Ok, so although I have not ridden one yet, everyone I speak to or everything I read says that the electronics are so good on the 1299s (is it the same on the non-s?) that it makes you a better rider. I.e it compensates for your shortcoming's. (erm). So, assuming you are a rider of average ability, would you say the electronics increase or decrease your chance of a serious accident on the road?
I have been riding bikes since I was 16 years old. A long long long long time ago. Before the wind, before the snow (those who know, know). I have gained real world experience and age have taught me that I am not invincible any more. However, I still get the old devil pop up from time to time and, although I no longer do certain stupid things like race between traffic, I do, when the road lends itself, open up a little too much until a naturally grown smile spreads ominously across my face. Like sex, I don't do it as often, but I enjoy it more. So, assuming experience/age/skill being equal, would you say that the electronics will reduce your chances of having a serious accident? Obviously some things are beyond your control and no amount of current wigetry would assist in getting you out of a jam, but in clearly rider error instances?
I have ABS and TC... I've used neither. Turns out years of riding without has given me a super smooth wrist. I've even maxed out the traction control setting in sport mode and still never had the light flashing. One time I've used ABS was on a loan Honda cbf500. Car pulled out, I yanked the brake and then sweet fuck all happened for the first 6-7 yards. Bit off poo came out and I ended up swerving and missing the front by about an inch. Sure it's better on the Ducati but not had then need to use it yet.
I dont think they make you a better rider (perhaps worse if you have them on high and hit them regularly without learning?) but in terms of a safety net if things go very wrong then the answer in my opinion is very much yes. Personally I turn just about all the electronic aids off or onto their lowest settings on any bike I ride but even then they have saved me on the 1199 on one occasion in particular when I lost the back end at Silverstone last year. I couldn't even state what saved me but there's no way I would have regained a tiny bit of grip and got back upright on a bike without electronics on that occasion.
All the rider aids and gizmos in the world , won't stop the twat in the car shooting out of a side turning and T- boning you... So No, you are no safer, with or without them.
I disagree. If the twat in a car shoots out and you chuck the anchor over the side and ABS or whatever helps you stop without losing the front in poor weather then they are making things safer. Ideally you wouldn't have got yourself in that situation but that's not the point.
But surely that's a % of bike related road accidents? i.e not all road accidents are cause by third party interventions. In fact, apart from 2 instances, all other accidents/spills I had were due to my stupidity. ( I should add that I was a despatch rider for 1 year. Did it on an LC with a YPVS engine and managed to hit an average of 1 ding / month )
No amount of electronics can stop the front tucking on that nice bit of mud the farmers always leave this time of year. Usually on a blind corner. In fact, any off-throttle slippage.
True. That's probably the single benefit of being in London, you dont have to deal with that sort of thing in winter and the roads stay relatively ungreasy compared to elsewhere. There's no other benefits bike wise!!
I commute and I will agree that London tends to be quite good now. Maybe it's the polluting smog giving it it's own climate but it always tends to be drier in the city.
Things like down-shift auto-blippers worry me. I have grown to like mine already (three weeks). I worry that I will attempt to use it on a bike that doesn't have it... The electronics on the RSV4 were good, but not infallible. I rarely if ever saw the TC light glowing. Then one day I gave it too much gas on a very wet road and the back spun up like a mad thing. The TC did nothing... Having decent ABS on a bike can only be a good thing for mere mortals like me. I try to train myself to "squeeze, not grab" but in those panic situations that sometimes occur that doesn't always happen.
If you use the electronics to justify going faster then you increase your chances of a serious accident, if you leave the electronics lurking in the background they might just get you out of the shit when you fuck up and therefore decrease you chances of a serious accident.
It's down to the individual i think. It's probably marginally safer. You still have to use your brain. The auto blipper is brilliant when downshifting in the wet allowing you to concentrate on braking steadily. I've seen the TC light up in heavy rain when upshifting with QS. I've just got a 1989 GSX600F for the worst of weather commuting. Done lots of work on it and got new tyres etc. Rode it up and down the road today. It's awful, absolutely shite. Brother in law loves them. But he thinks that period was when bikes were great. I genuinely feel safer riding the 1299 than that 2 wheeled boat. For me its cemented one thing if it's not icy I'm using the 1299.
Having such electronic wizardry definitely makes the bike safer. Wet mode is the first example. We've all had the odd heart stopping moment in the rain, with wet mode active the chances of that happening are greatly reduced = safer. Same with the wheelie control. Many riders want a top end powerful sports bike but don't like wheelies because they are not comfortable with them. So wheelie control again will make the bike safer. As posted by D8mok - pretty logical that the electronics make it safer really. I think the modern era of 200bhp bikes benefit massively from these electronic features. My old GSXR1000 K6 was a wheelie machine and had no electronics but felt much safer in terms of wheelies than the 1299 with DWC off. Modern bikes are just that much more ferocious in their power delivery IMO.
The same rider on the same track or bit of road with all the safety gizmos (riding gods excepted) on vs one with the same 190 ho with none of them will be faster and safer with them on. Simple.
On the track yes, on the road they won't make you faster as you are nowhere near any limit of the bike and if you are leaning on traction control its most likely just because you have it turned up too high and aren't very good at using the throttle. Bsb riders have none and nobody is going that fast on the road
