Fuel injection on a Boom Vader 125
 

Hello everyone! After watching and reading MaxiPad's reviews as well as others on the Boom Vader, I pulled the trigger and bought my own. I always wanted a Grom but could never justify the price tag. The main difference between these two bikes it the the Grom is fuel injected while our vaders are not. I am going to change this! I found a full efi setup on Aliexpress for about $250 that included everything needed to get this bike injected. The kit (I ordered kit #4 http://s.aliexpress.com/FnA73Y7z) is based on a modified version of the fantastic Microsquirt ecu. I run megasquirt products on all my race cars (currently running ms3x on my 1JZ swapped IS300 drift car) and I figured my bike could use it too. Now, this is not a genuine B&G ecu, so you cannot use the full version of tuner studio or the current msextra code as that would be illegal. Anyway, I am going to document my progress here to hopefully help someone else out in the future.

Thanks for posting and welcome to the forum. I've been looking for something like this ever since I purchased my Hawk 250. I to have used Microsquirt in the pass and HPtuners for tuning force induction. I have lots of experience in tuning . Looks like a nice kit. Please keep us updated.

After pulling the plastics off, I realized this should (in theory) be a very simple job. The bike uses a 4 wire DC CDI box that has all of the needed efi connections broken out to a single connector! I have to verify this still, but it seems that switched 12v, ground, crank trigger and coil trigger are all on this connector. I just so happen to have a spare mating connector for a CDI box, so I am hoping I can wire this up without cutting a single wire on the factory harness.
https://www.chineseatvonline.com/ass...25/4pinCDI.jpg
As for the fuel pump, Boom was nice enough to put a vent hose to the charcoal canister for emissions. I am going to use this vent hose as my fuel return line. I am also deleting the EGR.. because who needs that? :hehe:

I already welded in the needed O2 sensor bung in to the exhaust, and also did a little port matching a smoothing of the intake manifold I will be using. The Vader uses a very small intake manifold, and I am replacing it with a rotating flange and a 56-2 intake pipe. This fuel injection kit was originally designed with GY6 scooters in mind, so the flange of the throttle body is rotated 90* from where our bike carbs normally sit. I fabbed up a small flange on our CNC plasma table at work, but I may not need to use it. Here are a few more pics of my progress.

Thanks for the warm welcome! I plan on keeping this updated with all my progress. If you look at the link I posted for this kit, they have throttle body and injector options from 50 to 300cc engines. If you have any basic experence with tuning, this should be a breeze. They have enabled the self tuning feature in the ECU, so once you have your baselines set, the ECU will update and tune itself as you ride:tup: I hope to have it running on this ECU by the weekend.

After looking at it the only issue I see for my application is the throttle body flange will not work on the Hawk. I'll have to look into different manifolds and see if I can make it work.

Nice! I will def be following this! I also always wanted a grom but couldnt justify the price. Still waiting on my vader to be delivered.

Looks like some new EFI sellers have shown up on AliExpress... the 2 I tried to contact and the 1 I ordered from basically gave me the run around for several weeks...

Might be time to order a 200cc and 650cc kit for my 2 motos :hehe:

I figured I would share a little more info on the kit. This "MotoEFI" kit uses may of the Ecotrons efi components. The main difference is the ecu. MotoEFI uses a ecu based off of microsquirt architecture, where as Ecotrons is its own proprietary unit. I think they can get away with selling this because they made subtle hardware and firmware changes so it cant use megasquirt software. For tuning it uses a modified version of the legacy EFITune software that was used to tune megasquirt back when it was first released. Anyway, the ecu does not have a connector, but is fully potted and waterproof. Note that connectors should be used at all wiring connections so it can be removable.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...321_130654.jpg

The wires are all clearly labeled, and it even has a ring terminal with a temp sensor epoxied into it for "coolant temp" which will really be cylinder head temp.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...321_130648.jpg

My favorite part of the kit is the throttle body. That little black box has a throttle position sensor, manifold absolute pressure sensor and intake air temp sensor all integrated in to one unit.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...321_124148.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...321_124143.jpg

More to come:thanks:

Thanks for the update. This is one I will be following. What is the inside dimension on the engine side of the throttle body? I trying to figure out what I'll need for the intake manifold. It would be great if it wasn't a flanged throttle body. It would be so much easy to make it work.

