Sycamore
Pack Dog
I've realized I have a phobia of technology on bikes. My whole biking history has been basic, simple carbed thumpers. My first 'real' bikes were XT500's in 80's and 90's. Then an SR500 which is basically the same thing in road trim. Then I went through ten years of exclusively XR650R's.
With these bikes everything simple, visible, accessible, easy to understand. One carb, one piston, one cylinder, one exhaust doof doof doof and that's the way I liked it. No unnecessary plastics, no computers / ecu / fuel injection.
Now my XRR days are over I'm faced with the reality of getting a more sensible bike for longer distance 2-up riding & exploring backroads. So I find myself looking at the usual suspects, DL650, Transalp, etc. But all I see is mountains of bizarre alien plastic, onboard computers, scary twins with fuel injection (what?), everything digital. Just seems like so much more to go wrong, so much unnecessary (really unnecessary) complexity. Like, I'm used to looking into the fuel cap and sloshing it around to tell me how much fuel I have. Do I really need a computer has to tell me? So much wiring and sensors everywhere. I can service and XT or XRR myself, now I'll need an IT specialist to diagnose a misfire. Am I nuts? Anyone else had bike technophobia and recovered? What's the best adventure/touring twin for someone who hates computers on bikes and huge plastics hiding everything? Or should I just get with the program and trust this stuff.
I once rode an XT from jhb to Cape Town, bike broke down at Three Sisters, within 20 mins I figured it was ignition coil, had a spare, fitted it by the side of the road with one spanner, and off I went. If that happened on a modern twin I'd be looking for someone with a trailer to take it 300km to the dealer.
With these bikes everything simple, visible, accessible, easy to understand. One carb, one piston, one cylinder, one exhaust doof doof doof and that's the way I liked it. No unnecessary plastics, no computers / ecu / fuel injection.
Now my XRR days are over I'm faced with the reality of getting a more sensible bike for longer distance 2-up riding & exploring backroads. So I find myself looking at the usual suspects, DL650, Transalp, etc. But all I see is mountains of bizarre alien plastic, onboard computers, scary twins with fuel injection (what?), everything digital. Just seems like so much more to go wrong, so much unnecessary (really unnecessary) complexity. Like, I'm used to looking into the fuel cap and sloshing it around to tell me how much fuel I have. Do I really need a computer has to tell me? So much wiring and sensors everywhere. I can service and XT or XRR myself, now I'll need an IT specialist to diagnose a misfire. Am I nuts? Anyone else had bike technophobia and recovered? What's the best adventure/touring twin for someone who hates computers on bikes and huge plastics hiding everything? Or should I just get with the program and trust this stuff.
I once rode an XT from jhb to Cape Town, bike broke down at Three Sisters, within 20 mins I figured it was ignition coil, had a spare, fitted it by the side of the road with one spanner, and off I went. If that happened on a modern twin I'd be looking for someone with a trailer to take it 300km to the dealer.
