Bob also keeps cautioning us about throttle by wire vs throttle by cable. I'm still waiting to learn the difference, if any, between a Wire and a Cable... :hun:
All I know is a wire is monofilament, while a cable is multi-strand. Usually. I think. Maybe. Maybe not? :bowdown:
I think the phrase originated in the aviation industry. Some airplanes "fly by wire". In the old fashioned airplanes, cars, motorcycles, etc.,
cables attach directly to the items being controlled. For example, when you pulled back on the stick (or wheel) in the cockpit of an airplane, a cable attached to the stick ran back to the tail section through a system of pulleys and pulled directly on the elevator which then caused the airplane to climb. With fly by wire, pulling back on the stick sends a signal through an
electrical wireto a computer which activates a servo (or to the servo directly) which moves the control surface according to instructions or parameters programmed into the system. In other words, there is no direct connection between the control and the device being controlled.
The best motorcycle example I can think of is my BMW GTL. It has three performance settings: Rain, Road, and Dynamic. There is no direct connection between the throttle control and the actual throttle on the engine. Each setting has a different computer map so if you twist the throttle while in the "
Rain" setting, the engine response will be dampened to make it less likely to lose rear wheel traction. It also increases the sensitivity of the traction control monitoring. In the "
Dynamic" setting, the bike is a monster. The BMW version of "Nanny" becomes much less intrusive and the bike's performance is ramped up significantly. The "
Road" setting is in between the two extremes. So the same twist of the throttle will have three different responses depending on which mode you are in at the time.
My understanding is that our Spyders throttle by wire and brake by wire. We twist the throttle control and computers decide how much power will go to the rear wheel based on road traction, computer mapping, etc. We press the brake pedal and computers decide how much braking force will be applied to each wheel.
This explanation may not be exactly correct, but it hopefully will help those who aren't familiar with the terms.
hyea:
It's easier for me to type, than their real names... nojoke
