Aye Derek, That C12 has done the Snow Roads route, Ballater to the Brig. of Feugh - Cairn O' Mount - Kirriemuir - Glen Isla - Cairnwell - Crathie - Gairnshiel - Lecht - Tomintoul - Dufftown - Cabrach to Rhynie - ower the Suie to Alford - Tillylodge - Tarland and Hame. 180 mile in 6 hours. Took me near 15 hours a few year back on the Colnago push bike.
Damn! We can assume from your message that you lived to tell the tale. Well done!And is the 999R OK? Your situation, where you are on great racetrack with ZERO electronic aids and circa 150bph(?) nicely highlights some of the issues around having / not having electronic aids... There are so many factors to consider, like how the bike is ridden.. "on-road" (steady pace or fast-ish riding), on-track (trackday speeds or racing flat-out), off-road riding, then theres conditions... wet, dry... hmmm...
I don’t have an issue really with modern bikes full of electronics if implemented properly, the biggest thing I struggle with is if the throttle connection doesn’t feel ‘real’ and it feels really disconnected to what’s going on, that irks me! that said, it’s more of a generation thing, I grew up in the 90’s/2000’s when some seriously game changing bikes were coming out. I was at CTL Motorworks the other day and saw this, and I now look back on them incredibly fondly…
Been a while since, last I rode with no ‘gizmos’ was a 1098 s tricolore. I respected the power delivery, not asking for too much when leaning. The brakes however, they caught me out. Locked the front. Luckily my lightning fast reflexes ‘unlocked’ the front before disaster! ( erm…or I was just lucky..) Years back, on a Euro tour me and my mate both had FZ1s. Mine an import. None abs. His a UK spec, with. A car pulled out on us in France when we were making progress. Him in front, I had to come to a stop alongside, as there was no way my bike was stopping in the same distance. Made me think about rider aids a bit more..
I agree about throttle connection. It was the thing I most disliked about my gen 1 1290 Superduke. The buckeroo suspension and squirming back end I could live with and ride around. The buffering type delay between twist grip input and delivery I could not. The wooly graduated throttle ramp, far from making the bike safer and saving over confident riders from themselves made the bike feel less controllable to me. I never knew quite what was going on at the rear tyre. A 1:1 cable throttle may bite you if you're careless but you rarely are because you fell connected to the tarmac and know exactly where you are all time.
Photograph taken in late April on the B976 Gairnshiel - Crathie road with the near 4,000ft. Lochnagar, (HRH's Balmoral Estate), in the background. Bought my first BSA C12 in 1966 for the princely sum of 25 bob, £1.25 in today's money, and now reliving past times with the addition of the Ariel, Conti. GT. and the 200SS completing the '60's and the start of an affliction with Clan Ducati. Nostalgia IS what its always been !!!!!
One of the main reasons I went for my old school 1100 Hypermotard over the newer model 939/950 was because it is a comparative dinosaur with its aircooled engine and total lack of rider 'aids'. The only modes mine has to flick through is clock, trip and total km.
I have unintentionally remained a luddite, the newest bike I have owned was an 05 S4R and that was only a year ago. I did test ride a 2017 Tuono V4 recently, the ride by wire felt a bit soft at first but was fine after a few minutes getting used to it and the quickshifter was nice, I don't think I'd be opposed to using ABS or traction control, it'd be peace of mind in the wet at least.
I have a 1100 aswell, love the engine in them , great fun machine , bought mine in 2007 a year old for 5.5 k from Ducati uk.
I was thinking about this again last night, other than liking a natural brake feel and throttle connection, I’m not sure that is the reason I’m less interested by new bikes. I think somewhere along the line they just sort of pass you by…. I’d be really keen to ride any of the v4 Ducatis, but as far as owning one or even being able to tell you that I’d need a 24/25/29 model year because Ducati have put the ‘evo’ electronics update in it, I’m not sure I’d even be able to feel it. I ride I think fairly quick on the road and can honestly say I’ve never felt the ‘basic’ traction control on my 959 kick in, or even the wheelie control on my V2. I felt the wheelie control kick in on the r1 a few times but generally when I knew I was just opening the throttle flat on accel which I normally don’t because I’m trying to feed in power and don’t want a light front wheel if I’m doing any correction on the front
I think im in the same boat as everyone else....im happily in analogue mode....im blessed to have the best of a lot of worlds.... Z1000 - Gen4 - 2014...the only one with no electronics, no abs either. Aftermarket Hm QS added. Hyper 1100 evo sp RSV4 - again the only one without the aprc pack..3 modes but its been in track mode since the ecu flashed (i had the ecu enabled QS) mod done which is awesome. SXV550 - i love the violent engagement that it gives...the most mental thing ive ever ridden. My old man's 400/4 (full motogadget wiring loom) so i get the reliability of the state of the art electronics (with lithium battery and led lights) but thats about it Ironically a few years back i had a head on with a car on the zed...usual "it all happened so fast" but if i had abs id have been fucked....the front washed out and the bike slid under the car (missing all the expensive stuff) and i went the other way...if id have stayed upright it would have been a head on....which would have destroyed the bike...i bought it back and put it back on the road. The rsv and the zed are both initial offerings that missed the electronics and are still kind of current which i like. If ever the rsv explodes ill get an 1100 motor for it...to quote Griffs words at AP workshops when i asked him which was the best RSV4 he said..."yours with an 1100 motor in it and mapped is incredible."
Quick shifters ? yes on a BSB - WSB - GP bike but for the road ? Who pays for gearbox parts and possibly medical bills following failure ? Learn hand / foot co-ordination and save a life !!
I differentiate between rider safety aids like ABS and TC and electronic accessories like hill hold, lane control, radar CC etc. The latter I can well do without. Like you, though I ride reasonably spiritedly, with the level of sophistication these days I don't expect to be conscious that they're there. Except on track where you might use rider aids to your advantage if you're skilled enough, in general road riding, however brisk, in the overwhelming majority of situations TC and ABS activation is a sign that you've lost control. The mark of a good bike with a fine throttle connection and great rider feedback is that you should be able to feel where the limits are without electronics stepping in to remind you. If you can't, either riding skills are lacking or the bike has been muffled by its own safety features and isn't communicating with you properly. The latter was the case with a vague throttle connection with my old 1290 SDR. If the situation is the former I have no objection to electronic aids as they don't interfere with my connection with the bike. I think I'd make an exception for wheelie control because unless you're nailing it on track you really shouldn't need help controlling wheel hoisting, or knowing when it's going to happen.
4 of my bikes have No electronic riding aids or ABS , 2 still have carbs,,, 3 are Ducatis an S4 ,M750, 750ssand one is a Kawasaki W800 pre 2012 and my 5th bike a Kawasaki 2022 Z900 has all the latest electronics but i dont use them or need them but its a superb machine and lots of fun
