Today I’m going to say my piece on ride by wire throttles, because to be honest I’m sick of hearing sycophantic bullshit about why they are so brilliant and why we should all want them so badly.
I don’t give a damn about cruise control or rider modes or any other electronic idiocity. Ive managed to ride for nearly 50 years without them and I’m still here.
If a river is a bit deeper than you expected like it was here, how do you think that ride by wire system will deal with it? It might be OK once or twice, but I would not want to count on it.
I ride alone most of the time and am often in the middle of nowhere, so knowing I can rely on the bike and its systems is something I value quite highly to be honest.
If you’ve bought a bike in the last 5 to 10 years or so, or are looking to get a brand new bike, the chances are very, very high that it will have an electronic ride by wire can bus throttle.
Personally, I don’t want a stupid ride by wire system, I want a direct link between my right hand and the fuel, and I know that might be hard to believe for some of you but I’m guessing there will be others who get it.
A cable throttle gives you a direct connection to the fuel. Even after the advent of fuel injection and the manufacturers telling me ooooh nooo you cant have full power in first, second or top gear, there was a direct connection.
Now its got so stupid that between your right hand and the fuel you have a bank of switches, servo’s, relays, resistors and connectors enough to stretch to the moon and back and I’m sick of it. It’s a recipe for disaster and a stupid unnecessary scam that most people just seem to fall for.
The manufacturers say its better, well I ask WHY?
How is it better?
So they can sell me a pile of rubbish I don’t want, then charge me more for it all despite the fact its cheap crap that costs nothing and will I guarantee 100% not last as long as a cable.
Whatever happened to if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
They say “look how neat the bars look without that nasty throttle cable”.
Really? Is that what the world of bikes now boils down to? Neat and tidy handlebars?
Looking neat and tidy won’t make any difference when you break down in the middle of nowhere, and you will at some point unless you are one of those riders whose idea of an adventure is going to a different coffee shop.
The manufacturers carry on with “you need the multiple rider modes”.
No, I don’t, I never did, and I don’t want your damn cruise control either.
My hand has done well enough for the last half a century and when it can’t, well maybe that will be the time to hang up my boots.
The way I see it, if I can’t hold onto the grip then I need to stop and take a break.
Anyway, Ill try not to rant too much, but this is another pet hate of mine as I’m sure you have noticed.
I have already done a video about the fantastic amazing TFT screens which I will link at the end. But ride by wire throttles and TFT screens have to be one of the biggest con jobs the industry has ever seen.
As an electronics engineer by trade I can tell you first hand all this crap they are selling you is as cheap as chips. Probably cheaper in today’s climate if we are honest. It may survive a first or even 2nd owner, but in time there will inevitably be problems.
So if you are one of the people who just want to splash money away every few years and don’t give a rats ass about how much things cost or how long they last then that’s fine.
But don’t come crying when it all goes wrong as soon as the warranty has run out.
Good luck finding a small independent garage that can fix it when it inevitably does go wrong too.
Just think for a minute. What do you really think costs more? A cable and throttle tube with an anchor point and sprung linkages to the throttle bodies?
Or a tiny low power variable resistor, the cheapest wiring known to man, a few shitty connectors and a chip that needs about as much brain power as a slug?
They’ve already got a servo to stop you using all the power when they don’t think its safe so that’s already paid for!
Am I bitter? I guess I am.
What the hell is happening to the motorcycle industry though?
Whatever happened to choice?
Where can I find a bike with a truly analogue mechanically driven speedo, cable throttle and cable clutch?
Now, instead, I get these ridiculous TFT displays that you can’t see half the time depending which direction the sun is in and you know I’ve said my bit on them already.
I will link the video at the end.
Ride by wire throttles are simply put, an elaborate scam that most customers just seem to fall for.
Off-the-shelf electronic parts are stupidly cheap. You aren’t getting them because they are genuinely better for anything.
You are getting them because they are cheap and with a finite life span that increases the margin at point of sale and guarantees an increase in maintenance costs.
It’s just a cost-cutting measure with a bow tied around it.
Manufacturers are making these changes for one reason, and one reason only, MORE PROFIT for the shareholders.
Back in the day, you had a conventional throttle with a butterfly in the carb or throttle body.
You had to pull it using a cable that was anchored in the housing.
So you have a cable running directly from the grip to the throttle butterfly. When you twist the throttle, it pulls that cable, instantly, it opens up the throttle bodies or carb, injects some fuel and air into the engine and the whole thing goes bang, end of story.
There’s a tangible, physical, mechanical connection between the engine and rider.
Full throttle is as simple as cranking that butterfly fully open and hanging on.
If you crack the throttle open in second gear you get full whack, if you’re going into top gear, you get all the beans, not a limited trickle that is governed by some gentleman’s agreement made years ago in a world that was very different .
