Electronic riding aids

[spitfiremk21]

My view is that the bike companies should offer these gee-wizmo's as add on options like they do for cages. Base model has none. The new BMW K1600 six would be a lot more affordable without all the junk that I really don't want anyway. You?

[SLK50]

  I'm a gadget junkie. The K1600 makes me giddy

  For me, motorcycles are entertainment. The more I have to play with, the better.

  But I also like motocross bikes: no fluff or gilt. Every single part is necessary
and you can tell what it's function is just looking at it.

 I must be moto-bipolar or something.

[ywgbandit]

Personally I don't like ABS. If i need to lay my bike down to avoid being launched over the hood of some guys car that just ran a stop sign. I WANT to be able to lock up the brakes. Any other gizmo's I'd rather add myself, like GPS, Speedo Healer or heated grips.  Just an opinion.

[naustin]

I'd spring for the googly-eye head lamp...

[Mr.Black]

Personally I don't like ABS. If i need to lay my bike down to avoid being launched over the hood of some guys car that just ran a stop sign. I WANT to be able to lock up the brakes.

[02Tac]

I WANT to be able to lock up the brakes.

You do know that locking them up WILL NOT make you stop faster; right?

[DangerMoney]

My view is that the bike companies should offer these gee-wizmo's as add on options like they do for cages. Base model has none. The new BMW K1600 six would be a lot more affordable without all the junk that I really don't want anyway. You?

The initial production of many cars and bikes always comes loaded. The manufacturers know there will be many"I gotta be the first on my block to own one" types  so the manufacturers and dealers make more money because demand is high.

The manufacturers/dealers also know the stripped models don't sell very well. Case in point: When the flying brick BMW K1200GT went out of production there were a handful of them sitting in dealer showrooms that had been sitting in BMWs distribution warehouse. Everyone one I saw was stripped.


If you want something without all the options, order it however you want it.

[AutoXer]

Not interested.  In fact, last Fall when I bought my latest bike I passed on buying a Kawasaki Concourse, despite it being a fine Sport Touring mount (and available at a good price at the end of the season), specifically because of the "Throttle by Wire" (how'd that work out for Toyota?) and the stupid key fob interlock (lose it and you are going nowhere).  Call me a Luddite if you choose, but if you're somewhere on the Alaskan Highway or wandering through Redneckville Alabama do you want to be let down by some stupid electronic feature that you can't fix by the side of the road?  I don't.

[Cablebandit]

 Kawasaki Concourse, despite it being a fine Sport Touring mount (and available at a good price at the end of the season), specifically because of the "Throttle by Wire" (how'd that work out for Toyota?) and the stupid key fob interlock (lose it and you are going nowhere).  

By wire do you mean the throttle cable that attaches to the throttle body assembly?  The keyfob works but that fact that you still need a key is crazy.  It should just be a push button affair when you are in proximity like cars have used successfully for years.

[veefer800canuck]

 

Apparently he has not read Larrys thread on how to brake hard without silly ABS!

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,593.0.html

[AutoXer]

By wire do you mean the throttle cable that attaches to the throttle body assembly?  The keyfob works but that fact that you still need a key is crazy.  It should just be a push button affair when you are in proximity like cars have used successfully for years.

Throttle by wire is actually a misnomer, but its the throtttle not being physically attached to the throttle body via a cable - instead twisting the throttle  sends an electronic signal to the computer telling it what your right hand did and then the computer interprets what you are asking for and reacts accordingly (hopefully).  Personally, I can rig up a shoe lace and come up with a way to work a standard cable-controlled throttle if the cable breaks and it will get me home, but if the electronic do-dad packs it in you are walking.  Yes, the key fob has worked in cars for several years now, but a motorcycle is a far harsher environment (think rain, ice, freezing cold), and until I see years of operation without failure I'm not trusting my hide to the new technology.  And, as you point out, why have both a fob and a key?   Silly.

As for ABS ... my bike has it (I'm not totally anti-technology - I just believe that technology should have some worthwhile purpose).  Its proven technology and can be worthwhile in certain conditions.  But I believe it should have an off-switch too (for riding on gravel, for example).

[Cablebandit]

And yet I could swear I have an open and close cable going from the grip to the throttle bodies.