#electronics

BMW released details about its new Active Cruise Control system, its version of Bosch’s Adaptive Cruise Control technology. Whatever the name, the system uses radar sensors to detect objects ahead of a motorcycle and adjusts the cruising speed to maintain a safe distance.

Dear MOby,

Have you ever wanted to grab an oblivious motorist and scream “CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?” after narrowly avoiding a crash? There’s no doubt that the number-one cause of multi-vehicle crashes involving motorcycles is a car violating a motorcycle’s right of way at an intersection. “I didn’t see him!” is the frequent excuse. “He came out of nowhere!” Sure. “MAYBE IF YOU WEREN’T INSTAGRAMMING YOUR LAUNDRY LIST YOU WOULD HAVE NOTICED ME,” you scream in your fantasy dialogue. What can we do to combat the motorcyclist’s arch-nemesis: the distracted driver?

Sure, we all say that we’re going for a ride to disconnect from it all and to free ourselves from our electronic/digital chains. While I’m sure this is true for some, the truth of the matter points otherwise. More and more riders, myself included, are using technology to help them with their riding – even if it’s something as simple as using your phone’s GPS to help you navigate somewhere. Electronics, as we all know, use batteries, and batteries eventually run out unless they have access to power to recharge. This isn’t an issue if your motorcycle already comes with a power outlet, but for those who don’t? Hmm, if only we had a power source to tap into…

Guess what month it is at MO? It’s geeaar month, sergeant. The kind of motorcycle gear you wear, that is, that makes life on your bike much more pleasant no matter the climatic conditions. No doubt there will be amazing breakthroughs in the future of which our feeble 21st-century minds can’t even conceive: I’m picturing a shoulder-mounted rocket-propelled drone that deploys in 0.001-second to lift you above and away from an imminent left-turning Buick hovercraft. For now, we celebrate the 10 best pieces of gear the human race has come up with so far. Some you wear, some carries the gear you might want to wear later, some just makes the ride way more enjoyable.

The big news in the sportbike world for 2017 was the introduction of not one, but two heavily revised iconic literbikes – the Honda CBR1000RR (and CBR1000RR SP) and Suzuki GSX-R1000R (and GSX-R1000). The previous versions of both models had languished for a number of years without any major updates, most notably in the electronics department, but also in the engine bay. Meanwhile, their competitors, both in Japan and abroad, had made significant gains with their flagship liter-class sportbikes, producing some of the fastest, most powerful, and advanced motorcycles we’ve ever piloted.

Dear MOby,

Ask MO Anything! Motorcycle-related is a good place to start, but the MO staff is amazingly well-versed, collectively, on a wide range of topics ranging from, well, okay we’re not really. But we try harder. Send your questions to: AskMoAnything@motorcycle.com.

The more stuff you know how to fix, the more things fall apart. Before I started keeping not one but two flat tire repair kits on hand and a shiny new air compressor, I never got flats. Now I seem to pick up about one nail per vehicle per week. I took the old Ranger truck in to have a tire patched the other day when I couldn’t make a plug work. The next morning, the same tire was flat again. Oh, said the dude at Pep Boys upon my return, after a little investigating – there were two nails in there. Sorry.

Cresting the hill coming onto the front straight at Sydney Motorsport Park (better known as Eastern Creek Raceway), the throttle is wide open in second gear. As I click into third, the front comes up, rests at a neutral position about a foot off the ground, then gently returns to Earth moments later. All the while, the throttle was resting on the stop. Drive never felt interrupted, and despite the roughly 200 horses packed inside the new 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1, there was never a fear of being too liberal with the throttle. That’s when I knew Yamaha has just raised the bar. A lot has changed since the original R1 was introduced in 1998, and with the 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 and R1M, never has the line between MotoGP and lil ’ol me been so blurred. That’s not just a Yamaha marketing tagline, either. Valentino Rossi himself (along with American Superbike champ, Josh Hayes) had a significant role in developing the R1, with the aim to incorporate the most sophisticated level of electronics on a production sportbike. These are just a few examples:

Modern technology has radically changed our lives, and not surprisingly, motorcycling reflects that change in many areas. While maybe not directly related to the act of riding a motorcycle, our portable technology permeates much of our daily life. Look at my recent review of the Scala Rider Q3 Multiset for a place I’d never really considered to be essential to my daily motorcycle use until I experienced it. However, there is one thing that most of these modern conveniences need to do their job: power – in the form of electricity.