Most modern systems are a distraction to the two- and four-wheeled vehicle’s operator 

Once upon a time, motorcycles had the simplest of instruments, providing a rider with only pertinent information, the most important being road speed. There’s some other important data a rider needs, like an indication of when the bike is in neutral and if the high beam is on, a trip meter to keep track of fuel, and a record of the bike’s accumulated mileage. But aside from those things, anything else being displayed is a bonus. 

Old-school speedometers were mechanical devices. A geared drive unit mounted at one of the wheel axles rotated a wire inside a cable housing, which led to the speedometer. Then through a series of gears and a spinning magnet, that rotating motion was converted into the movement of a dial to indicate speed. It also turned the gears of the odometer that counted mileage. But we’ve come a long, long way. 

The simple mechanical speedometer is long gone, replaced by electronic gauges. While some of these gauges still resemble old-school analogue speedometers with dials, they are actually digital instruments that convert an electronic signal into the movement of a dial. The signal is generated by a Hall effect sensor mounted either to one of the wheels or to a transmission shaft, and utilizes a magnetic pickup to send a digital signal to the instrument. The instrument then processes the pulsating signal to display speed and record mileage. But even that is disappearing, replaced by fully digital gauges.

Many modern instrument clusters have become integral parts of a motorcycle’s operating system. They have transformed into multifunctional information and control centres, the most advanced ones providing high-resolution images on interactive touchscreens, with fancy startup graphics and configurable layouts. Road speed has become but a minuscule part of what type of information they provide and what functions they can perform. They are no longer fed by a simple pulsating signal from a Hall sensor, but are instead connected to the bike’s ECU, which provides data from a multitude of parameters, including on the most advanced systems, lean, pitch and yaw angle information.

A lot of the information they provide is useful: Ride mode and suspension settings; navigational information; fuel consumption data; plus simpler info like gear position, time and ambient temperature. Some of the things they display are gadgety: Live lean angle; G-force level; brake pressure, etc., though that information can be useful on a supersport machine while lapping. 

While the influx of information can be very useful, the way the new instrument panels operate can be quite distracting, too. This is why manufacturers are constantly trying to improve the human-machine interface, or HMI. HMI is the hardware and software a rider uses to navigate the multiple functions of a complex instrument panel. Lots can be done through HMI, including selecting ride modes and suspension settings, connecting smart phones (yes, that’s a thing, too), and operating entertainment and communications systems enabled by the smart phone connection. Usually, the screen is operated via a joystick type controller, a four-way switch, or in BMW’s case a thumbwheel, on the left handlebar switch assembly. Several manufacturers are now offering a touchscreen, which is probably the most practical HMI solution since it provides a direct link to screen menus rather than a scroll-and-select procedure. 

It has all become very complex, and it can be very distracting, which, if you read Clinton Smout’s column earlier in this issue, you’ll know is probably the last thing you want to be on a motorcycle. Navigating several layers of menus to perform various tasks takes your attention away from the road. For this reason, many functions are disabled as soon as a bike gets rolling, though many are still active, like grip heat, ride mode selection, suspension adjustment, audio system, and others. The more steps required to make a change on the fly, the more time you must focus on the screen, which takes your eyes off the road. Some manufacturers enable voice commands through a connected smart phone to reduce the time a rider spends looking at a screen. 

Harley and Honda now incorporate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to allow riders to use several smart phone apps through the bike’s operating system; Indian has Apple CarPlay on some of its models. All three manufacturers use handlebar controls or voice commands via a paired headset to operate various functions of your phone; Harley and Honda have touchscreens on some of their models. The advantage of mirroring, at least partially, your smart phone on the motorcycle’s instrument screen is that you can use your phone’s navigation system instead of an embedded GPS system or an add-on GPS unit. 

I recently had a chance to ride a 2025 Honda Gold Wing on which I paired my phone so that I could use Apple CarPlay to enable the navigation system. The experience reaffirmed my preference for basic motorcycle instrumentation, but I’ll tell you about that in a future issue.