Traction Control Turned Off

[jimxlhr8]

How many of you turn off traction control in the settings?

It really wakes the bike up when accelerating on nice dry roads 
Makes you realize that TTC is playing quite a part in everyday riding and not just when you see the traction control light.

[digital]

I always have it activated.

[Ade52]

I am not that brave. I had a ST1100 ABS TCS for some 20+ years. Before that one I owned a ST1100 for 3 weeks without TCS or ABS (you know where this is going).
I was on the way to the lakes on a single track side road (Dry Stone wall both sides), leading to Kirby Stephen only travelling about 40mph. I was just getting used to the new to me bike 2.5 years old, when I became spooked leaning into a corner and braked quite gently the front wheel went under me. I travelled alongside the bike and rolled myself into the middle of the road behind the bike and when slow enough stood up and ran behind the bike which was now rolling onto its screen and seat. I rode the bike back with gaffer tape repairs (a white van man give me the gaffer tape laughing at my stunt performance) no damage to me or my leathers helmet visor ripped off. I wanted a ABS TCS but they were very thin on the ground. Back at base realised the front and rear wheel tyre tread was full of tar to the point that the tyres looked slick. Melted tar was what spooked me and when I braked gently to avoid going into the not so soft walls instant skidding. Settled insurance and travelled 400mile for the second ST1100 ABS TCS. Never had a collision since (dropped the bike a couple of times and this TTSE once) but no moving collisions. Done some 40k touring miles on ST1100 ABS TCS and it has saved me from accident injury several times (heavy rain, diesel on roundabouts/ corners/gravel/mud on road etc). One of the reasons I kept the ST1100 for so long was because I could not replace it with a similar bike with the budget I had available at the time of looking over the years I owned it. For some reason the ST1300 did away with TCS, I always decided I would not own a heavy touring bike without TCS/ABS, I think to own a bike without after owning a bike with will only end in misery.

But you are right a couple of occasions the ABS/TCS had failed and you do feel a difference in acceleration and on one occasion I fishtailed in the middle of filtering traffic for about 200 yards fully loaded coming back from a tour, to this day I do not know how the bike did not go down or the topbox did not hit other vehicles car or truck. It took quite a while to get her to go straight it was a light rain day and the road was soaked. I stopped for a coffee asap to calm down and this is why I say you cannot go back to a non tech bike and no I never switch the tech off and repair  it ASAP when it fails.

Sorry for the long post but I thought it might be of interest.

[Saddle Tramp]

Originally Posted by jimxlhr8

How many of you turn off traction control in the settings?

It really wakes the bike up when accelerating on nice dry roads 
Makes you realize that TTC is playing quite a part in everyday riding and not just when you see the traction control light.

I personally think that Triumph did a pretty good job of calibrating the Traction Control on our Trophys, given that the only options they offered were “Off or On”. As others have mentioned, one has to be pretty adept at managing wheel spin with the system Off, given the available HP.

BMW offers varying levels of Traction Control on my GSA, and to your point, I must admit that I am fond of the controlled amount of wheel spin that it allows in Dynamic Mode, as opposed to normal. I also have the benefit of Rain and Enduro Modes as well, each of is remarkably dialed in for the task at hand. Between those options and the addition of an IMU on the ABS/TCS system, I am amazed at the improvements since our Trophys were designed. 

[jimxlhr8]

Originally Posted by Ade52

I am not that brave. I had a ST1100 ABS TCS for some 20+ years. Before that one I owned a ST1100 for 3 weeks without TCS or ABS (you know where this is going).
I was on the way to the lakes on a single track side road (Dry Stone wall both sides), leading to Kirby Stephen only travelling about 40mph. I was just getting used to the new to me bike 2.5 years old, when I became spooked leaning into a corner and braked quite gently the front wheel went under me. I travelled alongside the bike and rolled myself into the middle of the road behind the bike and when slow enough stood up and ran behind the bike which was now rolling onto its screen and seat. I rode the bike back with gaffer tape repairs (a white van man give me the gaffer tape laughing at my stunt performance) no damage to me or my leathers helmet visor ripped off. I wanted a ABS TCS but they were very thin on the ground. Back at base realised the front and rear wheel tyre tread was full of tar to the point that the tyres looked slick. Melted tar was what spooked me and when I braked gently to avoid going into the not so soft walls instant skidding. Settled insurance and travelled 400mile for the second ST1100 ABS TCS. Never had a collision since (dropped the bike a couple of times and this TTSE once) but no moving collisions. Done some 40k touring miles on ST1100 ABS TCS and it has saved me from accident injury several times (heavy rain, diesel on roundabouts/ corners/gravel/mud on road etc). One of the reasons I kept the ST1100 for so long was because I could not replace it with a similar bike with the budget I had available at the time of looking over the years I owned it. For some reason the ST1300 did away with TCS, I always decided I would not own a heavy touring bike without TCS/ABS, I think to own a bike without after owning a bike with will only end in misery.

