I've come to the conclusion that my 696 is about as techno as biking needs to get, and the more electronic gizmos come out, the more I'm likely to retreat into the luddite corner (currently occupied by those who bemoan the introduction of fuel injection as opposed to carbs). I don't wheelie, I don't ride aggressively, I try to be smooth and using engine braking, rather than point and squirt, winding the throttle right open and then grabbing the brakes. Probably why I get about 11,000 miles out of a set of tyres! I've ridden the Diavel and 1200 Monster. I had an absolute hoot on the Diavel, and apart from the immense weight, thought the Monster 1200 was a good bike. The engine on both is wonderfully torquey, and the handling great. The electronic wizardry didn't spoil the experience (much as I wanted to dislike the feel of ride by wire, I didn't). But at the same time I don't regard those developments as necessary. I forget whether the 696 ABS version was available when I bought my bike, but given the choice of bigger fuel tank or ABS I'd rather have the fuel tank capacity. I think something has gone wrong with the biking world when a bike like the KTM1290 Superduke comes out - unrideably powerful engine, only made consumer friendly by being crippled with lots of electronics. I'd rather have a bike with just enough engine that you can actually use - I certainly don't find my 696 under powered.
bikes are faster now,roads are busier now, bikers are older now. give me every safety gadget that is going.
I see nothing wrong with abs or tc, as others have said its handy to have if you should ever need it! Which is becoming more and more likely on British roads. However when I was looking at used fireblades the price difference for abs and non abs was almost 1k. Not something I'd pay extra for personally. Quick shifters I see as a novelty more than anything but they are awesome! I'll be fitting one on my 848 soon. I was disappointed when I saw bikes coming out with ride by wire throttles as I remember when they came out on cars and they can be awful! Also more likely to fail than a cable set up. But I guess it's moving with technology. I tested the s1000rr last year and with all the gizmos on it felt too safe, I found most of the bikes I tried rather boring as they were easy to ride quickly if that makes sense? More like the bike was taking me for a ride and I was a passenger. That's what made me buy the 848 it felt raw and I actually had to put some effort in which I liked. It's down to personal preference I suppose though we can't all like the same things.
Admirably brief. It's a marketing con mostly.I'm all for safe with maybe abs but that's it.If the factory racing teams are stuck on the competitive electronic trickery slippery slope to boredom via these aids why should we be when they fit it to road bikes and tell us it's all for our own good/wank factor and it won't cost us much extra...yes...we are paying for their racing development.I mean..it's not like the electronic aids we have now are shit right? betch your balls a marketeer will disagree with you,specially next years model.Do you think the manufacturers would make 180bhp monsters with no electronic aids and be able to sell them to the public after average riders start throwing them in the bushes left right and centre. Ever thought about the young guys getting into a cheap s/hand first bike that's ten years old,how expensive are dud electronics going to be then to fix or maintain? Would that cost be a sticking point for new riders in the future?.A mate of mine had a faulty abs on a ten year old beemer and that cost him 2,400 bucks thank you,that's a lot of bushmills. Who's designing all these modern big bore adventure bikes that look more like insects nowadays? i thought everybody had stopped taking that stuff by the end of the sixties. ducv2 l like manual advance/retard and still mix my own petrol
Electronics also gave us mobile phones...does anyone know how to get young sheila's who drive 4x4's OFF them.It must be damn inconvenient when they have to get off the phone to see which stupid motorcyclist just got jammed under the vehicle.Another marketeers dream,lets shoot them all,the stupid young twats..rant over,apologies to all.
Its obvious whats happening. The marketeers know that bhp figures sell bikes to the impressionable, so they add more and more. They also know that clever electronics sell bikes, which is handy as they become necessary to control the excessive bhp, so they add more and more of those too. Progress is fine but just because something is new and technically clever it isn't necessarily better at doing the job. Then there's the downside, that when anything goes wrong it takes a big budget and tech equipment to fix....again good for profits. A case in point...I know of a multistrada which had its electronic suspension control system fail.....£1000 for a new ecu. That's over half the total market value of my 14yr old monster. And who needs electronic suspension adjustment anyway ??? I could just about be convinced that abs might be a useful thing to have but you can keep your traction control, ride by wire, power modes, anti-wheelie, and all the other pointless bollox. And for that matter, your electronic, multi-function dash units which are unreadable in sunlight. I'm not even convinced that electronic fuel injection offers any real world benefits over carbs, given the potential for a minor failure of some tiny sensor somewhere to scupper the entire system. Give me a simple, lightweight bike that I can maintain myself, which produces adequate torque and power for my needs, and I'll be happy. Perhaps there is more to be said for knowing when you've been clever enough already, than constantly chasing the next new "development" just because its "the future".