That is why a lot of people swear by older bikes, because they have a more visceral feel that leaves you feeling connected to the bike.
But manufacturers decided that they knew better than us, and because people couldn’t ride bikes properly anymore they decided that whatever you ask for, in most circumstances, they just say naaahhh, and you get a neutered bullshit version of the bike that you paid good money for.
All of a sudden your 500 horsepower Panigusa will only give you 100 horsepower and if the tyre starts to loose traction or woe betide the front wheel comes off the ground it cuts the bloody power completely.
Great,,,,, wonderful,,,,,, fantastic……. Just what I always wanted from a performance bike.
Why? Because they play to the lowest common denominator, some idiot decided we all have to suffer because another bunch of stupid idiots are going to kill themselves. And let us be real, they will do that anyway, even if they only have 50 horsepower to play with.
Its called natural selection.
But because there are always some people who can’t be arsed to learn how to ride motorcycles properly anymore, we all have to suffer.
Now don’t get me wrong, I know its not that simple, twenty years ago, 150hp at the rear wheel was something special. Now you have H2R’s, Panigale V4’s, Aprilia V4’s, SuperDukes and a big bunch of new bikes that will throw 200hp at the rear wheel without thinking about it, and that a big difference.
Manufacturers spend their time worrying about creating the next widow-maker, trying to stop a load of people killing themselves and sullying the name of the brand. When in reality it can be one of the best marketing tricks of all.
People go and do their bike test, or not even that in many States a lot of the time, and as soon as they have the credit line they go and buy one of these incredible machines on a PCP deal from some slimy car salesman. That means they will never own it, so they don’t give a damn from the start, and then they just start ragging it around without a clue.
All the gear and no idea as they say.
The manufacturers don’t want to see an increase in crashes every year or their customer base will keep getting smaller even faster, and if that happened the governments of the world would for once unite, and we would all get stuffed with a flat limit on speed, horsepower or both.
So they neuter the bikes to make sure that there are control systems in place to try and mitigate the losses and stop you killing yourself.
All the time making these new 200hp bikes behave like they only have 100hp.
What is the point?
You buy a 200hp bike, but you get the performance that many older less powerful bikes had in the real world, but because technically you have extra horsepower on the spec sheet you sit there drooling, and they can charge you more for the bike, because a 200hp bike has to be worth more than one that only produces 150hp. And the insurance companies have a field day too.
There might be a few situations when they might possibly let you have all that horsepower, but they will be few and far between and very often not when you want it at all.
Its just another case of catering for the lowest common denominator. Because there are dumb shits in the world we all have to suffer.
Am I being cruel or heartless when I say tough, let em crash.
Maybe, but it might help teach them something.
What it means in reality, is that now instead of that direct link between hand and go juice they have added a pile of electronics, a secondary throttle valve, an electric servo motor connected to worm gears, all controlled by the ECU and limited by rider modes, traction control, ABS, anti wheelie and launch controls, a 6 axis IMU and god knows what else.
What all this does is basically put a load of garbage between your hand and the fuel. It gives you a maximum limit, so your throttle controller decides where the upper limit of your power will be, NOT YOU.
It really is as simple as the industry is dumbing itself down, instead of encouraging people to actually learn how to ride.
Let’s cut to the chase, Rider modes don’t ever give you more power.
Sport mode or Race mode or whatever marketing shite they spout is just the power you would have got if the bike hadn’t been neutered at the factory.
Theres no magical switch that just gives you more power, that’s just how they are marketing it.
Lets say you are out riding one day and decide you want 100% of the power, maybe its a fast overtake in a minimal space or taking off quickly to get away from a busy section of road, whatever the situation, the bike says, “Nah, mate. you can only have half throttle right now”. That is unless you scroll through 6 menus and then scroll down to the 5th setting, click to confirm or worse, stop completely to set everything because it won’t let you do it when you’re moving.
All the time taking your concentration away from what you should be concentrating on, the riding and the road.
All because the computer in the bike thinks it knows that if you go past a certain point, you will lock a wheel up, lose traction, spin the wheel, pull a wheelie or go over the top of the bars, because we are all apparently that dumb shit who never learnt to ride properly in the first place.
So now, when you ask for 100%, the systems in place always keep you below the line where you will break traction, and at any given point if there’s a discrepancy between what you ask for and what it wants to give you, there is no argument or discussion. It decides.
And that is the case because the manufacturers will always err on the side of caution.
You might get ¾ of the power you asked for, but that is about it in general, and in many situations you won’t even get that.
Rain mode will turn your 1000cc superbike into a 250, and unless you have a 100% dry line, because the tires are cold or if its a bit damp, it might even feel like a bad 125.
When you set standard or rain mode, the bike is preset to control the limits of power. It can do this in many ways, but the easiest one is to just to limit the settings on the throttle.
