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Defeating the X2/X4 51 MPH speed limiter

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80K views 38 replies 12 participants last post by  MassiveOverkill  
#1 · (Edited)
UPDATE 3: 2020 models (well at least the XTR) can now run 56 MPH via speedo.

UPDATE 2: Weller racing has cracked the ECU! https://www.facebook.com/wellerracingofficial/videos/346706952745365/

Note: This thread is over 7 months old. Yes, the speed limiter has been defeated/bypassed for this long. You're just hearing about this now? Maybe because you've been subscribing to the wrong forum and/or FB group who actively filter out this success story about being able to defeat the limiter whenever it's brought up. Timothy Ward specifically is responsible for this misinformation and I would take anything he has to say with a grain of salt. He is a large reason why there are 'vendor wars' as he perpetuates the hate and trolling some unfortunately like to feed on. He's not very mechanically inclined and has to rely on others to do mechanical chores\maintenance for him.

I don't own stock in SpeedoHealer and none of the supporting vendors carry this product (that I know of), so if you're wondering what's in it for me? It's lonely at the top and I'd like to see more X2/X4 members in the 60 MPH club. ;)

We already know that Yamaha in their infinite wisdom decided not to only rev limit the X2/X4, but to also speed limit it to 51 MPH (this may be 53 MPH for 2019 models). What's worse is that the Yamaha speedo is already 2 MPH slower than actual speed. You can verify this yourself by GPS. Going with larger tires will at best bring you up to an actual 51 MPH (27" tires makes the speedo accurate). UPDATE: According to my dealer, Yamaha re-calibrated the speedo for 2019 so the speedo is supposedly accurate. The speed limiter is still at 51, but at least on 2019 models, you're actually going 51.

We also already know that the current known strategy is a chip flash (a work in progress).

This thread is discuss the above as well as other possible solutions. There is speed sensor (blue connector) located right next to the gear oil dipstick under the passenger side seat

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UPDATE:

Well partial solution #1 to this problem and something relatively inexpensive is called Speedo Healer, made by Healtech which can be bought from Blue Monkey Motosports:

Healtech Electronics Speedohealer

You need to order the SH-H05 harness type and then also choose AB control box. Cost comes to around ~$130 shipped

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Installation is pretty easy, first remove the passenger side seat bottom and remove the 3 push-pin screws, make note of the yellow outlined area as there is a tab there you'll have to deal with

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Lift the rubber flap up that gives you access to the middle gear box oil dipstick and VSS sensor

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A couple views of the VSS connector we're going to disconnect and then reconnect to the Healtech harness, simply plug and play and no splicing

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Harness installed

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Now you want to gently lift the passenger side of the center console cover up so that you can free the internal tab and then pull slightly outwards so you can run the wiring harness to the front of the dash. Make sure you run the harness behind the tab indicated in yellow. I used a piece of heavy foam to keep open the front of the console

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I ran a piece of rigid wire to one of the pre-cut accessory spaces

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I then pulled a piece of rope through which I attached the other end of the harness to it

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I mounted my AB switch to my turn signal column, allowing me to change settings without having to fumble looking for the switch, it's right at my fingertips

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You can mount the unit itself wherever you want, but close to stock speedo is preferable

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I set memory bank A to calibrate the speedo for actual speed. To program it I set the AB switch to position 'A' and then use the online programming tool, which is also available for Android and IOS, plug in 52 for speedo and then 50 for actual speed, giving me -3.8 setting (I've since changed my 'A' setting to -7.7, which seems more accurate with GPS)

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Hit 'generate' and it gives you the button presses to program the desired setting

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Rinse and repeat for memory bank B, moving the AB switch to 'B' and then inputting your desired setting but usually you use B for top speed runs so you could do something like 60 and 50 for the values.

Few nitpicks: I would like the LED display to be a plug in or be rotatable so that you have increased mounting options. Having the cables exit the front of the unit on the same side of the LED display seems awkward. They should be mounted behind the unit. I guess the best solution would be to have a 3rd plug that fed a separate display so you could mount it wherever you wanted for a clean install.

Top speed run:


SpeedoHealer alone is good for maybe 53 MPH via GPS (vs 49 MPH) on a stock X4. You'll need a machined sheave and/or larger tires to go further. This thread goes over clutch mods needed to get up to 60 MPH:

https://www.wolverineforums.com/for...m/forum/162-wolverine-x4-general-discussion/21066-wolverine-x4-clutch-mods.html
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
I've already found a relatively inexpensive solution. Will update once confirmed.
 
Discussion starter · #6 · (Edited)
Flyguyskt said:
Up in rapid city massive....Amy test days yet. I'm holding out until it is confirmed that we can go faster than 50.
Click to expand...
These wind gusts (and freezing cold) have limited my test runs but with a stock sheave I was able to get 53 MPH via GPS, that's 4 MPH faster than I was able to previously get stock, which was 49 MPH via GPS. This is with full soft cab enclosure. I believe the stock sheave setup was engineered to max out at the rev limiter but I hope I'm wrong. There will be a solution in 2018 for flashing the stock chip but I don't want to disclose anymore than that. For now, the device I'm using is relatively cheap and I feel necessary to use with any sheave if you plan on raising your top speed. Hopefully I can get some video tomorrow.

