V4 Dda

I've been doing a lot of playing with data over the last few years starting with the DDA and I would say it depends how enthusiastic you are about learning to use the data as it can take a bit of work to learn?

Mobile phone with external GPS signal (£120) and app such as Racechrono (£20) - GPS signal only but its enough to give you a lot of useful data about your riding and can compare laps etc. Its the cheapest option and gives you surprisingly good results. I used Racechrono for a whole season but it has weaknesses in that its a right faff with the battery on the GPS running out (you can plumb it in with a usb power lead but I never did that) and having to carry your phone in your leathers or bike somewhere and risking damaging it. in many ways the software on these apps is more accessible and useable than the Ducati DDA software but you are restricted to your mobile or tablet. Its worth trying this as a first step if you are not sure about investment in the more expensive options.

Aim Solo DL with bike loom harness (~£650) - This is a great option and with hind site I would buy this over the DDA since you can mount it on your dash for live lap times, optimum laps, etc and the software is way better than the DDA since its the same as the more expensive full fat AIM systems but at a much lower price point. It even has expansion boxes for other sensors.
https://www.aimshop.com/collections...gps-ecu-motorcycle-racing-track-day-lap-timer

The DDA + GPS does has the big advantage of integrating with your dash and giving you live lap times and saving them in memory. The downside is that the software is often flaky and unintuitive to use. Its basically suitable for a trackday riders or low level racers and it's not expandable in any way. If you get more serious and want things like suspension sensors then you have to start again with a different system. Its not bad for what it is but you can tell that its been developed by a small company for Ducati rather than the large specialised data companies like 2D on the BMW or Motec etc.

The next level up is to spend £1500-2500 on an Aim Evo type system which is a proper fully functional data logger that does all the things the previous ones do but can also take inputs from other sensors and video cameras, etc. After this you are spending £3500-5000 for the 2D or Motec type systems which are more serious an involved.

I'm really interested in suspension setup and have got the linear sensors for the suspension on the BMW to go with the 2D kit that is built into the bike in a similar way to the DDA on the Ducati. It's been a lot of study understanding the suspension but having the knowledge with the data from the sensors has been awesome for learning to ride the new bike. I got Michael Laverty to do a couple of laps whilst I was under instruction and I can compare the data and movement of the suspension. Its super useful for accelerating your progress but the sensors are not cheap!


Here's a great example of how easily you can knock seconds off when you have data from the bikes systems showing your throttle position. I would have sworn I was full throttle on all the straights at Jerez but the data said otherwise!:


A few sessions working on it and I knocked several seconds off my lap time:



This is my suspension travel which is an awesome thing to have. I could see from the blue line that my front springs were too hard as I am not aggressive enough on the brakes to use them as they are. Full fork movement is around 120mm.