I ended paying additional 60% of the amount which I ordered for tax and duty.
And it seem it is internationally accepted that tax and duty is always paid also on the real or estimated shipping cost.

Two weeks later I ordered a part from a HK company who only wanted to ship with the courier company. I asked them to ship it with normal mail and they refused. I ordered anyhow and asked them again to ship with normal mail. They did, including tracking. And this time no tax and duty.

In my limited experience DHL is the worst in Thailand. Tax and duty payment plus their fees is guaranteed.

 

[KTMasean]

The piggyback has arrived in Vientiane without any further headaches so I hope it will be put on the bus down south today and I can start installing the unit over the weekend.
Also ordered a can of carburettor/injector cleaner, Würth, to see if cleaning my 2012 Duke 200 injector is contaminated.
I do occasionally need to buy a bottle of fuel of unknown quality when off-road in remote villages.
No known defects but merely as a precaution.
A question to the EVO owners/researchers out here:
Has anyone found anything about doing the 15 minutes (first-gen) reset procedure before/after or not at all when installing the RB EVO?
I did email Dimsport but I think they are closed for Eastern.

 

[varroa]

Has anyone found anything about doing the 15 minutes (first-gen) reset procedure before/after or not at all when installing the RB EVO?
I did email Dimsport but I think they are closed for Eastern.

I definitely didn't notice any difference before and after 10 minutes (second gen) reset. I perceived a smoothness, but it might as well have been just the weather that day =)

 

[DukeofSeven]

Hey KTMasean, just curious...
I know you said this thread was about taxes, originally, but
what made you switch to an RB EVO?

 

[KTMasean]

He Do7,

The reason is not so much as 'switching' although I am replacing the PT for a Rapid Bike EVO now.
On my 390 I do still run the PT and I have been very happy with the PT on both bikes.

On my most recent journey up to Northern Laos though, roughly one hour into the trip, the PT just died on me.
On the roadside I disconnected all plugs from the harness (which is somewhat of a crap job), reconnected back to the original connections and off I went for another 2,900 km.
Upon return I contacted PT (India) and they were very responsive, getting in contact with me over Whatsapp and diagnosed my PT unit confirming it is dead.

As I have been hearing mostly good things about the RB and because there was only a marginal discount given by PT if I would order a new one, I thought it a good idea to try something else.
Although the PT also manages the ignition and the RB Race is not available for the Duke 200 I figured to try it out.

I also have been a big fan of most Italian motorsport power upgrades ever since my racing days with Lancia cars so I do think this unit will work fine.
Also have I been looking into the new Dellorto ECU's but for now these are only for race track use, still I will be monitoring this closely (ran 2 double Dellorto 38mm carbs on my little Fulvia Sport Zagato 1.2)

The RB unit has arrived in Vientiane and will be send to me in the south today by bus so I'll be installing this over our Lao New Year, 13 to 15 of April.

I might do a video on the first-gen install of the Rabid Bike EVO and post my findings here lateron.

Hey KTMasean, just curious...
I know you said this thread was about taxes, originally, but
what made you switch to an RB EVO?

 

[KTMasean]

Did you do the re-set procedure before or after the install of the Rapid Bike EVO verroa?

I definitely didn't notice any difference before and after 10 minutes (second gen) reset. I perceived a smoothness, but it might as well have been just the weather that day =)

 

[varroa]

Did you do the re-set procedure before or after the install of the Rapid Bike EVO verroa?

Much, much after. I installed RBE in Texas, and did the reset sometime after moving to California.

 

[KTMasean]

So not required from Dimsport Rabid Bike EVO then.

Much, much after. I installed RBE in Texas, and did the reset sometime after moving to California.

 

[Mirius]

So not required from Dimsport Rabid Bike EVO then.

Is it required by PowerTRONIC? I’m curious as to whether a mapped unit might be better with the stock map as opposed to a self learning unit that will be adjusting anyway.

 

[KTMasean]

When getting the PT's I had not considered this (so did not ask either) BUT I did a (first-Gen) 15 minutes procedure prior to installing the PT on the 200, not so though on my 390.
As the PT does not have the self-learning capability as the EVO claims to have I thought it not that important.
With the EVO though if both ECU's are going to adjust all sorts of things independently I am not sure if this is a good thing?
As with problem diagnostics you always want to do 1 thing at a time in order to keep track of changes and knowing what made them.

Hot hot hot of the press, as I am writing this I received an email from Dimsport Italy stating it unnecessary to run the procedure.
Probably the RB EVO will now start adjusting to the already optimised mapping of the OEM ECU to the conditions I ride in.
As I understand the RB EVO will need some 200 km to get to its optimum performance.
We will have our New Year in Laos starting tomorrow and I have closed our lodge until April 17th so plenty of time to rattle those tools.
On April 19th I will head back up north some 750kms to my oil/filter change location in Vientiane and then further to Luang Prabang and the surrounding mountains.
Good time to test the RB EVO

Is it required by PowerTRONIC? I’m curious as to whether a mapped unit might be better with the stock map as opposed to a self learning unit that will be adjusting anyway.