I don't believe lighter weights are the solution (for top end) and may actually lower your top end, but we'll know soon. Sheave testing without this device or something similar is going to be fruitless (for top end\speed improvement).

Remember, the stock speedo is 2 MPH slower than actual GPS\radar verified speed. The X4 does not just have a rev limiter like previous models but also a speed limiter at 52 MPH (I'll be glad to be wrong on that), which is why the solution I found is important as it modifies the VSS signal.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
First post updated with device details and installation tutorial
 
Discussion starter · #9 · (Edited)

One thing that concerns me and may be the reason why Yamaha chose to gimp the X4 is that she feels really floaty at those speeds. I'm wondering if she'll feel any more stable with all the cab windows rolled up so side wind gusts don't have such a pronounced effect.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
Discussion starter · #11 · (Edited)
Well, 60 MPH seemed to hit a brick wall on our current setup (still first sheave cut) so I decided to see if the air filter box was creating a restriction up top and sure enough, after swiss-cheesing the lid, she gets up to top speed more-easily, holds top speed longer, and gained 1 MPH and hit 61 MPH even with 20 degrees F warmer temps and with my wife in the X4. I think this is going to be a pre-requisite to getting up to 65 MPH.

Ultimately I would like to see an X-pattern lid whose only purpose is to hold the air filter in place and engage the stock clamps:

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There is no increase in intake noise that I could tell.


I hit 61 crossing the bridge at 1:16

https://youtu.be/0AIi9EXukws?t=1m16s
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
She'll still do 60, but not as easily with my new 27" Tusk Terrabites, time for some slightly lighter roller weights:

 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Discussion starter · #17 · (Edited)
JungleRider said:
Just curious, but why bead locks when it seems you mostly ride asphalt?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Not true. Normally we'll do 50-100 miles on the trails every weekend. It's just been so wet and rainy lately that we haven't done much trail riding due to all the mud. I would say it's a 50/50 mix.



As you can see from the beginning of this video and the whole reason for needing more top speed: From garage, to highway, to trailhead. Notice that's a 2-lane highway. I don't like holding up traffic and don't like pulling over to let them go by. Much easier to simply keep up with traffic in the first place.

 
Discussion starter · #19 · (Edited)
Congratulations Weller Racing!!

https://www.facebook.com/wellerracingofficial/videos/346706952745365/

Weller Racing has cracked the ECU and can now:

1) Bypass the speed limiter
2) Increase the rev limiter (due to the long stroke design of the motor, only a small increase is recommended)
3) Lower fan switch temperature activation
4) Modified fuel/spark tables
5) Modify Drive-By-Wire settings
6) Gets rid of the cold engine stuttering/rev limiter bug
 
Discussion starter · #20 · (Edited)
Took my Weller Racing-flashed ECU to Black Hills Powersports to test on a stock unit. X2 was conveniently sitting outside. Keep in mind this is a beta flash and there are still improvements to make but gives you an idea what's possible on a stock unit. Larger tires will yield higher top speeds up to a certain point where you'll then need a sheave/lighter weights to go even further.


Once again thanks to Weller Racing for their awesome work and Black Hills Powersports for letting me use one of their X2's as a Guinea pig:
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
Discussion starter · #23 · (Edited)
An additional benefit to the Weller Racing ECU flash is that they've eliminated the cold engine stuttering/rev limit 'feature'

This could be a plus or minus depending on the way you look at it. It's good in that you're not going to be unpleasantly surprised going down the road with a cold engine and have it cut throttle at 30 MPH. It could be bad in that you may be tempted to run your engine at speed before it's fully warmed up.

I would like to see an option where the cold engine rev limiter is modified so that instead of cutting out at 30 MPH (I don't know the exact speed but it's fast enough to lead you into a false sense of security) it rev/speed limits at a ridiculously low speed such as 5 or 10 MPH. That way you know right away it's in engine warm-up or 'protection mode' instead of letting you get on the main road/highway and expect to do normal speeds and be unpleasantly surprised.

This way the user can choose to have the ECU be a nanny for them or they can decide they're disciplined enough to let their engine warm up on their own. Some may think it's not necessary at all.

UPDATE: The cold engine bug isn't completely gone as it just happened to me yesterday but it definitely doesn't happen as easily. It was really cold out yesterday whereas I've had it happen in much warmer conditions before the flash.
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
I've updated the post, the cold bug is still there but doesn't happen as easily, ambient temps have to be pretty cold for it to happen.
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
Those of you running the Weller flash who haven't switched to 91 octane yet. Give it a try for at least 1 tankful. Makes a big difference.
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
Problem is that it's expensive and usually not available in ethanol blend. I run my X4 at least every other day so my gas doesn't sit in the tank very long. Hopefully the increased gas mileage will offset the extra cost. It's not worth going with 91 over 87 unless your ECU is tuned for it or if your SxS sits for longer periods of time where you need something without ethanol.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
2020 models (at least XTR) can now run 56 MPH via speedo. Good news.
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
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