What started out as a hobby and passion for Tuning some of the fastest current BMW’s in South Africa Craig Langton was then faced with the erratic fuelling of the MV Agusta motor cycles due to the unique conditions in South Africa which all believed was due to altitude. It was then when Craig Langton started his quest to write software for motorcycles as ECU’s became more and more sophisticated in Motorcycles, to manage ABS, Traction Control, dreaded Emissions, engine braking, launch control, lean angle and traction control.
“The truth is no motorcycles have a MAP for South Africa, as the ECU does make provision for the changes in altitude, it’s only once your motorcycle has been set up for South Africa that you realise how well they really handle and perform,” said Craig Langton Founder and MD of Fire in Up in Sandton.
Craig also handles premium vehicles such as BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari.
“Years ago one had to perform jetting when a new model motor cycle arrived in the country, to get it to perform smoothly, then when fuel injection came out we had to fit piggy back systems to adjust fuelling as we had no way of communicating with the ECU,” said Langton. “Today we have the technology which is used right across the world in WSBK, racing, it is now widely recognised that ECU tuning or flashing can adjust far more parameters than a costly piggy back system. Of course it also all boils down to the tuner as well.”
In Fire it Up’s case Craig has partnered with a world famous tuner in Germany who is responsible for many of the world’s SBK factory riders and teams in Europe and with the knowledge between them they were able to write the perfect map for nearly every motorcycle in SA, improving the ride ability and obviously the performance without cutting wires and shipping ECU’s units overseas (who do not understand the SA conditions anyway). “Customers must remember that manufacturers focus heavily on emissions and this restricts the performance efficiency by up to 20%. The stock ECU has far more control over the whole engine,” said Langton.
The Fire it Up flash tuning package is a few adjustments and enhancements made up of the following:
- Adjust/Remove Factory Timing Retard.
- Remove restricted throttle opening curves ( fly by wire)
- Vastly improved throttle response.
- Reduce excessive engine braking.
- Eliminate Exhaust Valves and Electronic Damper Error Codes without having to cut wires.
- Increase RPM limiter
- Ignition Timing Adjustment
- Injector Phasing Adjustment and Duty Cycle
- Increase the speed of Quick Shifters.
- Gear dependant traction control.
- Unlock hidden features.
- Enable Auto blip
This will change the motorcycle drastically giving the rider a ‘MAP’ specific to his/her needs and to South Africa.
“Customers cannot believe the difference in the all-round performance and handling of their motorcycle, once completed, all were saying the difference was uncanny,” said Langton. “All motorcycles are prepared in our new Motul Experience bay which will feature a camera so that customers can view their motorcycle being worked on; using their mobile phones, if they are unable to wait in our customer lounge.” “We do all bikes, last week I tuned a Vespa with great results!”
FIRE IT UP, shop 2 showrooms and workshop, entrance on Leslie, corner William Nicol and Leslie drive, between the Cycle Lab and the Pro Shop.
For more information, email
For Motorcycle sales call Berto on 079 494 2404 or James on 076 827 9676 or 011 4670737
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