Ride by wire lag?

[FoolsErrand]

Hi all,

I had a slightly disappointing test ride at the weekend, thinking I was on a dead cert purchase which in the end fell short. One of my gripes was the slight delay in the ride-by-wire throttle response. It wasn't severe but a good distance away from the immediacy I have on my cable-throttled bike. FWIW the new one was a 'premium' larger engined twin vs my 8 year old boggo commuter with it's smallish twin.

Is it a general thing to meet Euro 5 standards, or a feature of some but not all modern bikes? Just to be clear, it's not a fuelling thing, not a ride mode map thing, just a slight lag. Almost all my cable/RBW cars have behaved similarly. I can live with it in a mundane car, but it'll piss me off on a bike if I don't manage to get used to it.

[H40405J]

What bike was it?

The combination of RBW throttles and the continued ‘need’ to meet Euro emissions targets has meant fuelling on bikes has gone backwards in the last couple of years.

Some brands manage it better than others.

[trickywoo]

Some flyby wire throttles have a built in slack by way of a gap before the sensor picks up movement. It’s quite often a poor attempt at replicating the feel of cable slack. A lot of people remove it with a simple plastic spacer.

I wouldn’t describe it as lag but the feeling of the throttle connection wasn’t great on my superduke when it was new. As it’s run in it’s got a lot better and I don’t think it’s me getting used to it. Not sure what to attribute it to but it’s definitely better.

[FoolsErrand]

I'm annoyed I can't say with certainty if it was only from completely off throttle or if it was from part throttle too.

[Steve Bass]

trickywoo said:

Some flyby wire throttles have a built in slack by way of a gap before the sensor picks up movement. It s quite often a poor attempt at replicating the feel of cable slack. A lot of people remove it with a simple plastic spacer.

^^^This is very often a basic cause but it can also be down to the quality of the electronics and the processing power of the ECU. Depending on the map cells provide din the ign and fuel cell matrix, the ECU's determination of values base don neighbouring cell interpolation can get a little fuzzy so small throttle inputs might not result in an accompanying fine control. It can also be down to sensor calibration, etc which might improve with a service rest or self learning over time
Make and model might be useful....

[hiccy18]

Could it have been the riding mode? A lot of RBW setups have different modes where the throttle response is deliberately dulled. My boxer BMW has been on Dynamic since purchase, I never user Rain or Road.

[Linksmas]

I think its an emissions thing and the ECU trying to stay in closed loop as long as possible.

[FoolsErrand]

I'll have to do some more test rides I guess, but I think I'll find it hard not to favour those bikes with a cable throttle, even though it shouldn't really make any difference.

[Al Gorithum]

Personally I wouldn't go back to cable. Most RBW bikes have adjustable performance settings which include throttle response (technically Throttle Translation) and throttle angle. Plus I like cruise control for average speed cameras and long distances.

[FoolsErrand]

I don't care for different throttle maps, but cruise control would probably sway me if any of my options had it.

[Jap90s]

Frequently done to prevent "snatchy" low speed riding and frequently it can be mapped out

You'll have to ask / google on the specific bike

[black-k1]

Linksmas said:

I think its an emissions thing and the ECU trying to stay in closed loop as long as possible.

I think this is more likely the main cause of the issue. Both of my H2 SXs had a "slight delay" from off throttle to on throttle with on throttle coming in with a bit of a "bang" even when trying to be very gentle. My re-mapped ECU in the first bike changed all of that. Reaction was instantaneous (in fact, a little too quick for road riding in sport mode) and off to on throttle was smooth and easy.

[Redline88]

It’s been asked a few times but what bike was this on?

[nomad63]

Redline88 said:

It s been asked a few times but what bike was this on?

+1