This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Twist-grip spring tension on ride-by-wire throttle

J

joemay7

Joined Sep 2014
3 Posts | 0+
San Jose, California
Is it possible to make the ride-by-wire throttle grip feel more like a mechanical cable-operated throttle?

This is my 12th motorcycle (4th Ducati), but first one with a ride-by-wire, and I honestly don't like the loose feel of it, and wish it had more tension on it like a "real" throttle.

I just picked up the 2013 Hyperstrada last week from Westlake Ducati (used with 5k miles), and have only ridden 400 miles on it (I flew down to Thousand Oaks and rode it home to San Jose). So perhaps, I'll just get used to it?? Feels super strange when I switch from my CBR600RR.
 
I don't see how it would be any different mechanically than a cable operated throttle. They both use springs for tension, this one just doesn't have a cable, which I don't think really adds much resistance to old school throttles.

It is definitely a race-like, shorter throw throttle, which some have commented on here. Think it's just designed to be snappy, or, dare I say..."Hyper".
 
My ride-by-wire throttle has been changed and the newest one has a harder spring. Much more easy to handle in city.
 
@ niiico,

are you sure the new throttle have a spring modification maybe the spring was faulty from the beginning? I never had a problem with the spring tension!

Last year i try the MV Augusta BRUTALE 675 with ride-by-wire throttle. There was a lot of space for improvements compared to the Hyperstrada!

Gruss Steffen
 
Last edited:
I read other threads where people said that the spring was harder after the throttle change. I tested two 2013 hypermotard and the throttle was very sensitive. Difficult to ride safely in town on bumps in sport mode. With the new one, no problem, the harder spring avoid any unsollicited twist.

There may have been a change on the product line in 2013 and you have the new version. My hyperstrada was bought in may 2013.
 
@gatdammit I believe the key difference is that on a traditional throttle, it's the springs on the throttle body or carburetor(s) that produce the tension for opening the throttle whereas on a ride-by-wire system, that tension is artificially replicated, or mimicked I should say, by some kind of coil or spring inside the throttle grip unit.

I prefer the analog old school throttle, but the ride-by-wire system includes traction control and 3 riding modes, so it's a trade off.


@niiico Was your throttle changed by the Ducati dealer under warranty, or did you pay to get a new one for some reason?


My bike is a 2013 model (not sure when it was first sold), so maybe it has an older weaker spring??
 
niiico said:
I read other threads where people said that the spring was harder after the throttle change. I tested two 2013 hypermotard and the throttle was very sensitive. Difficult to ride safely in town on bumps in sport mode.
Click to expand...

Thats why you can change the modes easiely - ever thought about it?
 
NiceweatherManni said:
Thats why you can change the modes easiely - ever thought about it?
Click to expand...

Using Sport mode, especially in town, makes it much harder to launch without having the clutch grab. I think that's why the magazines whined so much about it. You still get full power above 4K or so in Touring, so why use Sport all the time? Maybe some macho thing? :rolleyes:
 
zippy49 said:
Using Sport mode, especially in town, makes it much harder to launch without having the clutch grab. I think that's why the magazines whined so much about it. You still get full power above 4K or so in Touring, so why use Sport all the time? Maybe some macho thing? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Touring mode doesn't have the same response above 4k as sport mode. It may have the same power, but the delivery is still softer in touring mode. I use sport mode all the time, and I can tell the difference to touring mode. It makes a big difference with just using the throttle to pass somebody on the interstate.
 
joemay7 said:
@gatdammit I believe the key difference is that on a traditional throttle, it's the springs on the throttle body or carburetor(s) that produce the tension for opening the throttle whereas on a ride-by-wire system, that tension is artificially replicated, or mimicked I should say, by some kind of coil or spring inside the throttle grip unit.QUOTE]

Good point, Joe. I almost forgot about spring loaded throttle bodies. All my vehicles have TBW.
Click to expand...
 
Did I say I always ride in sport mode? I just said it is more usable with a harder spring in the throttle.

Why is there always someone to make comments on what you are supposed to do instead of discuting facts?

BTW, I don't know if I prefer the previous throttle or the new one. They have a different feeling. But I can't tell which one is best.
 
I recently had my throttle assembly replaced and WOW it is different. There isn't as much play & the spring is a lot tighter.
 
