The ECU on my 2013 RT Ltd was up the front left squeezed in below the 'remote battery connections' & in front of the engine between the 'cross body air trunking' & the frame, held in by 3 x 30mm long bolts that had to be un-done into a 20mm deep gap that could only be reached by someone with double jointed arms, triple jointed fingers, & flexible spanners - to put it mildly, it was a freakin' unbelievably inconvenient downright pig of a thing to get out; at least until I removed all the 'cross body air trunking', which then made it just a freakin' downright pig to remove!! :shocked: I can now truly believe that the 2013's were originally intended to take the transverse 3 cyl motor but after all the ancilliaries & wiring were installed they decided at the last moment to stuff the longer fore & aft twin in there instead - the motor is waaaayyy too close to many things that it shouldn't be jammed up against, making them extremely 'inconvenient' to remove, & hence the excess heat trapped under the tupperware! :gaah: Btw, I've left the 'cross body air trunking' off entirely & the ECU upgrade has not only completely removed the original '2nd gear hesitation' but also any potential flat spots that the trunking & air box removal may have introduced in any 'non-upgrade equipped' engines! 
But, all that said & despite the difficulties I had in removing the ECU, it has been the most worthwhile mod & time/money spent on my Spyder!! Admittedly, the first few weeks after I got it done saw me exploring the higher rev range just a little, and I probably wore about a normal years worth of tread wear off my (then almost new) rear tire in those weeks, but once the 'fantastic new toy' exploration period was over & I'd terrorised the neighbourhood enough, I settled down a bit & while I might ride a little harder'n some, these days I rarely exceed 6500 rpm because that will see me well & truly out accelerate just about everything up to & beyond the legal 110kph/70mph or so we have here, and besides, it's just sooo smooth & tractable all the time!! AND now that I'm not absolutely wringing the throttle's neck all the time, my daily ryding is always a smooth & thoroughly enjoyable event regardless of any traffic left behind & I'm actually returning significantly better fuel economy all the time as well - I suspect because I'm usually into the higher gears sooner & tend to hold them a lot longer without needing to change down anywhere near as much for the hills or to accelerate snappily out of the tighter corners - we have a fair few of both of those around here!!
All up, I reckon the ECU Xtreme Upgrade has made my Spyder the Ultimate Fun Machine it really should've been in the first place, especially since the ECU Upgrade has been teamed with some tires with 'real' traction, ride, & handling capabilities instead of the crappy OE things it came with; the installation of an improved anti-sway bar; and the removal of that 'hot-box' catalytic converter/primary muffler thingy from between the riders feet! After all the swearing & noises involved with getting the damned ECU out, my wife was convinced I'd given up on it all & gone out & bought a whole new bike with a 'soft blow turbo' fitted, the all round improvement was THAT noticeable!! She loves it even more now! :thumbup:
And since I was one of the first to avail myself of this fantastic upgrade in this area, I've since been involved in removing & refitting quite a few ECU's for upgrading on a variety of Spyders around here - NONE of which have had ECU's that were anywhere near as hard to get at as the 2013 RT, but ALL of which have produced the same 'Cat that got ALL the cream' grin on their owner's dials & the open mouthed 'holy bat-s**t, lookit that Spyder go' look of stunned amazement on the faces of all those who DON'T have a Spyder with an Upgraded ECU!! Doesn't matter much if they are Spyder Ryders, Sports bike riders, ricers, or muscle car drivers, the look's all the same - utter amazement mixed with profound jealousy! :2thumbs:
So maybe a little at odds with the other Pete's comment, (sorry Pete
) but I'd say - Do It!! You won't regret it! 
hyea:
But, all that said & despite the difficulties I had in removing the ECU, it has been the most worthwhile mod & time/money spent on my Spyder!! Admittedly, the first few weeks after I got it done saw me exploring the higher rev range just a little, and I probably wore about a normal years worth of tread wear off my (then almost new) rear tire in those weeks, but once the 'fantastic new toy' exploration period was over & I'd terrorised the neighbourhood enough, I settled down a bit & while I might ride a little harder'n some, these days I rarely exceed 6500 rpm because that will see me well & truly out accelerate just about everything up to & beyond the legal 110kph/70mph or so we have here, and besides, it's just sooo smooth & tractable all the time!! AND now that I'm not absolutely wringing the throttle's neck all the time, my daily ryding is always a smooth & thoroughly enjoyable event regardless of any traffic left behind & I'm actually returning significantly better fuel economy all the time as well - I suspect because I'm usually into the higher gears sooner & tend to hold them a lot longer without needing to change down anywhere near as much for the hills or to accelerate snappily out of the tighter corners - we have a fair few of both of those around here!!
All up, I reckon the ECU Xtreme Upgrade has made my Spyder the Ultimate Fun Machine it really should've been in the first place, especially since the ECU Upgrade has been teamed with some tires with 'real' traction, ride, & handling capabilities instead of the crappy OE things it came with; the installation of an improved anti-sway bar; and the removal of that 'hot-box' catalytic converter/primary muffler thingy from between the riders feet! After all the swearing & noises involved with getting the damned ECU out, my wife was convinced I'd given up on it all & gone out & bought a whole new bike with a 'soft blow turbo' fitted, the all round improvement was THAT noticeable!! She loves it even more now! :thumbup:
And since I was one of the first to avail myself of this fantastic upgrade in this area, I've since been involved in removing & refitting quite a few ECU's for upgrading on a variety of Spyders around here - NONE of which have had ECU's that were anywhere near as hard to get at as the 2013 RT, but ALL of which have produced the same 'Cat that got ALL the cream' grin on their owner's dials & the open mouthed 'holy bat-s**t, lookit that Spyder go' look of stunned amazement on the faces of all those who DON'T have a Spyder with an Upgraded ECU!! Doesn't matter much if they are Spyder Ryders, Sports bike riders, ricers, or muscle car drivers, the look's all the same - utter amazement mixed with profound jealousy! :2thumbs:
So maybe a little at odds with the other Pete's comment, (sorry Pete
) but I'd say - Do It!! You won't regret it! hyea:
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