You ask for full power, and despite all the money you paid for it, the bike says “naahh”, and gives you less fuel.
The big shift to ride-by-wire happened purely and simply to cut costs and increase profit margins. And I have no problem with companies making a profit, but this is about greed, and certainly does not make the bike or the riding experience better.
There is no immediacy with a digital system.
However fast the processor is, there is always a lag between input and output.
And if you dont believe me, isn’t that a term we keep hearing now? Over and over in almost every bike review? Name me one occasion between 1980 and 2000 when any of the motorcycle journo’s ever mentioned throttle lag? Sometimes a lag with the power coming in maybe, but not a lag between operation of throttle and response of the fuel system, because there was a direct mechanical link!
Then we have Euro 10 extra plus compliance on emissions to contend with.
Instead of giving the bike the best fuel air mixture for it to work at its best and most efficient, the ECU gives it the least fuel possible for every bang, so the mixture is weaker across the whole rev range, just so they can sell the bikes within the guidelines that the various governments of the world decide to let us have, while they are flying around in their private jets.
Just think about that.
They fly around burning shed loads of kerosene to swan off around the world talking shit about each other, while we have to put up with crap fuel and even worse fuelling, just so they feel like they have eased their conscience a bit, but that is a different rabbit hole.
With ride-by-wire systems the manufacturers have a lot more parameters they can tweak, so they can pass Euro emissions regulations much more easily, its like a cheat code for them, and easier and cheaper than implementing genuinely new and more efficient engineering.
Putting it bluntly, it saves them a shit ton of money which they can then pass on to their shareholders to keep them happy.
It’s all about profit.
It means you don’t need any of the cable mechanism at all.
Then you get every other magazine review telling you how wonderful it all is and screaming that “It’s got a ride by wire throttle” as though that’s some sort of wonderful jump in progress or groundbreaking technology, while still saying stupid things like “the lag on the throttle isnt too bad”.
I don’t want the lag on my throttle to be “Not too bad”! I don’t want any lag at all.
Can you imagine the carnage if the old 2 strokes like the 500 Gamma or TZR 250 had a lag on the throttle like most of today’s bikes do?
But I guess with traction control and anti wheelie shite even some of the idiots will survive, At least they don’t need to learn how to use a throttle properly.
The manufacturers will use many excuses for the price hike, they will tell you, “There’s all the wiring.” Well once upon a time when they used thick copper wires that might have been relevant, but now its all on a low voltage canbus system where the wires are about as thick as my pubes if they are lucky, and most of it is already there anyway.
They get rid of the need to design and manufacture all sorts.
Just with the throttle cable alone, you have people who make the actual wire cable, the outer sheath, the ferrules, and the nipples if i’m allowed to say that by bloody youtube.
Then they replace it with a few tiny strands of wire in the loom. Its off-the-shelf wiring that is used everywhere, and it’s so cheap you wouldn’t believe it.
Even the cost of the chips are peanuts these days, because they aren’t complex high power chips, they are the lowest of the low when it comes to performance. They wouldn’t even power a ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64.
Another thing they can do now is control engine braking by reducing pumping losses. Because you don’t need to control the throttle, the computer does it for you. So, when you pull the brake or let go of the throttle, the ecu cuts the fuel, but also opens the throttle bodies slightly to reduce the effect of the engine braking.
And remember, it is doing all this not you, in almost every modern bike.
As soon as you start to move thinking a nice ride is just what I need, the damn computer says wait a second, then OK, now we can go, but you will always get that bit of lag however good the electronics are.
There’s loads of different systems, and they will come up with endless mind boggling marketing terms to make them sound like everything you’ve ever wanted, then charge you extra for them when in reality, you never really wanted them and its as cheap shit anyway.
Its all about the bottom line and making things cheaper for them, because that means more profit.
The cost of a variable resistor and a few wires is nothing compared to designing and making a mechanical linkage.
They will probably tell you that you’ll get better throttle response, but that’s bullshit again, you can’t get more direct than pulling a cable, and if you want quicker response, you simply buy a fast action throttle, its that simple.
There’s a physical connection.
The engine does what I tell it, instantly, most of the time at least.
I control it.
Whereas nowadays, it’s like you’re on an old telephone system and you call the operator saying, “Can I go faster please” And the operator says “Okay”, as long as they haven’t gone out to lunch or its your wife and she thinks your having an affair, or the dog shat in the hallway and she’s just in a bad mood that is.
Then we get the Reliability & Safety Argument.
Well way back when, you had a throttle cable, some simple pulleys and springs, and that really was about it. Now you have fixed and variable resistors, connectors and wire contacts to get the signal through the loom to your ECU. Then that ECU has to send it out again to an electric servo motor via a relay. Then the electric motor moves the springs and pulleys, and that’s before you get to the actual throttle plates.
