Motorcycle Electronic Rider Aids | GTAMotorcycle.com

Motorcycle Electronic Rider Aids

Lightcycle

Lightcycle

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@Jampy00 had a good thread on Quick Shifters.

It was very interesting seeing everyone's different stances on this specific electronic aid.

I thought it'd be also interesting to draw up a chart of all the gizmos to see everyone's opinion, whether it's

a) useless to me
b) nice to have, but not a deal breaker
c) would not buy a bike without one

for ABS, Traction Control, Cruise Control, Hill Assist, Wheelie Control, Quick Shifter

For me:

ABS - b
TC - a
CC - a
HA - a
WC - a
QS - b
 
Lightcycle said:
@Jampy00 had a good thread on Quick Shifters.

It was very interesting seeing everyone's different stances on this specific electronic aid.

I thought it'd be also interesting to draw up a chart of all the gizmos to see everyone's opinion, whether it's

a) useless to me
b) nice to have, but not a deal breaker
c) would not buy a bike without one

for ABS, Traction Control, Cruise Control, Hill Assist, Wheelie Control, Quick Shifter

For me:

ABS - b
TC - a
CC - a
HA - a
WC - a
QS - b
Click to expand...
ABS - b (leaning towards C for a modern street bike, every little bit helps keep you alive. I wouldn't avoid a vintage bike because it didn't have abs).
TC - a
CC - b (Vista cruise and throttle rocker work for me)
HA - a (and if it is intrusive and can't be disabled, I don't want the bike)
WC - a
QS - b (leaning towards a for most bikes I would want on the street. For a track bike or a bike with a small engine, it could be a riot).
 
B across the board for me. Hypothetically anyway, as I've never owned a bike with a single one of those features. Not really intentional, I swear lol
 
TwistedKestrel said:
B across the board for me. Hypothetically anyway, as I've never owned a bike with a single one of those features. Not really intentional, I swear lol
Click to expand...

Still an important data point.

I suspect for a lot of riders who started out, or are still on motorcycles without any rider aids, unless they've had a specific bad experience (over-throttling out of a corner and low-siding or panic braking into an intersection), they're going to either say a) or b) for all.

And I'm guessing for new riders who have always had all of the aids on all their bikes, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess they're going to say b) or c) for all.
 
ABS b
Last bike i owned with ABS was my 2020 tenere. Didn't like it because i couldn't switch it off.
None of the three in my garage have any aids. I love that my Ural doesn't have ABS. Lots of fun and so much simpler to maintain.
Thinking about another Street bike. But it has ABS too. :(
 
Funny, a lot the bike reviewers for the big channels that get to review the latest and greatest in electronics are seeking out older liter bikes. The manufacturers went across the threshold making them unridable at 200 plus WHP and then added all sorts of things to slow them down... making a new liter bike $10,000 more than one of ten years ago... thus making superbikes / sportbikes too expensive thus slashing their own throats and killing the sport.

Number one rule in business...never cannibalize yourself.

The kicker is the ten plus year old bike is only seconds off the tricked out IMU bike. In some cases, (K5 vs new Ducati Panigale) , the K5 beat it...no matter what Ducati's excuse was...their flagship bike was beaten by an 18 year old legend.

B) Across the board

The guy formerly known as Mladin.
 
Instead of being distracted on your phone you get distracted by all the options you can play with on the bike 🙈

1692238242967.jpeg

ABS - A for a big bike
Traction Control - B (must be able to turn off)
Cruise Control - B
Quick Shifter - B
Hill Assist - C
Wheelie Control - C
Suspension settings - C
 
I'd also throw these onto the list:
- switchable power modes - A
- slip/assist clutch - B. Nice to have for the lighter clutch pull on any bike, but the slipper isn't really required except on a trackbike.

ABS - B, but more likely C for any modern street bike. Depends on the implementation though. The ABS is so bad in my car I wish I could disable it.
TC - B. I would have said that this depends on the bike, except I highsided myself in the rain at Mosport over the weekend on a Ninja 300 of all things. It is nice to have on the XSR900 on the street even when it's dry.
WC - B. Definitely depends on the bike. The wheelie control is tied to the traction control on the XSR900 and it's really quite good. Two levels of intervention lets you feel like a hero without worrying about looping the bike. And it can be turned off entirely.
CC - A. I don't even use cruise control in the car. A throttle rocker or a throttle lock are fine on the bike.
HA - A
QS - A on the street. B or maybe C on the track.
 
