Bike features: How much is too much?

[ackme]

An interesting article over on Common Tread that discusses this topic:
https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/around-town-review-2024-bmw-r-1300-gs

Beyond the utility of any one piece added technology is the cumulative effect of using all of it.
"Having to dig through more menus to use seemingly basic features of the bike, and being offered more options with arguably less adjustability than ever means something."

But at the end of the day:
"Frustrated as I am with the fog of electro thingies getting thicker, I still think it stands as a brilliant piece of engineering. For those reasons and more, no matter how far away some people ride this GS, it’ll still feel like home."

 

[mjfink420]

How much is too much? IDK, I've not found "too much" yet on a motorcycle (in a car, oh yeah, we hit "too much" a long time ago for a lot of features).

My street motorcycles are both pretty tech heavy (S1000XR and Aprilia 660). Both have 6 axis IMU, cruise control, anti wheelie/stoppie, lean sensitive TC, etc, etc. Once set up, I use up exactly 0% of my brain cells thinking about it while riding. It's just a safety net, and doesn't get in the way of riding on either bike. I will say, the BMW system setup is MUCH nicer than the Aprilia, but, again, I go in almost never to adjust any of the settings. I like cruise control on the XR, I've not really used it on the 660 because I don't do much long distance riding on that bike.

I wouldn't pay more for radar cruise control. Not sure what else is out there, but I know some bikes have that feature and neither of mine do; I don't feel any need for it.

While I would prefer a bike with a 6 axis IMU, it wouldn't be a deal breaker. I would, however, pay more to have it (I can say this definitively, I DID pay more to have it, the 660 "factory", the big upgrade was the IMU and quickshifter). Oh yeah, I love quickshifters too, that's tech that I would actively seek out on a new bike.