I've had no trouble getting used to my throttle spring. And I can feel no difference in roll-on performance at highway speeds between Sport and Touring (above 6k rpm). I only use lower revs in town and the 'hood, where Sport is unnecessary and annoying. OTOH, the light spring makes my unavoidable interstate travel less tiring on the right wrist. If I could make a change to the throttle action, I'd make it so it turned more than 75 degrees total... :rolleyes:
 
Bringing up an old thread, my throttle is so touchy, mid corner yesterday I hit a small bump with the throttle almost closed and it made me gas the thing and almost put me through a fence, very eye opening and it pissed me off. I can't ever make a riding adjustment like standing up without gassing it and it takes a very conscious effort to do anything smoothly like rolling on the throttle through turns. I find that the throttle doesn't really stop when letting off, takes forever to wind down when coming to a stop. I really miss cables. Are there any fixes for this yet?
 
Last edited:
Pabst said:
Bringing up an old thread, my throttle is so touchy, mid corner yesterday I hit a small bump with the throttle almost closed and it made me gas the thing and almost put me through a fence, very eye opening and it pissed me off. I can't ever make a riding adjustment like standing up without gassing it and it takes a very conscious effort to do anything smoothly like rolling on the throttle through turns. I find that the throttle doesn't really stop when letting off, takes forever to wind down when coming to a stop. I really miss cables. Are there any fixes for this yet?
Click to expand...

Do you have the 'new' throttle with the stiffer spring?
 
porkrind said:
Do you have the 'new' throttle with the stiffer spring?
Click to expand...


It's the original stock throttle that came with it new and I put in my vin on Ducati website, no recall for it. It's really unnerving, one wrong move and the thing takes off, the crappy forks don't help either, it's like the bumps are controlling the throttle and coming up to stops or to slow down the thing doesn't slow down, revs stay up for a few seconds.
I was trying to do something with one hand the other day and the bars almost got yanked out of my hand. I've been riding and racing bikes since I was 6 years old so that's about 50 years now and this bike is more difficult to ride than even some of the bikes that I had to limp home on with broken throttle cables that I had to pull manually :D:D:D I've had some hard tail mini bikes with better suspension than this bike.
I really do not like riding this thing between the crappy throttle, lousy suspension and fading front brakes that I have to pump to get to work because the rear brake is non-existent, this bike is just plain unsafe. if you can go fast on this thing, you can ride anything fast. There is no such thing as being smooth on it. I only have 800 miles on it so I will take it in for the brakes but was wondering if there was a throttle fix so I can get the dealer to do something about it. I was once told to ride around in commuter mode or whatever you call to make it smoother, ********, why even put the other modes on it then? I would have bought a 250 single if I wanted to go slow. End of rant. Thanks
 
Last edited:
Pabst said:
It's the original stock throttle that came with it new and I put in my vin on Ducati website, no recall for it.
Click to expand...

There is no recall in play, so putting a VIN into the Ducati site won't get you anywhere. The throttle replacement is a Service Bulletin, so it's just on a list of things they will check (and it can't hurt to remind them) next time your bike is in for service. You can go in at any time and ask them to look. My dealer says they actually have to inspect the part, there's no range of bikes specifically involved other that every bike built prior to the new throttle becoming standard for the 2014 is potentially looking at a swap.

It was night and day for me. Not only is the spring stiffer, making it easier to be smooth, but the old throttle was prone to coming out of calibration, making it even worse. I never take it out of sport mode now, not even in the rain.

Dunno what to tell you about the brakes. I don't need to pump the fronts to get stoppie levels of deceleration, and I have no problems getting into the ABS on the back brake.
 
porkrind said:
There is no recall in play, so putting a VIN into the Ducati site won't get you anywhere. The throttle replacement is a Service Bulletin, so it's just on a list of things they will check (and it can't hurt to remind them) next time your bike is in for service. You can go in at any time and ask them to look. My dealer says they actually have to inspect the part, there's no range of bikes specifically involved other that every bike built prior to the new throttle becoming standard for the 2014 is potentially looking at a swap.

It was night and day for me. Not only is the spring stiffer, making it easier to be smooth, but the old throttle was prone to coming out of calibration, making it even worse. I never take it out of sport mode now, not even in the rain.

Dunno what to tell you about the brakes. I don't need to pump the fronts to get stoppie levels of deceleration, and I have no problems getting into the ABS on the back brake.
Click to expand...


Cool, thanks, yep my brakes suck, no chance of stoppies ever. If the throttle can be repaired it would be awesome! Thanks again.
 
Check one of the suspension threads here for help with the forks. IMHO the rear shock is not too bad, but the OEM fork setup is from Mars.

My brakes have been great from the start. I'd try changing pads and giving the rotors a good cleaning if mine did not work. But if you have to pump them up, they need bleeding...which is not easy with ABS. I'd get onto the dealer about that.
 

Similar threads

jamiesk
Test ride from a non-owner
Replies
2
Views
2K
jamiesk
jamiesk