As answered already, no. I think you are understandably trying to give Honda the benefit of the doubt - but it is far simpler. Honda simply refuse to allow street buyers to change what they build. Period. Simple as that - it is pure arrogance and contempt for their own customers. When I say "calibration interface" - I don't mean a programmatic or hardware compatible physical of logical algorithmic 'Interface' through which to initiate and start an electronic dialogue between critical components'. I literally mean a menu on the dash board to pick the tyre and sprocket size to allow the Torque Management to adjust its responses for different rotation rate of the rear tyre versus the expected rotation rate of the rear tyre. As in, Honda have made it impossible to confidently change sprocket or tyre size on the SC77 platform. Honda states right in the owners manual and service manual that if you ever experience ANY system issue, check tyre and sprocket size and if different to stock change back to stock and move on - problem solved. On the HRC ECU there is such a calibration interface menu, the Sport Kit Menu. The Sport Kit Menu Tyre and gearing calibration is so important for Torque Management functionality that it s the forst thing the HRC setup guide tells you specifically you MUST do - correctly set tyre diameter, sprocket tooth count and actual gearbox ratio settings. Oh yeah, the HRC Kit reuses the IMU, so that is not the issue Honda the company is the issue.
I was wondering if I could clarify the consequences of what happens if you change the rolling radius / effective gearing on a 17-19 blade / SP / SP2? Let's say I rogueishly decide to put on some 190/55 profile tyres. Not a massive bump compared to going up to a 200/60 but significant nonetheless (about 3% I think). Am I right in thinking that I could expect the following consequences (especially noticeable on track): Unpredictable intervention of traction control (may not intervene at all) Unpredictable function of quickshifter - possibly resulting in finding neutral on downshifting. Unpredictable intervention of wheelie control (it may not intervene at all) However am I right in thinking that the following electronic aids would continue to work? ABS Cornering ABS Engine power map selection Engine braking map selection Active suspension modes So conceivably if you wanted to ride on track, you might decide the advantages of changing tyre profiles or gearing still outweigh the lost function - you just go a bit more old school. Discount traction control and turn the quick shifter off. Use right wrist for corner exit and wheelie control. Get back on board with an old fashioned clutch. You still get ABS (of limited use on track admittedly) and active suspension on the SP over an 'old' bike... Obviously no good if you want to race but for casual (inters group) track day punters such as myself it may remain an option?
Put crudely, I think this might be a 'suck it and see' exercise. There have been conflicting reports (which you might have unearthed) from members changing gearing and or tyres. Whilst @RC45 is the undisputed authority on these issues - in concert with his American colleagues - there are those who have reported no issues at all with the changes you forecast. It might well be a 'luck of the draw' situation. Whilst that offers no clear resolution, it also reinforces the 'inconsistencies' with the 17 - 18 ECUs. I am not sure that the 2019 ECU would have addressed and resolved the aforestated issues. The shame is for you, with your bike as a potential track weapon, you may not be armed with adequate definitive info in preparation for leaving pit lane. I therefore loop back to my first line.
I think you may be reading the results of all our testing a little wrong. If you want to race you simply remove any doubt, replace the ECU/Harness etc with HRC components and you ditch the ABS and Electronic suspension. Notice how the moment the full calibration is available the ABS is not even an option - the ABS system relies heavily on the rotating diameter of the tyres being spot on and most serious track day folks seem to pull the ABS fuse because it is really a street safety device,not a track performance aid and it gets in the way. One of the most disconcerting "features" of the SC77 Total Control System is the ABS Rear Wheel Lift Mitigation. This will pulse the FRONT brakes and reduce breaking force when the rear wheel lifts under very heavy braking - which is normally on the fastest most hairiest and dangerous section of the track you are on and you will need those front brakes the very moment you go so fast and so confidently and go the deepest into the corner and and brake the latest - just to have the ABS system momentarily release the front brake to bring the rear wheel down.... and send you off into the kitty litter. Supposedly the RR-R is going to have a "disable rear wheel ABS and rear wheel lift mitigation" option, but lets see how Honda implement it. Engine braking is just a row in the Electronic Throttle Valve tables and as such is not wheel speed related. Quick Shifting, specifically the Autoblipper feature is 100% dependent on knowing what gear the bike is in and what the actual geared speed of the engine vs tyre is as the QS system has a built in over rev prevention component. If it either sees or determines that the next downshift will over rev the engine then the feature is disabled. So again, the unpredictable nature of the response of the systems when the tyres/sprockets are changed is the real issue. It may work in certain RPM ranges in certain gears and then not in others - for any system to be useful it needs to be first predictable then you can see if it is useful. As for the Electronic Suspension, its value on track is only realized when you statically set it so you really are not looking for the real time damping as that is also not totally consistent corner to corner. As you go faster you may also find that the range of adjustment is not wide enough to accommodate your speed. As for wheelie control, it may be more intrusive with differing tyres rather than less intrusive - or simply more harsh in its delivery. Also note that changing radius of the tyre versus the lean angle is heavily consulted when the bike tries to manage Traction Control and Wheelie Control when leaned over, so you can see how a different radius tyre will impact all areas of Torque Management. In all honesty, after we have spent 2 years debugging this platform we have come full circle in our opinion - the bike is quite good when totally stock and somewhat unpredictable when not. As for tyres, what we did notice was that some folks who either left the tyres at the stock brand/size or went to the Bridgestone RS10 DOT race tyre as specified for the RC213V-S never had any issues at all. Some folks that went with the V01 /V02 with 200 rear size also indicated no issues with QS but some had issues with TC never kicking in - However, the extra grip of the true race tyre and their advanced experience with Torque Management often set to T1 or even T0 means they may be riding around any issues. However, we have some US group members that were expecting to race their bikes that experienced very hairy slides with 200 series race slicks, that the ECU never tried to save. And again. most advanced riders seemed to have disabled ABS. Rider skill and confidence will help when certain features get disabled, but int he end if you ride the bike like it is a 2016 analog SP, why pay the premium for the 2017+ digital features? As Nigel suggests, its going to be a trial and error thing for you - it will come down to how brave you are to play test rider to find the happy medium of features to muck about with. That being said, a 190/55 Bridgestone R10 DOT race tyre will probably keep you in the sweet spot of extra traction while being close to stock profile and then see if you can enjoy all the features you paid for yeah? ***edit*** bloody hell this turned into a wall of words.. sorry about that.
Thanks @RC45 - I've got some 190/50 Bridgestone S22s on there at the moment which will get me most of the way into summer from previous experience. By then I should have a handle on how much of the electronics I end up leaning on and that'll help me make a call whether it's worth going up a size and taking my chances...