28mm is the internal diameter. If you contact him, you can actually get a flanged or a hose connection throttle body :tup:

Edit: check this out.
http://s.aliexpress.com/J7z6FbUr

Thanks, I know what my next mods going to be.:yay:

I have no prevision for fuel return on my tank. I don't see why I couldn't "T" back into the fuel line between the petcock and tank? :shrug: Otherwise I would have to drill and solder in a connection towards the top front of my tank. Just thinking out loud. I'm trying to build this in my head before I order anything.

I had planned on doing the same thing until I found the evap line. No reason that wouldn't work.

Last night I confirmed that the cdi box has all of the wiring connections needed, so I went ahead and soldered on a mating connector. I also learned the the kill switch shuts power off to the coil and not the cdi, which is awesome as the ecu will stay powered as long as the ignition is on. I am still hoping to have it running by this weekend ��
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...321_165331.jpg

This is awesome! I'm glad you hopped on here to document your progression! I'm definitely going to keep close tabs on this thread. I just don't know if I'll ever grow the balls to do it lol

The efi kit is noe completely installed, but it doesn't want to run yet. The ecu is not seeing a crank trigger, so I will diag that this week. I would habe done it over the weekend but I had to pickup the drift car from the shop. Anyway heres what I did..

Intake rotator installed
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_170324.jpg

I removed the charcoal canister to install the high pressure fuel pump
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_170625.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_170645.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_172023.jpg

The new cdi box installed where the stock one went
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_172018.jpg

My fuel feed line. I added a shutoff valve and high flowing cleanable filter on the inlet
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_172908.jpg

I attached the ecu under the gas tank with a few zip ties
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_173003.jpg

Fuel return line
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_174436.jpg

Intake manifold amd throttle body installed. The fuel line is very close to the starter so I will but something between them to minimize the chance of chafing.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_181841.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_181844.jpg

Exhaust and oxygen sensor installed
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_184327.jpg

And it looks like I can still use the stock airbox!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...324_184637.jpg

More to come:thanks:

I just verified on lunch that the ECU is getting a proper crank signal, but for some reason it is not registering any RPM. I plugged in the stock CDI and gave it a spray of starting fluid and it fires right up. Still haven't figured out what is going wrong here. I am starting to suspect a faulty ECU but we will see.

Hope you get it figured out. I really want to see how this works out. I like to see how much more power EFI has over the Carburetor.

It runs! Turns out i had a bad connection on the crank trigger. Also, my return lime seems to have a blockage and isnt returning fuel to the tank. Either way, she lives! More to come soon :)

:tup: Now waiting for results.

Shot a quick video of startup and idle. This was after about 5 minutes of tweaking the tune:lol:
https://youtu.be/AhFgHZ4oRUg

Sweet :tup:So does the ECU come with a good base tune to start with? I wonder if there is a way to install a knock sensor so you could tune for max timing? Would that tuning program have the capability to monitor knock?

The basemap is ok. It is not ideal for a 125cc engine as I think it was originally designed for 50cc engines. I ended up using the megasquirt basemap generator online for my VE and ignition tables. As for knock, you would need a genuine ms3 to do it right. I am running a ms3x with the dual knock board in my drift car and it works great. Problem is a ms3x would be way overkill for a single cylinder engine and would add about $600 to the cost. I plan on just slowing turning up the timing until I can hear knock, then back it off like 2 degrees. The great thing about these chineese bikes is everything is dirt cheap, so if I kill a piston its only like $30 and a few hours time.

Thanks for the info. $600 would be more than half the cost of the bike lol. With HPtuners It was so nice to be able to log a few runs and go back in adjust the timing where there was knock. So for a 230cc engine i'll need to use the megasquirt basemap generator before I even think about starting the engine. Did you take it out for a run yet?

This is great! Will you be publishing the base map? Also, I understand you're using the original evap line as the fuel return. Is there any concern over negative pressure in the tank, or is it vented some other way?

On some other forums there have been incidents where negative pressure in the gas tank is not released (due to a crimped line or other issue) and it causes a "dent" in the gas tank from the suction.

Haha yeah that is why I went with this $250 kit! I agree that a well tuned knock sensor makes ignition tuning much much easier, but remember that an analog cdi and a carb will have no where near the tuneablity of an EFI system. And with the engine between your legs, you will hear knock if it is happening.