 

[KTMasean]

Unboxed the RBEVO today, first cleaned the injector with Würth carb cleaner and the injector connector from the PT harness, placed a fresh NGK Laser-Iridium plug (so much easier when the tank is off) and started laying out the RB harness.
Comparing the PT harness to the RB one, I must say that the PT wins hands down.
Routing the RB harness is a bit of a puzzle and that took me a fair amount of time.
In the instructions (I'm addressing a first-Gen) it states that the O2 connectors are behind the left-hand fairing which in my case is not so as these sit all the way at the front next to the crank position sensor connectors.
The wires to connect the latter are about 20 cm too long (I routed the whole harness along the right-hand side) but the O2 harness wires can barely reach the OEM ones.
The TPS connection is indeed a bit amateur like and this is also far better on the PT harness which comes with all the connectors and no loose wires except the earth/negative.
The PT harness is a sort of mesh stocking that tightly holds all the wires together while the RB is a flexible but oversized tube that is not sealed off to the elements on either side.
The bunch of accessory plugs is another disadvantage on the RB loom. (PT only comes with the accessory QS wire and the map switch plugs).
What I do not know is will the bike run without the RBEVO unit connected (in OEM mode or not)?
With the PT you get a dongle you can plugin in case the unit fails (as long as you carry that with you) which brings the situation back to default.
I have now installed the harness and tomorrow will work away all wiring from heat sources and other possible hazards as well as keeping the spark plug accessible.
Then it is time to put everything back together again and test it all.
I am in no hurry atm as we are celebrating the Buddhist New Year that comes with everyone drenching each other with water so being on the bike is especially hazardous with being through a bucket of water (often with ice cubes) from the roadside . . . . . . to be continued.

 

[Mirius]

RB have a dongle that replaces the Evo unit to revert to stock.

 

[KTMasean]

Interesting, I haven't seen any in their documentation nor did it come with the unit?
Is this an optional extra part Marius?

On the plus side (I forgot to mention) the RBEVO accessories come with an OBD plug the PT does not have for the ones wanting to monitor the engine's parameters/performance.
I need to look into this as I'm intrigued but have no clue.

RB have a dongle that replaces the Evo unit to revert to stock.

 

[varroa]

RB have a dongle that replaces the Evo unit to revert to stock.

Yep, and it costs a pretty penny. I think about $100 or so, but don't quote me on that.

@KTMasean , all the differences you noted weren't true for me, so I'm not sure what went wrong there. All of my wires were just the right length; the wire loom was covered by a mesh tube until around where it goes inside the frame, if I recall correctly. I didn't have any accessories for an OBD plug, either.

Did you take any pictures of the two harnesses?

 

[Mirius]

Interesting, I haven't seen any in their documentation nor did it come with the unit?
Is this an optional extra part Marius?

On the plus side (I forgot to mention) the RBEVO accessories come with an OBD plug the PT does not have for the ones wanting to monitor the engine's parameters/performance.
I need to look into this as I'm intrigued but have no clue.

Optional part. 50 Euro 35 GBP. No guess how much it would be for you!

Bypass Adapter

Bypass Adapter

www.dimsport.it

 

[KTMasean]

Thanks verroa,

I did take a pick of both.
As you can see here the first four connectors (from the unit) are optional extra connectors of which 1 is the OBD.
Also visible is the length difference from the green (O2) connectors to the crank position connectors.

Yep, and it costs a pretty penny. I think about $100 or so, but don't quote me on that.

@KTMasean , all the differences you noted weren't true for me, so I'm not sure what went wrong there. All of my wires were just the right length; the wire loom was covered by a mesh tube until around where it goes inside the frame, if I recall correctly. I didn't have any accessories for an OBD plug, either.

Did you take any pictures of the two harnesses?

 

[KTMasean]

Thanks, Marius,

For the link to this dongle.
This basically makes the PT even Euro 50 or 35 GBP cheaper as they include this.

Optional part. 50 Euro 35 GBP. No guess how much it would be for you!

Bypass Adapter

Bypass Adapter

www.dimsport.it

 

[KTMasean]

Finished the install.
Managed to work away (out of the way) the additional loom, connected the unit, turned the switch and after a longer than usual fuel pump prime the bike started right away.
Had her run until the fan came on at 94 Celsius and switched her off after the fan took the temperature down again to 85 Celcius.
Will take her out to the roads tomorrow to do a riding test.
When all was off the bike I unplugged the coolant temperature probe, measured this (and the connecting wires, sprayed the connectors with WD40 and let it evaporate (goes fast in 36C).
Re-connecter the plug and to my surprise (even though the resistance of the probe was okay and the wires seemed okay as well) my temperature indicator on the dash works fine now for the first time since Dec. 2015.
All in all a happy camper so far