But you are right a couple of occasions the ABS/TCS had failed and you do feel a difference in acceleration and on one occasion I fishtailed in the middle of filtering traffic for about 200 yards fully loaded coming back from a tour, to this day I do not know how the bike did not go down or the topbox did not hit other vehicles car or truck. It took quite a while to get her to go straight it was a light rain day and the road was soaked. I stopped for a coffee asap to calm down and this is why I say you cannot go back to a non tech bike and no I never switch the tech off and repair  it ASAP when it fails.

Sorry for the long post but I thought it might be of interest.

Hi Ade52,

Disabling traction control does not affect ABS and that's just fine with me. I would also leave TTC on if the roads were slippery.
After all its a great safety feature when you need it especially on a big heavy beastie like the Trophy.
I also ride my Tiger Sport 1050 mostly without TTC and have done for years.
It accelerates harder than the Trophy and is quite a bit lighter. The few times the rear wheel has spun have been very controllable and just made me back off a touch or in some cases re-enable TTC for the conditions on the day. 
I choose when to give them both full power ("ride to the conditions") based on the road and the weather.

I also suspect that the roads over here in New Zealand may offer a lot more grip than those in some other countries

[jimxlhr8]

Originally Posted by Saddle Tramp

I personally think that Triumph did a pretty good job of calibrating the Traction Control on our Trophys, given that the only options they offered were “Off or On”. As others have mentioned, one has to be pretty adept at managing wheel spin with the system Off, given the available HP.

BMW offers varying levels of Traction Control on my GSA, and to your point, I must admit that I am fond of the controlled amount of wheel spin that it allows in Dynamic Mode, as opposed to normal. I also have the benefit of Rain and Enduro Modes as well, each of is remarkably dialed in for the task at hand. Between those options and the addition of an IMU on the ABS/TCS system, I am amazed at the improvements since our Trophys were designed. 

I agree with you Saddle Tramp but between my strong self preservation mode and the grip available (on a good road with the right conditions) wheel spin just isn't an issue for me.
Disabling TTC also gives me a closer feeling of connection to the bike.
As great as the electronics are, they do dull the bike down.
On a bike so refined I prefer to have more of an instant connection to the power delivery.

 

[Fatherof2]

Originally Posted by Ade52

I am not that brave. I had a ST1100 ABS TCS for some 20+ years. Before that one I owned a ST1100 for 3 weeks without TCS or ABS (you know where this is going).
I was on the way to the lakes on a single track side road (Dry Stone wall both sides), leading to Kirby Stephen only travelling about 40mph. I was just getting used to the new to me bike 2.5 years old, when I became spooked leaning into a corner and braked quite gently the front wheel went under me. I travelled alongside the bike and rolled myself into the middle of the road behind the bike and when slow enough stood up and ran behind the bike which was now rolling onto its screen and seat. I rode the bike back with gaffer tape repairs (a white van man give me the gaffer tape laughing at my stunt performance) no damage to me or my leathers helmet visor ripped off. I wanted a ABS TCS but they were very thin on the ground. Back at base realised the front and rear wheel tyre tread was full of tar to the point that the tyres looked slick. Melted tar was what spooked me and when I braked gently to avoid going into the not so soft walls instant skidding. Settled insurance and travelled 400mile for the second ST1100 ABS TCS. Never had a collision since (dropped the bike a couple of times and this TTSE once) but no moving collisions. Done some 40k touring miles on ST1100 ABS TCS and it has saved me from accident injury several times (heavy rain, diesel on roundabouts/ corners/gravel/mud on road etc). One of the reasons I kept the ST1100 for so long was because I could not replace it with a similar bike with the budget I had available at the time of looking over the years I owned it. For some reason the ST1300 did away with TCS, I always decided I would not own a heavy touring bike without TCS/ABS, I think to own a bike without after owning a bike with will only end in misery.

But you are right a couple of occasions the ABS/TCS had failed and you do feel a difference in acceleration and on one occasion I fishtailed in the middle of filtering traffic for about 200 yards fully loaded coming back from a tour, to this day I do not know how the bike did not go down or the topbox did not hit other vehicles car or truck. It took quite a while to get her to go straight it was a light rain day and the road was soaked. I stopped for a coffee asap to calm down and this is why I say you cannot go back to a non tech bike and no I never switch the tech off and repair  it ASAP when it fails.

Sorry for the long post but I thought it might be of interest.

Good stuff..........thanks for sharing!