I'm starting a build on a Guzzi that's injected, but any mlarky from the injection and its going in the skip (the injection not the bike) and a pair of FCR 41's put on along with a crank driven electronic ignition unit. At least then I'll be able to just about fix the thing if it goes wrong. My Guzz 1000 pushes out about 70 or a tad over I reckon and sometimes I do feel myself wanting more than that (that said its a dammed porker compared with the 1098) but its not that often. Realistically probably 100 is enough for me and as Utopia and others have stated more effort put into lightness and simplicity. That's why I'm looking for a low miles 998S FE and not a Panty girdle, which nice as it is, will be stuffed with all sorts of transducers and electronics which are unnecessary and will break eventually. I see it as the future and I don't like it, its not for me..................too much power (to brag down the boozer) then bolt on all these electronics to control all that unnecessary power. You mark my words sonny its all going to get more costly in both capital and service costs. Large displacement bikes are already relatively affluent blokes toys and they are heading soon to be rich men only toys. I'll get ma zimmer
People seem convinced that new bikes which have all the electronics on WILL have failed by tea time. Surely ( with the odd exception as you'd expect with any device) the people buying new bikes so equipped today are unlikely to still have them when the defects appear - say in 5 years, maybe more? People rightly expect cars which are as complicated if not more so to last much longer - why shouldn't a bike? If there was no progress I'd still be riding on my 20 year old Monster rather than the 1198 - and there's no prizes for guessing which one is currently sat in disgrace with electrical issues!
Interesting Ian (Sorry couldn't help myself replying) obviously a different mind set to this old duffer. When I buy stuff especially expensive stuff I like to keep it. I know that its out of fashion and a bike is like a phone to many; use it, have fun, get bored, upgrade to the latest and greatest and nothing wrong with that, just different approach. What about the poor sods buying second hand, do you not think that might affect trade in values just a tad if its potentially an expensive grenade? The thing is when a transducer or what ever fails you usually need diagnostic hardware to id the fault and Ok some clever soles have made software so as you can use a laptop to access some of it. The other point is a bike is a rotten environment for electronics, hot sometimes very hot, can be wet, a lot shit flying around and vibes, I'd expect a cars electronics to be in a more benign environment. I'm a luddite who can just about tolerate fuel injection, but when it comes to every system getting the treatment, it just screams to me unnecessary complexity, toys to sell them to generation I've clearly lost touch with. In a past life I used to be (a rather bad) engineer (think gifted amateur rather than full blown professional). A very stale (but true) maxim was "If an item doesn't break its clearly not got enough features"
I'm against the tech. Make the bike reliable, quick and not sanitised. Keep your gadgets and I will take the torque.
So it seems we all want torque and no electronic gizmos, why have none of us got a ktm rc8r? Are they rubbish?
A nice to have... My rsv4 is the first thing I've owned with anything electronic.... Never use the 3 maps... I just leave it in track mode all the time... I know what to expect from the throttle.... Ride by wire? Can't see the point.... Let's see it Mrs Comfy's way.... Can I have a new bike exactly like the old one, looks the same goes the same way but cost 5k more..... I'd expect a sharp kick in the bollocks... And rightly so... As I say I'd love a new rsv4 factory aprc... But even I can't justify it... On mine... I'd happily sacrifice the 3 modes for abs... If I could...
In today's age of modern electronics are things going to fail regularly? People have 10 and 20 year old cars equipped with abs, TC, and various other abbreviations and still demand they work well - and they usually do. Equally I'm not sure that the vast majority of bikes live a harder life than cars - my Insignia lives outside, does 20k per year in all weathers and on all crappy road surfaces (eg snow, rain, grit etc). The 1198 does maybe 1/5 of the miles, in weather that (as much as possible) is decent. As I think I've said on this issue before, I'm well aware I'm a fat(ish) average rider, and I personally have no issues with DTC and the rest being there as a safety blanket for my inadequacy!
