[Nickpilot]

4 Mode Throttle… a Con?

Well no one is telling me I’m wrong, or ‘go buy a Honda’ any more, so I guess I need a new post!

First…how I ride. I commute every day, in Kuala Lumpur. A typical big hot sticky (and often wet) Asian jammed up city. I do long trips for work. Usually a mixture of super two and three lane highway…twisting over the local mountains…..then long ‘blast it’ straight bits. Yes I like going fast…so 160kph + on the nice bends….and 230 is the max it likes to do with panniers on. It will cruise all day at 200, but does drink a lot at that speed. (We have very ‘bike friendly’ police here!) I go out with a group most weekends…a mixture a rough rural forest roads…dangerous slow twisties, and we also include some fast ‘canyon style’ sections when we can. The only off-road is on pretty good tracks…so yes…it’s ‘off-road’ but by no means ‘enduro’. I have had the bike three months and coming up to 10,000km. So I now feel more ‘qualified’ to comment than I did when I started on this bike. (Not that that stopped me…before someone else says it!)

So this one is about the four modes…and only in respect of the fuel maps and the (not really) ‘fly by wire’ throttle.

I think we are (nearly) all agreed now that there are NOT different maps for each mode, nor for each gear, (some ‘trim’ tabs, yes). So the ONLY difference in the modes so far as the ECU/maps and throttle is the ‘throttle mapping’ i.e. the relationship between how much you twist the twistgrip and the throttle opening / power delivery. That’s it.

This relationship has been an issue for ever and some old carb’s on bikes and cars used to have ingenious mechanical and hydro-mechanical systems of cams and rods and slipping clutches and springs…and accelerator pumps…and all sorts, to give the ‘linear’ (appearance) of power delivery with twist grip / pedal operation.

Now much I’d love to bore everyone with the development of carburettors and totally mechanical fuel injection….through to ‘EFI’ (Electronic Fuel Injection) to what we have now, ‘computer controlled’ fuel injection…with the ability of a ‘fly by wire’ twist grip input able to open the throttle in any which way we may desire.

So…Urban. Caps the power at 100hp so all of the twist grip motion (lets call it 90 degrees, I have no idea) is ‘spread’ over only 100 horses rather than (say) 150…so we get a ‘softer’ response. Touring. You get the full 150….quite gentle at the beginning….then sort of slow to medium through the middle, with a nice bit of ‘grunt’ to come on the last 30 degrees of twist. Sport. Other way round…you get half the power (you know what I mean…I’m sure someone will tell me it’s not half), in the first 20 degrees of twist….then pretty sedentary all the way up. Which is why several reviewers said “put it in sports mode and all hell brakes loose”. (It doesn’t really…but we won’t go into ‘reviewers’).

Now my point is, what a total and complete waste of time! Given a good and fairly linear twist grip to throttle response…and given you can open the throttle from closed to open in what? Quarter second?....then what on earth is wrong with the very clever human hand, eye, brain, backside closed-loop system simply controlling how YOU want to accelerate? So thinking that you get some wham bang special ‘umph’ in Sports mode is not true. If you wacked the throttle open in Touring…same!!

Now it’s not as if we have 500 horses to handle here. If you can’t control this beast in town in ‘Touring’ mode then I’d suggest you should go back to a 500cc something. There is totally no need for an Urban mode and thank you…even less need to cap it at 100 horses. The difference between Sport and Touring is there…but really…for what?? Your brain, hand, arse can (normally) learn the response of the throttle on your car, bike, boat or plane…and ‘manage’ it as you want…BUT…and here’s another rub. If you keep swapping modes…you NEVER get to know (instinctively) the ‘law’ between your hand and the power delivery, because you keep changing it!!

So….the motion is: “This house believes that ‘variable throttle mapping’ is now done…because it can be done, not because it’s needed, and is no use to anyone, and may even have detrimental effects on the rider / machine output”.

Now guys…lots of you may ‘like’ it…and yep…it’s a fun gimmick…and we all like fun gimmicks…but does it really give us anything over and above what a nice (I’ll call it linear..but I’ll get picked up on that) smooth twist-grip to power output ‘law’ gives us? I’d say not.

Food for thought…sorry, I was getting a bit bored!! Nick

 

[Nickpilot]

ah well yes...ABS.
Lots on that already.
I love the guys who say it makes us less safe because we ride with less caution. I wonder if these are the sons of people 30 years ago who said wearing seat belts made us less safe...for the same reason? (That being, seat belts were accused of making people drive with less care becasue they felt more secure).

Now, DTC, I need to understand that more before I really know if thats going to save me! (Like it kicks in when I aquaplane...and I'd always 'done nothing' when aquaplaning....other than pray)....and when I take off and go flying....its flashing...so am I better landing with no power? I'm not sure).

 

[Nickpilot]

Trail Bandit. You say

"When I whack the throttle open it sort of dies then decides to take off. I just figured that's it's little computer brain taking a moment to think. If so and it's not just my bike I miss the old fashioned carbs. Not a big deal though, I've learned to roll the throttle on."

It shouldn't do that. I have had heaps of issues with the fueling on this bike but now, open it, and it goes. If you have any sort fo really marked hesitation, get ti looked at. (The problem always is...who do you take it to to look at it??)

King Volcano. You sure should know when the DTC is working as the 'disco lights' come on. That's quite 'attention getting'...but if the DTC is chopping in...maybe your attention is elsewhere!!!

 

[Nickpilot]

King Volcano. How on earth did my reply seem insulting? I just find the 'flashing' DTC display, (which someone else christened 'disco lights') hard to miss. When the DTC 'cuts in'...I notice it...it does not seem to me to be a background function. When I said 'your attention may be elsewhere I was simply meaning that if you were 'slipping and sliding', sure, you may well not see the light. No intention whatsoever to be insulting.

 

[Nickpilot]

Archimedio. You are perhaps correct that I don't use Spprts Mode 'per-se'. I would call myself a 'fast tourer'...no chicken strips left, but equally no parts 'dragging' on the bends (but I really should keep my toes tucked in!)

From many replies here and on other formum it seems (most) people like the DTC and ABS as much (more?) than the modes. Also seems a fair number think the reduction to 100 hp in Urban has a lot of merit.

Thnaks everyone for the comments.

 

[Nickpilot]

I was off bikes for about five years...when I got here I broke myself back in again slowly. Had an Er6n for a year, a great fun 'get back into again' bike, then the VFR 800 for a year...no complaints about that...and now the Multi. I think I would have got myself into big trouble had I bought the MTS as a 'returning' biker...urban mode or not!!! 150hp is not a for 'returnees'...IMHO. Oh, despite some people thinking I am complaining about the Multi...I too think it is a great and fun bike...but it's very expensive (here, even moreso...100% import tax), and I just view it NOT through the rose tinted glasses of some 'Ducatisti'. Given no monetary limit...I dont think there is anything I'd rather have, well...this year!!

 

[Nickpilot]

Yep, the tax here is a bummer...but, that's the price and it does carry forward to the second hand market, so you do get it back. The compensation is pretty good mix of roads to play with all modes and, as yet, the police are pretty bike friendly (or more like their older radars can't pick up bikes...sadly I read in the newspapers that they have just bought 300 new 'radar' systems...as we know, all good things come to an end!!!