Originally Posted by
motorbyclist
WOW - just finished reading the whole thread. some concerning issues here:
Dangerousbastard has a good idea with the "yes, that was close" light.
Bogan:
What riding experience do you have? Seeing you own a dirtbike I thought you would understand how utterly unpredictable traction can be, but i think you really need to consider that the only times this device could really help a rider is when they've hit something unexpected and unaccounted for. this is why i like DB's slip detecting "don't do it again, son" idea.
Also, a 600cc or litre sportbike are VERY unforgiving beasts. Dunno if you've tried riding them but tyre temp and road condition are VERY important factors if you ever find the balls and road required to ride one properly. obviously they aren't learner bikes, but we're all learners - even the racers among us.
How much experience with learners have you had? Over my decade of riding and moreso the last few years with the UofA motorcycle club, I have had the pleasure (and horror) of teaching/training many "Learner" riders and observing other's doing the same.
Allow me to generalise:
Many learners are overly cautious, and will never need an "ideal traction" indicator; these learners ususally crash because something unexpected happened and/OR they left their comfort zone, panicked, and crashed where in most cases the bike was perfectly capable of getting them out of trouble. They eventually learn/grow out of it to become your average, competent motorcyclist, but occasionally they develop into the other type of learner....
The fearless and/or oblivious learner; The fearless are the guys that will TRY to max out your detector, then blame YOU for the inevitable crash. they are also the guys (usually young) that honestly have no concept of how dangerous a motorcycle is, often even after a serious injury. They will often ride a bike far outside their skill and licence level and if doing so they are nearly always uninsured. Many call them Squids. They cannot be taught as they do not listen, and watching them "teach" is a pretty difficult thing to watch, especially if the trainee is the cautious type who will forever more be afraid of bikes.
The oblivious also don't realise how dangerous a bike (or more often, a scooter... and much more commonly a car or SUV) is and crash due to simply not thinking/looking when they change lanes or enter wet off camber corners. Seen those scooter riders in the city wearing miniskirts, tank tops and open helmets, weaving around their lane while txting? perfect example. If they had a traction meter they either wouldn't use it, OR would follow it religiously despite the wet mud and gravel on an off camber corner.
So based on my prior experience, in my honest opinion, this device will cause more injuries than it prevents.
DB's slip detecting "don't do it again, son" idea will help ALL of the above riders in some way.
Your device does not and likely can not work on idiots, and everyone who isn't an idiot has more important things to be learning; very few riders practice emergency stops (yourself included judging by your prior admission)
myself, I started as a cautious learner as a kid on a dirtbike, but became fearless upon learning the road rules. After a few years of narrowly avoiding death I've calmed down to become a reasonably responsible rider (for which i have KB, rider training, watching other people bin and spending 3 years close to 100 demerit points to thank). I can honestly not think of ONE time when your device would have helped me - learning how to crash/control a dirtbike and my shift of attitude is imho the only reason i'm still here today.
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). From there i should be able to figure out how viable it is. 
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