Hello Ty, the Boosterplug is a little
plug-in wire gizmo that fools the air intake temp sensor in thinking that the incoming air is cooler than it actually is. The result is a richer mixture at low speed throttle openings which cures the "snatchy" throttle that most fuel injected bikes suffer from. It's done by placing resistors in-line between the air temp sensor and the bike's ECU. That's the basic description - it's called "Resistor tunning" and has been around for a while. Manufacturers are dictated to how they design an engines fueling system by the emssions they're allowed to produce. This means havng to use Fuel Injection rather than carburetters as it allows for a much leaner burn. This results in an engine that burns too lean for it's own good, so all a Boosterplug does is restore the fuel delivery to what it should be for a smoother ride. That's the basic story -more here:
http://www.boosterplug.com/shop/cms-21.html There's a similar device called an Accellerator Module which is cheaper.
I fitted a Boosterplug a few weeks ago - I chose that because it had a more linear graph quoted than the Accellerator Module, which on paper makes it deal with more extreme ambient temp differences better. It takes about 20 mins to fit and can be removed easily for when you take the bike in for a service - no evidence of it having been fitted will show up on the BMW diagnostics computer. I've not heard of anyone actualy taking a bike into the dealer for a service / repair with one of these devices fitted but it would be interesting to know what the dealers reaction was! My guess is that they would cry "Warranty invalidation"
On the road, the difference isn't earth shattering and if anyone is thinking of buying one for performance improvements they'll be disappointed. However, there is a marked improvement on the bike's low speed throttle response, it's now nowhere near as snatchy as it was without the B/
plug. Town riding is now more of a pleasure than the chore it was previousy and there's a lot less clunking from the final drive unit as the throttle goes from off to on. In short it makes a great bike even better simply by smoothing out the low speed jerkiness issue. I've been riding bikes for over 40 years, and in that time seen all sort of dubious "snake oil" devices come and go, so I was totally sceptical about these things. However, after reading some great reports I decided to go with it and I've got to say, the change is subtle but the thing does work as the maker describes.
Dewi
I'm liking mine.