Wait... What? Did I read that correctly? EIGHT modes for traction control?!?! Was that a typo? How could anyone possibly need 8 modes of TC?
...and 3 modes of wheelie control? Does it measure the distance the front wheel lifts off the ground or something? Why so many? Don't you either want it to wheelie or not? I would think on and off would be sufficient for those that want it.
I just hate where all of this is headed. The manufacturers, if they actually succeed at what they are attempting to do with all of the rider aids, are going to make it to where no actual skill is needed to ride a motorcycle. After that It is going to be like that motorcycle Honda made a while back that rides its self. Just jump on and tell it where you want to go, sit back with you cell phone and start texting while you are chauffeured around by your bike. When you are not on it, the bike just follows you around like a lost puppy until you are ready to ride. When I saw that video, I was wondering if the bike would heal, sit, roll over, speak, etc. lol
Their is more involved than just lines of code in the ECU. Some bikes have separate ECUs for all of the electronic items. There has to be sensors to feed the info to the ECU, additional wiring harnesses, actuators, relays, etc. And for those that like those push button adjustable suspensions... Do a price check on what a replacement is going to cost you. Do you realize what kind of custom suspension you could get from say Traxxion for that kind of money? Might even have some money left over in some cases.
I guess I am old school. At the same time tho, I do see the benefit in some new technologies, just not the unnecessary ones, or the ones that take away from being an active participant in the ride! For example, I see benefit in TC, ABS, fuel injection, GPS, LED lighting, etc.
Yes, 8 is too much, I agree. Off is option 9. 1-3 make it so the rear needs to kick out pretty good before intervention (like Kawi mode 1), 4-6 are 'some' detection of slip and it slowly kicks in cutting/firing ignition, fuel and timing (Like Kawi mode 2) and 7-8 are rain/sissy mode that make the bike pretty much in a purring kitty cat, incapable of being accelerated hard. (Like Kawi mode 3) They'd be better of with 3-4 modes +off, but this bike is all about squeezing that extra second off of the lap time. (Even though it's not a race replica, it's the most aggressive super naked.)
Wheelie mode does know the angle of the bike, yes. The bike has an IMU (inertial measurement unit) that knows the lean angle, pitch, yaw, height etc of the bike. Mode 3 lets the least amount of lift, for the least amount of time, while 1 lets you get a foot in the air for up to 5 seconds or so. Off? With the power of that bike? Off is 'show off' mode.
Agreed that it's going to be ridiculous to see some guy riding down the road on his bike with his head buried in the cell phone. Kinda like this guy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE3XsZaL-zoIt's true there is more wiring and what-have-you on the new bikes with ECUs/IMUs and the like, but the my bike is fuggin Italian. If the spaghetti electrics on my Tuono can hold, I have little concern about a Japanese bike's ECU/IMUs/Sensors etc lasting a good while. (Or maybe that's just blind faith.)
That said, as I mentioned earlier...you can turn all of this crap off. If you want to tell the people at the gas station/forums/bike meet that you're a 'REAL' rider in full control of your ****, tell them that all of the aides are turned off. Congrats, you now have a screaming hellcat of a bike that you have to tame, instead of a purring kitten in full on nanny mode.
...since you
love over the top electrics. The Tuono (and RSV4) come with a 'calibration' mode for when you change tires or sprockets. You're to get to this mode in the menus and run the bike at 24mph in 2nd gear until 'calibrate' disappears on the dash. The purpose of it is, via Aprilia manual, THE CALIBRATION OPERATION IS USEFUL FOR OPTIMIZING OPERATION OF THE a-PRC IN CASE OF VARIATION OF THE TIRE TYPE AND THE END TRANSMISSION RATIO (PINIONSPROCKET). IF TIRES DIFFER FROM THOSE INDICATED IN THE USER AND SERVICE MANUAL ARE BEING USED, IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE SAME PERFORMANCE FROM THE ATC SYSTEM, IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO MODIFY THE SETTINGS OF THE SYSTEM ITSELF.
Oh, and self-cancelling turn signals. (And they don't even consider that a feature.)