Hi Knackers,
Our resident expert for tuning is
@ggok who is based in Japan. He had tried many different variations for V4 ECU and this is the link to his tread about this:
DUCATI ECU and BBS Tuning (Racing EVO) for aftermarket exhaust
In summary there 2 different kind of ECU tuning:
1. Upload a "generic" map to the ECU that had been prepared by the tuner which design to suit most general configuration and environment (temperature/gasoline octane). You can upload the map yourself at home or at your local mechanic or of course at your tuner facility if they are close by.
2. A life tuning on a dyno (and comprehensive tuner usually verify the result later on the road) where the tuner custom tune every parameter to suit exactly the way your engine/bike configuration (and preference) is. You will need a dyno and the tuner at the location of the dyno.
This means the ECU will be tempered. Yes, you might be able to get it back to stock without Ducati knowing about it, but in the old days, people worried about tempering with the stock ECU.
So for some (mostly in the old days) that do not want their ECU to be tempered, they can also use a Piggy Back system like Power Commander V.
This Piggy back (Power Commander V) will manipulate the signal between the ECU and the ignition, valve controller (if there is Variable valve timing like in a car) and injector to fool the ECU into thinking that the fuel and ignition is still stock.
Basically fooling the Air to Fuel ratio (A/F) that the ECU reads thinking it is still close to stock A/F.
At the same time, this Piggy Back actually is the one who giving orders to the injector, ignition and variable valve timing on how much they should do.
I think the main issue with a Piggy Back system is, some ECU are so advanced, that somehow they will figure out that something is wrong and it will start fighting back the overule from the Piggy back in the end making it impossible for the Piggy Back to compensate for the further compensation the ECU is doing.
Of course, there is latency issue, because instead of 1 brain giving command, there are 2 brains now giving command, which mean there will be very slight delay in signal and processing speed.
The Piggy back also only able to adjust the ignition, fuel and valve controller to a certain degree but will not be in sync with the other system like traction control, or drive mode.
So I think the best way for our modern Ducati control system is to do ECU flash.
But, I believe the best value for money will always be the "generic" map.
A custom tuning will be far more costly, you need to be on the dyno location, and unless you want your map to be tune to the max (meaning just right before the engine blow up), or maybe you had certain power delivery requirement.
Also it is hard to find a local dyno tuner who really understand how all the system in Ducati work together.
This day, to perfectly tune the ECU on our Ducati, you will need the knowledge of the Ducati factory engineer or the engineer from the maker of Ducati ECU and BBS system, then it will most likely not worth it.
Once you are ready to perform a "generic" ECU flash, I strongly recommend you to contact each of the vendor available and ask them questions.
The vendor who is willing to provide you with the most detailed answer, (that make sense) and responsive, should be on the top of your list because you will need support from them when things goes wrong during your ECU flash process.