1. Off idle
The first few seconds already say whether the calibration is clean.
- Cold start — The machine fires on the first turn, the warm-up phase comes back down on its own, and it never stalls.
- Idle — Steady and held, in neutral as in gear, whatever the temperature.
2. On the road: Swiss clockwork
A throttle that answers the speed of the movement, not only its position.
- The first 0–30 % of throttle — No step, no jerk: manoeuvring, town riding, picking up the throttle in a bend.
- Tip-in / tip-out — Picking the throttle back up without a snatch, filtered on how fast the grip moves and not on where it sits.
- Engine braking — Smooth, never an abrupt cut; the return to injection must stay invisible.
- Continuity everywhere — Throttle, timing, lambdas: a continuous first derivative, no break in the tables.
3. Character
Temperament is tuned, not endured.
- The kick — A slope in the mid-throttle zone, in the rev range where the customer looks for it. Never a step, never an isolated value.
- The sound on overrun — A low, steady rumble, light and controlled: a signature, not pop-and-bang or backfiring.
- The “bam bam” limiter — A staccato whose rhythm and strength are set separately, through fuel cut and never through ignition; aggressive in neutral, reasonable while riding if the customer wants it.
- The riding modes — Every riding mode must be a service, never a disguised limiter.
4. What must never stay
A calibration is also judged by what it has taken away.
- No limiter left behind — Open torque, speed, and every back-up limiter aligned with the main one.
- No warning light — The codes concerned are disabled in the tune, not cleared with a scanner.
- Thermal behaviour held — Fans and overheating thresholds reworked: the machine does not collapse in a traffic jam.
- Clean combustion — No knock, real lambda following the target, healthy trims, exhaust temperatures under control.
5. The PNP signature
What you do not see but feel at every opening of the throttle.
- Smoothing taken to the extreme — Every table is smoothed, protection zones and low revs excluded. It is this smoothing that gives the Swiss-clock feel.
Frequently asked questions
What does “a peppered motorcycle” mean?
Since 2017 our customers have used this word for a motorcycle, a quad, an SSV or a snowmobile tuned by Poivre Noir SA, the European company founded on 8 July 2005 in Geneva behind PNP TUNE. The name stuck: a peppered machine is a calibration that follows this recipe from end to end.
Is a peppered machine more powerful?
The recipe aims first at the quality of running: starting, idle, throttle, engine braking, thermal behaviour and combustion. Available torque and response improve because the limiters and the breaks disappear, not because a figure is promised.
How does PNP TUNE check every point of the recipe?
With the data logs recorded on your machine in VCM Scanner and the complete tables of VCM Editor: every commitment matches measurable channels and precise tables, corrected step by step in Custom Remote.
Do the engine safeguards stay active on a peppered machine?
Yes. The protection zones are excluded from the smoothing, the thermal protections are reworked and not removed, and the original emissions functions are kept. Going back to the original setup remains free of charge.
How do I get a peppered machine?
Choose your brand, then the exact model year and model: the Street Remote or Custom Remote RTD4 pack appears with the interface, the cable and the HP Tuners credit pool included. If you already own an RTD4, the tune can be bought on its own. Any question: tune@pnptune.com.