TRE or timing retard

[brizzer]

whats peoples thoughts on these products ? as a mate has one he said I can have, would it do any damage to the bike ? by what I make out after some research is that it just helps on the low down rev range through to 4th gear and makes the gear changes smoother...

the one my mate is offering me is just the timing retarder not the TRE

[sckudder]

To my understanding it also makes it so you don't have as much engin braking in 1st, 2nd and 3rd as it trick the bike into thinking its in 4th where the engine isn't retarded I made one for my k1 gsxr 750. It's not WOW I can feel the difference but you can notice its doing somthing

[TLS-Moose]

They vary according to the bike they're going on, but basically the factory retard the ignition timing to dull the power at low revs in first and second gear to try and minimise wheelies. It should have no impact on braking at all. The one on my TL didn't make a huge difference, but it did become a little smoother and less "stumbly" at low revs.

[brizzer]

so I should fit it as its free and should do no harm, clkudder I read somewhere that it helps reduce engine braking aswell, the bikes a gsxr600 k3 if it makes a difference but from what I am reading I think it should be good for the bike even though the engine braking comes in handy

[TLS-Moose]

You need to understand exactly what youve got. I am not aware of a product that deliberately retards timing - a Timing Retarder. This would be a product that effectively de-tunes an engine. A TRE is a Timing Retard Eliminator, i.e. it gets rid of the factory retarded timing in the lower gears. You can also buy ignition advancer's, which work right across the rev range. Both the latter two improve power (in theory).

Most TRE's are simply a resistor that plugs into the gear position sensor loom and fools the bike into thinking it's in 5th/6th or neutral all the time, so that the ECU doesn't retard the ignition at low revs - they cost about a quid to make and sell for anything up to £50 .......

An ignition advancer is usually a plate that fits to the ignition pick-up on older bikes with pick-ups on the crank (oil cooled gixxers, etc.)

If it's a TRE, which I suspect it is, plug it in and see if you notice anything - it shouldn't hurt the engine.

[brizzer]

so fitted the timing retarder eliminator, went a few rides and have now taken it back off the bike, the thing makes the bike idle higher than normal so didn't really like that and the gains in the first few gears weren't great, I think the gear changes were a bit smoother and downshifting was better as it took away the engine braking that was prob the best part of it.

[Scotty]

I found this thread rather late - I fitted a TRE to my road bike a few years ago - sure, it idles a little higher when starting from cold, but that's no big deal. The biggest difference is that it pulls better wheelies in the first three gears (they ARE big and they ARE clever) so as far as I'm concerned it's good value