Technology, embrace or ignore ?

[weeksy]

Where do you and your bike sit on the scale of 'tech' then ?

Are you an air-cooled person with RWU forks and carbs ? OR a full embracer of tech with Quickshifter, traction, electronic suspension ?

Have you recently moved to tech ? If so, which do you like, need, want or love ? or indeed hate ?

[the_priest]

Done carbs and EFI. I'll ride anything with brakes good enough to stop it. I'm slow, so the extra bits probably do not add to package of making me any faster!

[weeksy]

Done carbs and EFI. I'll ride anything with brakes good enough to stop it. I'm slow, so the extra bits probably do not add to package of making me any faster!

IT's not all about faster though. It's for some people about safety, for some it's about fuel economy etc. For example my KTM 690 gets 60mpg, along with having ABS for safety... neither are about speed, but about being 'better' still ?

Similar with your Honda i expect looking at your Sig.

[KungFooBob]

Both my current bikes are air cooled and have two valves per cylinder that are operated by push rods. They're both EFI and one of them has traction control and ABS.

I don't think I need Traction (on a 48bhp bike) or ABS, but I guess you don't need them, until you do.

[weeksy]

I don't think I need Traction (on a 48bhp bike) or ABS, but I guess you don't need them, until you do.

COuchie was surprised/disappointed that he couldn't get the Traction to kick in at Donny on the 690 on Monday, despite trying at times to be fairly hamfisted with it, i guess it just doesn't really have the outright power to get the TC working. Even though it's there

I do like having it though for the 690, i'm not a confident person in a leaned over, walloping on the power context, so having that there as a safety blanket does actually help and make me think i can get on the power that bit earlier.

[Nidge]

A little of A, a little of B.... the simplicity of my T140 and Evo Harley are all part of the appeal, but the Speed Twin with TC, ABS, slipper clutch, and efi (my second efi bike, although I suspect more fun than my GPz1100 25 years ago) will, undoubtedly, provide a different level of enjoyment

[KungFooBob]

I don't think I need Traction (on a 48bhp bike) or ABS, but I guess you don't need them, until you do.

COuchie was surprised/disappointed that he couldn't get the Traction to kick in at Donny on the 690 on Monday, despite trying at times to be fairly hamfisted with it, i guess it just doesn't really have the outright power to get the TC working. Even though it's there

I do like having it though for the 690, i'm not a confident person in a leaned over, walloping on the power context, so having that there as a safety blanket does actually help and make me think i can get on the power that bit earlier.

The V7 is an A2 bike, so it's really designed for new or younger riders. In the blurb it says the traction control is to make new riders feel confident when road conditions are bad. I guess I could probably get it to kick in in the wet, but that would require going out when its wet.

[Dodgy69]

For me, some modern tech is worth having. Tc, abs, slipper clutch all safety features, ok, heated grips aswel. Tc might save your arse one day, especially on dodgy surfaces. Abs same. Slipper helps your bike out aswel. Electronic suspension makes life easy I suppose.

Some tech is more novelty or fun. Qs, engine modes, etc. If your bike is for fun and excitement then why not.

[MrLongbeard]

I've got Oil Cooled, USD forks, EFi, Fuel Gauge , Gear Indicator, Self Cancelling Indicators and ABS, but only because the bike came with them as standard, I can live without all of them, except maybe the self cancelling indicators, they've made me lazy
I've swapped out all the regualr lamps for LED's, added sat nag, added a tuner and bluetooth, I really need to get around to fitting my 'dash' cam

I might add a quick shifter and cruise control later on down the line as they increase the comfort factor on long rides.

Have I embraced technology? It looks like it, but I think it's more that I like toys, buying new stuff and tinkering :ugeek:

[Taipan]

I can see why modern superbikes have modern tech such as TC, switchable maps, but they still have shite low speed fuelling. I've always adjusted fuelling on a bike and with carbs it was fiddly, but not too bad to raise the needles and up the MJ. Fi remapping is easier but a lot more expensive. I love ABS as I'm shite at hard braking and stacked a couple of bikes years ago through front end tuck. Love a fuel gauge and as LB says self-cancelling indicators are the nads. So I like some tech for sure, but i'm more interested in correct fueling and safer brakes. I'm certainly more drawn to old styled bikes. EG I'd maybe stop and look at Nidges new Triumph, but wouldn't even notice Yoricks GSXR (Sorry yoz ;D ).

[Supermofo]

Stuff that might save my arse I'm all for. So ABS and traction control are all good. I nearly highsided my 690 when it was 500 miles old on a cold roundabout and TC might have saved me, def more than my brain which just went 'oh fuck'.

Slipper clutches are nice on singles/twins.

Colour tft dashboards, electric suspension etc etc all sound nice but freak me out in a will they work at 5+ years old. If not I suspect things like that could write a bike off effectively due to replacement costs. So yes if I was on the pcp gravy train but it'd make me wary of a 4-5 year old second hand one.

One gripe I have is we can have a bike practically make our dinner for us and connect us to the office but they don't come we automatic chain oilers?? Its 2020 and we still have to manually lube the drive train. For an extra 50 quid on the price they could easily set up a nicely hidden, well set up system.

[Taipan]

Stuff that might save my arse I'm all for. So ABS and traction control are all good. I nearly highsided my 690 when it was 500 miles old on a cold roundabout and TC might have saved me, def more than my brain which just went 'oh fuck'.