Yes I would generate new VE and ignition table before attempting to start. I'm going to say that it is a bitch, because the included EFI Tune software does not let you import tables directly from the generator, so you will have to punch the values in one by one. I opened tunerstudio, transferred my table to a test tune, then opened the maps side by side and started typing.

So it was my initial plan to use the EVAP line for a return, but my line has a blockage somewhere so it currently isn't being used. I am going to redo my return line how JerryHawk suggested, and fix the evap line so it is still a vent.

So also a quick update. I revised my basemap and now the bike runs awesome! I have not taken it for a ride yet as I need to redo my return line, make a new throttle cable and put all the plastics back on. Oh yeah, and Boom still hasn't sent me my damn MCO title! I also found a huge vacuum leak at the intake manifold that needs to be fixed. I am hoping to ride it around the neighborhood this weekend.

I agree about the EFI tuning. That why when I saw your post I was all over this. When I first started tuning force induction engines I didn't have a base tune to start with so I did a lot of logging and adjusting until I got it right. after the first one I had a good base tune to start with. I'm really interested in getting this for my hawk and start playing with it. I have to save up some more Hawk budget money but by the time I do it i'll pretty much have it built in my head on how i'm going to do it. Does the software that comes with the kit have the capability to log? Is there a link to where I can download the software to look at it?

Yep the software has datalogging and autotune capabilities. Here is a link to the software. It will run slow as all hell until you go to File and click Offline.
http://www.motoefi.com/EFI/files/sof...tup%201.38.exe or
http://www.motoefi.com/EFI/files/sof...tup%20V1.6.exe

Also, I attached a zip with my current tune.

Thanks, :tup: I'll play around with it tonight.

After reviewing and playing around with the software this is going to be a piece of cake to tune. Thanks for links. I'll just have to save up a little Hawk money. In the mean time i'll keep an eye on your progress. What i'm trying to figure out is what kit to get. The Hawk is a 229cc engine. the kit come 150-200cc then jumps to 250-300cc. the 150-200cc kit has a 28mm throttle body and the 250-300cc comes with s 34mm throttle body. Since the stock carburetor is 28mm I would think the 150-200cc kit would be the right one get. I'll have to see if I can find a forum on the EFI and see what those guys are doing.

How much power does the Hawk make? I would say the 28mm will suffice as people are making upwards of 20hp on the 170 and 190cc 4v engines on 28mm carbs.

Specification claim 15 HP. I think the 28mm will work. I like to have everything planned out before I start any project. It would be nice to get 20HP out of it but just a couple would be a big difference. I had access to a MC dyno at one time but the guy went out of business. I would like to do a before and after just to see how much more HP it can make. I know its only a Hawk but I enjoy doing this kind of stuff. I've been out of drag racing for a few years and kind of miss tuning.

Subscribed to this thread.

Here i was thinking that this thread is several years old then i noticed the date posted.
I admit it made me sign up here just to post in your thread :D

Will watch your progress :)

So a quick update. I redid my fuel return line as jerryhawk suggested and it worked great! I also found that the vent tube was pinched my the fuel tank cover, so that is fixed and is now vented to atmosphere. You can see the return line in this picture. I just used a tee fitting after the shutoff valve and before the filter.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...402_135607.jpg

What fuel injection?!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78...402_150115.jpg

I have the bike running ok on the current tune. But, I have noticed that these engines do not produce very much vacuum. I am working on converting to Alpha-N or throttle position based control. I did take it out for a ride around the block and it feels so much smoother.

Unrelated note. Anyone with a Vader have issues getting your MCO from Boom? Its been over a montu and they have supposedly sent it out twice, but I have not received it. It really sucks as the weather is nice and I want it legal!!>:(

Glad that worked out. By the time I buy the kit you will have all the bugs worked out . lol :tup: I'll just have to pick your brain when I do get it. As far as your MCO satiation that sucks. There's no excuse for them not sending it out yet.

Yeah the MCO is dumb.. but usps probably lost it as our local branch is terrible. I also forgot that I had to make a custom throttle cable. The stock one was not long enough and had the wrong end for the throttle body. I used a Venhil (i think?) Cable kit I got on amazon for like $15. Super easy, you just need a soldering iron and about 20 min. The instructions it comes with make it very easy to figure out.

Quick video update of my progress. Now running on Alpha-N and still no MCO from Boom

https://youtu.be/2eL3k6lpQxs

I like that throttle response! Can't wait to see how it does after a bit of tuning ;)

They need to hurry up and get the MCO to you