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[Ironhorse]

Maybe this topic has been covered before, but how many of us really need a Digital Gear Indicator?

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/gma_product.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524448777093&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374309164195&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374309164195&bmUID=1297088957737&bmLocale=en_US

Yes, the Six-Speed transmission gives us "One More", but I have to think that anyone who has been riding a motorcycle for any significant amount of time would find this to be a annoyance. What we really need are indicators that tell us useful things, but no, we get ambient air temp and now this.

Speaking only for myself, and I hope I'm not insulting anyone, but I do feel that this is all part of the "Dumbing Down" of motorcycling.

[wachuko]

At first, when learning, it is very useful...but after awhile riding, you just don't even look at it...

[AXIL]

   I agree.

[grc]

If you search both the Harley catalog and the aftermarket, you will find thousands of products that really aren't necessary or even beneficial to the motorcycling experience.  As long as people will buy the stuff, other people will be more than happy to take their money. 

I remember owning an excellent Honda product back in the early 80's that came standard with a digital gear indicator built into the gauge cluster.  For the first week it was kind of a neat thing, especially back in those days when electronic gadgets were rare in vehicles.  After becoming acclimated to the bike, however, I rarely looked at it.  I expect this add-on device from Harley will be used even less, considering you have to take your eyes off the road and the gauges to read it.  If they had really wanted to do it right, it would be mounted up by the gauges.

At least this is optional and you don't have to pay for it unless you want to.  The stuff that fires me up is crap they put on the bike and charge you for whether you want it or not.  So far my all time favorite in this category has to be the power lock feature on the CVO Ultra's.  Not only is it superfluous on a motorcycle, it's money that could have been better spent fixing some of the many shortcomings of the basic functions of the motorcycle.  How about spending a few bucks on the suspension for instance?  The answer is that better suspensions don't have the same attraction for most buyers these days that electronic toys and doodads have. 


Jerry

[Twolanerider]

At first, when learning, it is very useful...but after awhile riding, you just don't even look at it...

There may be some placebo effect to "knowing" but it can't really help anything.  What you're learning is the sound of the engine versus the shift point.  You learn when to shift up or down.  The particular numbered gear you're moving to isn't the consequential part; it's when you reach for it.  Knowing specifically which gear you're in at any given moment isn't going to help with that.  A tach would be a more important "training" tool than a shift number indicator.

[Porschestan]

It's was Standard Equipment on my bike.  Only useful for one minute maybe for a new rider...
They had an "empty" spot to fill on the instrument cluster and filled it with this.

Anyone who pay extra to have this should be given my address- Send $$$$$ HaHa

[D-N-D]

Really Why do you need it ?

[Ironhorse]

There may be some placebo effect to "knowing" but it can't really help anything.  What you're learning is the sound of the engine versus the shift point.  You learn when to shift up or down.  The particular numbered gear you're moving to isn't the consequential part; it's when you reach for it.  Knowing specifically which gear you're in at any given moment isn't going to help with that.  A tach would be a more important "training" tool than a shift number indicator.

This is exactly what I meant by the "dumbing down of motorcyling". The industry is taking a sport, and I consider proficient motorcycling to be an athletic endeavor, and isolating the rider from the most important part, the feel and the direct input. As an instructor, I am more focused on getting the rider to feel what the bike is telling them. One cannot learn to properly ride a motorcycle with their head and eyes down in the gauges or scanning lights and instruments. To me the ideal training bike would only have an engine oil pressure light in red, and a neutral light in green. Notice I said training bike, not street bike. This would allow the rider not to be distracted by buttons, bells, whistles and flashing lights. Their focus needs to be on head and eye placement, the smooth manipulation of the controls, and how the engine sounds, feels and responds under different conditions. Once a basic mastery of this forms a good foundation, then perhaps instrumentation and other controls can be introduced. A police bike has more buttons, switches, lights, buzzers, sirens, and gizmos than the average civilian would ever use. But for the first 10 days or more of motor cop school, the bikes they learn on are stripped of all that stuff. It's the same reason basic football plays are introduced and practiced in sweats and cleats. Pads and helmets come later, after the plays have been learned and the routes and positions are committed to memory.

But I could be wrong.

[grayghost731]

This is exactly what I meant by the "dumbing down of motorcyling". The industry is taking a sport, and I consider proficient motorcycling to be an athletic endeavor, and isolating the rider from the most important part, the feel and the direct input. As an instructor, I am more focused on getting the rider to feel what the bike is telling them. One cannot learn to properly ride a motorcycle with their head and eyes down in the gauges or scanning lights and instruments. To me the ideal training bike would only have an engine oil pressure light in red, and a neutral light in green. Notice I said training bike, not street bike. This would allow the rider not to be distracted by buttons, bells, whistles and flashing lights. Their focus needs to be on head and eye placement, the smooth manipulation of the controls, and how the engine sounds, feels and responds under different conditions. Once a basic mastery of this forms a good foundation, then perhaps instrumentation and other controls can be introduced. A police bike has more buttons, switches, lights, buzzers, sirens, and gizmos than the average civilian would ever use. But for the first 10 days or more of motor cop school, the bikes they learn on are stripped of all that stuff. It's the same reason basic football plays are introduced and practiced in sweats and cleats. Pads and helmets come later, after the plays have been learned and the routes and positions are committed to memory.

But I could be wrong.

That's pretty good logic    you have to walk before you run 

[Twolanerider]

This is exactly what I meant by the "dumbing down of motorcyling".

Agreed Mark.  I'm still occasionally surprised at the question of "what RPM do I shift?"  Obviously it's not the same for every engine.  But even the idea of watching the tach to shift street/cruising bike is contrary to the experience and what a rider should be paying attention to.  If after a short period of time a rider/driver isn't feeling and hearing when it's time to shift no tach or gear indicator is ever really going to benefit them.

[cvobiker]

For over $200 to tell me what gear im in...  gesh..  pretty soon we'll fall asleep riding.