Thanks to @Lightcycle for the mention.

ABS - a
TC - a - can be turned off
CC - b
HA - a
WC - b
QS - ? - bike does not have it
 
I've never owned a bike with any of the electronic aids in the list. My car has ABS and TC and I like the ABS, but hate the TC. Fortunately the TC can be turned off when having fun with the AWD in the snow.

As far as consideration goes when looking for a bike, here's my list:

ABS - B
TC - A
CC - A
HA - A
WC - A
QS - A
 
On a car/truck, all a's except for cruise control is a 'c'.

On a bike, I want none of these. All 'a', but I've never had CC on a bike, so I'll call that a 'b'. It would be nice to be able to rest my right arm now and then on long rides.

I recently went to Kincadine, a 3 hour ride one-way, to visit my sister. My right elbow has felt swollen since. I think I just talked myself into a 'c' for CC. I wonder if there's and aftermarket option for a Katana?

Come to think of it, isn't CC illegal in Canada for motorcycles?
 
WestBrantKid said:
On a car/truck, all a's except for cruise control is a 'c'.

On a bike, I want none of these. All 'a', but I've never had CC on a bike, so I'll call that a 'b'. It would be nice to be able to rest my right arm now and then on long rides.

I recently went to Kincadine, a 3 hour ride one-way, to visit my sister. My right elbow has felt swollen since. I think I just talked myself into a 'c' for CC. I wonder if there's and aftermarket option for a Katana?

Come to think of it, isn't CC illegal in Canada for motorcycles?
Click to expand...
Vista cruise and a throttle rocker. For less than $50 you have all day comfort.
 
WestBrantKid said:
Come to think of it, isn't CC illegal in Canada for motorcycles?
Click to expand...
As many motorcycles sold in Canada come with Cruise Control as standard equipment, I'm going to say no it is not illegal.
 
GreyGhost said:
Vista cruise and a throttle rocker. For less than $50 you have all day comfort.
Click to expand...
Never had any luck that way electronic cruise is the way to go. So much easier and smoother I would not buy another large street bike without. And it will have cornering abs as that seems to be the standard.

Sent from the future
 
Scuba Steve said:
Never had any luck that way electronic cruise is the way to go. So much easier and smoother I would not buy another large street bike without. And it will have cornering abs as that seems to be the standard.

Sent from the future
Click to expand...
WIthout a doubt, proper cc is better. If trying to add on to an existing bike, for cost and technical reasons, I would probably never add proper cruise control.
 
Scuba Steve said:
Never had any luck that way electronic cruise is the way to go. So much easier and smoother I would not buy another large street bike without. And it will have cornering abs as that seems to be the standard.

Sent from the future
Click to expand...
Most of the "tech" on my Pan America seems to be brake and traction related.

Semi-Active Suspension
*Adaptive Ride Height (ARH)
Cornering Enhanced Electronically Linked Braking (C-ELB)
Cornering Enhanced Antilock Braking System (C-ABS)
Cornering Enhanced Traction Control System (C-TCS)
Cornering Enhanced Drag-Torque Slip Control System (C-DSCS)
Hill Hold Control (HHC)
Cruise Control (CC)
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
7 Ride Modes

*Paid Option
 
For me A across the board, except B for ABS and C for cruise control (on a touring bike). I have locked the front unintentionally a few times though never on my Tenere that actually does have ABS. Cruise control is a lifesaver when droning all day on American highways.
 
a) useless to me
b) nice to have, but not a deal breaker
c) would not buy a bike without one

for ABS, Traction Control, Cruise Control, Hill Assist, Wheelie Control, Quick Shifter

For me:

ABS - c
TC - b
CC - c
HA - a
WC - b
QS - b

Traction Control isn't sophisticated enough to work in situations where I'd want it. I'd have to play around and see if I can utilize it.
Cruise was the reason I switched bikes.
If you can't start on a hill, then you're going to have trouble when you accidentally leave the bike in second or third.
Only need this when I'm in a rush to merge into traffic.
If I was in stop and go then this might come in handy e.g. when I went through Atlanta or along the QEW during rush hour, but I try to avoid traffic.
 
for ABS, Traction Control, Cruise Control, Hill Assist, Wheelie Control, Quick Shifter

For me:

ABS - c
TC - c
CC - b
HA - b
WC - c
QS - c
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