There’s far more things to go wrong in more different places than any mechanical system.
And as well as the increased risk of failure, you have a nightmare diagnostic ritual thrust on to your plate.
There are so many potential places that something can go wrong it is stupid, unnecessary, and not what I want, especially if the fault happens in the middle of nowhere.
People will say, “Yeah, but I now don’t have to look after a throttle cable”.
What the hell? What have you ever done to maintain a throttle cable other than grease the nipples, but I guess you don’t have to change the cable every 50,000 miles or so.
Personally I don’t think anyone has ever said, “Wow, this has got a ride by wire throttle, so I won’t have to pay for that throttle cable that I pay for once every 10 years or so.
I’m not saying throttle cables never give up the ghost, but its such a rare occasion that it is insignificant when compared to the breakdowns caused by stupid electronics.
All the shit about rider modes drives me mad too.
If I buy a bike that says it has 120-odd horsepower, I want every last one. I don’t want an 80hp bike with an extra 40hp if I can navigate 3 menus using cheap shitty switches in motorbike gloves and I have half an hour to waste before I start.
If I go to buy a bike out of a showroom, or even a secondhand bike that somebody hasn’t tuned, I’m governed by the tuning of the manufacturer’s and the electronic jiggery pokery they’ve done so that at the 56.6 mph emissions test point it produces a tiny little bit less carbon, screw the fact its running so hot its boiling the oil off at a faster rate than America did in the oilfields of Iraq during THAT war.
That’s not mentioning the stupid gear ratio selections that are only made to pass emissions regs too. But again, that is a different rabbit hole.
So many bikes now arrive with a stuttering throttle response that there is no wonder new riders get put off and don’t want to join our dying ranks.
You get dead zones where they have made the mixture so weak it hardly has any fuel at all, its a shit-show, with most new bikes needing a full dyno tune before they will run like a bike should.
I know it’s not a simple issue and the manufacturers probably didn’t do it on purpose just to ruin your day.
But are they setting you up?.
You are putting down a lot of money to get a lot less performance than you are expecting from most bikes now. All so they can shout about it in the marketing drivel, save a few quid on parts, push up servicing costs, and pass emissions regulations.
It means every new bike WILL cost more than any listed price if you want it to actually run right.
It doesn’t matter if you buy a bog standard low capacity commuter, a superbike like the Panigale V4, or a Yamaha MT10 or one of the big cruisers. All of them will need a proper dyno run, re flash, and possibly even more to make them run right.
All so you get the choice of what happens when you twist the throttle, and some things you just cant get around, like the lag. Everyone talks about it in reviews on all sorts of new bikes, but no one is addressing the elephant in the room.
Its not about any particular bike. Its on all ride by wire bikes to a certain extent because it’s a flawed system. Ride by wire is just a scam product.
So when you buy a new bike, you should put aside some extra cash. Just to get the damn thing you paid a fortune for running right.
To be honest, it is starting to baffle me why anyone would buy any new bike anymore.
Can you deal with it? Yes, you can. Will cost you? Yes in one way or another, especially if you intend keeping the bike long term. Can you ride without doing it? Yes, sure. Do most people notice? Hmm, that one I’m not so sure on, I do, but I have learnt I am a lot more finicky than some, and i’ve ridden so many bikes I notice things other people don’t.
Nearly right is just not right when it comes to tuning as far as I am concerned. So where is the line between right and wrong drawn? I guess that is personal.
How many times have you heard journo’s talking about new bikes running “A LITTLE HOT” though. That in general is the result of overly lean fuelling, and all that extra heat every time you ride does nothing for the long term performance and reliability of any motorbike.
I know a lot of people will come back at me saying you haven’t tried a duke 1390, or a spanigale V4 or a new Aprilia, YamaBusa or whatever.
The reality is, this is not about specific bikes, its about the tech that they are sticking on everything nowadays.
The reality of modern day bikes is that the manufacturers save money on production by using ride-by-wire throttles, and pass the cost of making it work right down to you.
How is that considered OK?
Now I am not telling you that you need to go out and get your bike tuned. That’s completely on your own terms and up to you. But tuning is not just about going faster now. If you have any throttle jerkiness, delay or flat spots across the rev range, it is probably your only real option.
Do I think it’s worth tuning your bike? Yes, If you’re going to be holding on to a bike for any length of time and can afford it, it really does change the rideability and comfort of your bike. It makes riding a lot more fun, and will stop premature engine wear caused by the lean fuel mixture generating excess heat.
So, anyway, that’s what ride by wire throttles actually do and this is why they’re used. Not because they are better, but because they are cheaper in the long run for manufacturers, which makes the shareholders very happy.
I hope that makes sense, and if you’ve got any opinions on this topic, just let me know in the comments below.