CAN BUS

[toolinalong]

In another post CycleRob writes:
"The CAN-bus system power management would not allow this short to happen and the maintenance free sealed battery is very less likely to leak when tipped on it's side. Also, with the CAN-bus system there isn't that many wires!! Only just a few. I'm seeing benefits of the safety, simplicity, self diagnostics and lower cost of that new system, especially now that the costly vulnerabilities of complexity and serious flaws of the old system surface. It's a technological advancement comparable to breaker points and digital electronic ignition. On my F800ST, even the 1,300 RPM fast idle on cold engine start-up isn't that fast, yet it immediately runs dead even and very smoothly because it has such precise programming and component control. Even if I hold down the starter button and then turn on the key . . . . the starter runs a ½ second later, the engine starts immediately and it goes thru the tach/speedo full needle sweeps and sequential test of all the indicator lites. No throttle, no intervention required. Knowing much of what it takes to accomplish those tasks that well, I am impressed.
Just like those ultra reliable electronic ignitions, I'm confident it will never have a BSOD, Ctrl-Alt-Del episode.

Caution: tongue is firmly in cheek at times;

I agree and the analogy between carburetors and fuel injection is very apt. Who really wants to disassemble and clean a carburetor when you can just buy a replacement component for your FI system in the unlikely event something wears out or is a lemon? Like the brass shaft in throttle bodies that apparently has no bushing to wear out....but I digress.

It's called "fly by wire" I believe, like what is now standard in big airplanes, big boats, and cars to some extent. It means no more analog controls, and no direct contact with mechanical/electrical components.
You turn the "input device" (steering mechanism) and the motion gets converted to 0's and 1's by some kind of electronic chip or something. It is still electricity (which is the movement of electrons in a wire) that connects devices. Unless of course it is fiber optics, in which case it is photons and electrons. In all cases this has proven to be a more reliable and long-lasting and maintenance free way of talking.

Until something does go wrong, which undoubtedly will be rare. Then just call the tow truck and get out your wallet, cause you sure as heck are not going to diagnose and fix the problem by the side of the road, and BMW is not likely to be selling many of us those computers which tells them what is wrong. As an added bonus there is no longer a need to carry a VOM with you on your travels.

And when you want to add aux lights or a GPS, just and install the (analog) wiring, switches, and devices as a separate sub-system, no problem I reckon eh?
Oh that reminds me, there won't be any of that fault code stuff happening with CAN Bus will there? The kind you get now when the brake warning light goes on if it senses you put an LED bulb in instead of an 1157. Gosh I hope not.

Once again I am so glad we have folks like ChiTown and CycleRob who are willing and able to be the guinea pigs for us all. I look forward to reading of their experiences (or lack thereof) with CAN-bus. But is there any way we could get CycleRob to ride more and put more miles on his F800 then he was able to with the R1150R, so that those of us who ride a lot would know before we buy how far we could expect to go before problems start to arise? How about we set up a traveling tech day thing?

All things in life consist of trade-offs at some level or another, but the digital age has made those trade offs a different type of experience.
For myself I am getting tired of my computer guessing what it is I want to do next. I turn that feature off whenever possible.

Who was it who first said "the best thing you can buy for your motorcycle is gas"?

[boxermania]

toolinalong

Excellent viewpoint...... allow me to let in a little light on "fly by wire"

Let's disect the function of throtle operation, in a simplistic way.

There is a variable resistor connected to the throttle, ta voltage signal from the resistor goes to the ECU, is processed and related to a stepping motor that will in turn actuate the throttle valve accordingly.

In essence we have the variable resistor, a wearable item and the stepping motor, an electro-mechanical device that will also wear in due time. These items replace the old throttle cable, which will eventually wear out and has to be replaced at minimal cost. I'm sure that the troubleshooting and replacement cost of the other devices will be significantly higher.

What we fail to realize is that the OEM is selling us technology under the pre-emption of Reliability, that is, if the design effrt, engineering and testing have gone well, with the ultimate goal to force the owner to come back to the dealer for all their service needs.

A new bike is sold once, service visits and spares are the livelihood of the brand, rest assured that any information on the repair of the new sytems will be notavailable or next to impossible to obtain.

I wouldn't want to be on the other end of a Can Bus failure, specially if the bike is out of warranty....Psst....any nylon ties holding the Can Bus to the frame?