Slipper clutches are nice on singles/twins.

Colour tft dashboards, electric suspension etc etc all sound nice but freak me out in a will they work at 5+ years old. If not I suspect things like that could write a bike off effectively due to replacement costs. So yes if I was on the pcp gravy train but it'd make me wary of a 4-5 year old second hand one.

One gripe I have is we can have a bike practically make our dinner for us and connect us to the office but they don't come we automatic chain oilers?? Its 2020 and we still have to manually lube the drive train. For an extra 50 quid on the price they could easily set up a nicely hidden, well set up system.

Effin well said. Chain maintenance is such a repetitive bore when you're a year round commuter.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I doubt if I could ride a bike with 150bhp+ fast without electronic aids, I had 1998 R1 that was about 150bhp and had no electronic rider aids, the engine was fantastic but it could really be a handful and you had to concentrate the whole time riding it as if you were cack handed it would have spat you off, I now have 3 old bikes, all have no riding aids and I thoroughly enjoy riding them, the 60bhp FZR400 is great fun on track, the 90 bhp FZ750 is a good road bike (though it is a bit heavy) and my very analogue Kawasaki is easy to work on and fun to ride.
But I'm not against riding aids, I'm considering buying a new Honda next year, but I don't like the weight and complexity it adds.

I can't criticise anyone for riding a bike with rider aids, I've got a car that's jammed full of electronic help, and it's great, the stability control means you can go round corners stupid fast knowing that the ASC will start growling at you before you lose grip.

[Rockburner]

I'll always prefer technological improvements where they actually serve a useful purpose, but I tend to avoid higher tech if I don't think it'll be useful. I'm very happy to use the tech, and I'm always interesting in finding out about it, but won't waste time or money on stuff I won't appreciate or use.

So - in bike terms - that means I'm very happy to use a different design of front-end (Telelever: which I prefer to telescopic forks - I won't argue it's superior), happy enough to use Fuel Injection, very happy to use shaft drive (again - it might not be as efficient, but it involves far less maintenance and is cleaner), and self-cancelling indicators etc.

But something like having a quick-shifter is not going to benefit me one iota. I'm not one (anymore) to ride a race-bike with lights, and I don't ride aggressively enough to require that extra micro-second of putting the power down.

In the future I'm very likely to buy an electric bike for commuting if I can find one that's affordable enough, and offers the performance spec required.

[MrLongbeard]

One gripe I have is we can have a bike practically make our dinner for us and connect us to the office but they don't come we automatic chain oilers?? Its 2020 and we still have to manually lube the drive train. For an extra 50 quid on the price they could easily set up a nicely hidden, well set up system.

Chains ??? not a problem

[cheb]

It depends on the bike, some look better with RWU forks and some better with USDs, likewise twin rear shocks or a monoshock. Yep. it's all about the looks for me, when I can ride my current bikes to the limit then I'll think about traction control and the rest.

FI or carbs? Carbs are easier sorted by amateurs like me, granted they might need sorting more than FI.

Aircooled is prettier and simpler, but less power and reliability. Fine for a small 4T, less so for a 2T.

Bowden cables or fly by wire? A bit like the air cooled choice really.

CDI boxen over points and manual advance/retard any day.

I've no experience of hand gear change bikes to express a preference between them and foot change.

[hilldweller]

KISS.

It's alright for those who can keep buying new but think of that all singing all dancing brilliant bike a few years down the road when you have to scrap it because of a blown transistor in a black box which costs more than the bike is worth.

ABS, oh yes, a life saver on a bike. The rest, not needed on real roads where there are cameras everywhere, heavy traffic and idiots staring at their car screens trying to turn the heat down and answer a text at the same time.

But the goal posts are moving, an electric bike has to be loaded with electronics.

[Tomcat]

I suppose you could call me a reluctant adopter. I like simple bikes, and the more owner maintainable they are the more I like them. That doesn't mean I want to be in the garage all weekend with an unreliable POS, just that if something does go wrong I don't want to be forced back to the main dealer and hugely overpriced non repairable electronics. ON that basis, in some respects I should have bought an old DRZ for my Magadan jolly, but I've heard too many stories of old bikes shitting their guts in the middle of nowheristan, and if you want something "new" you're pretty much forced to have all the electrickery.

My current bolide has electronic injection and ignition, fly-by-wire, ABS, lean sensitive traction control and cruise control. All of which makes for admittedly a very nice bike to drive, but god help me if some critical little sparky component decides to crap itself by the roadside. Hopefully, modern electronics being quite reliable these days, it won't.

[KungFooBob]

If the ABS fails and the bike is still rideable, fine. If the traction fails and the bike is still rideable, fine again.

If it's going to cost a million pounds to fix, then I'll make do without those features.

The problem is if the 'warning lights become an MOT failure.

[Dodgy69]

In the future I'm very likely to buy an electric bike for commuting if I can find one that's affordable enough, and offers the performance spec required.

That could be a while then...

At the nec bike show last year I spoke to the super soco lads and was not convinced their bikes were worthy of investing. Don't think they were tbh. There cheaper than the other brands but range and performance was poor. Maybe a moped replacement.?

Zero makes some better bikes but more expensive. Good performance, still questions over range but tempting for some.

I know HD do the Livewire but what about the japs. Have they made any ?, i haven't read anything if they have.

As been said above, as bikes become more complex with gadgets or electric motors with batteries, the second hand market will surely suffer, far too risky.