07-29-2015, 11:29 PM
(07-29-2015, 08:56 AM)Flynrider_imp Wrote:(07-29-2015, 12:06 AM)Lord Popgun_imp Wrote: Cormanus, I do not know if you can or not. For outboards, the manufactures are all pretty much proprietary with their diagnostic machines. I THINK bikes are the same. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in.
Some few years ago, my Honda outboard dealer said the Honda diagnostic tool was EXPENSIVE.
Cars usually have ODBC II and you are right in that you can get scanners just about anywhere, but usually have a provision to read the codes by flashing too.
Yep, bikes are the same. The standard OBD II interfaces on cars are federally mandated (in the U.S.) by the D.O.T. The main reason being that they are the standard for emissions control compliance. There's no such mandate for motorcycles (yet), so most manufacturers use their own proprietary interfaces and protocols. I'm sure that one day in the not-too-distant future, motorcycles will have a (mandated) common standard too.
Yep, bikes are the same. The standard OBD II interfaces on cars are federally mandated (in the U.S.) by the D.O.T. The main reason being that they are the standard for emissions control compliance. There's no such mandate for motorcycles (yet), so most manufacturers use their own proprietary interfaces and protocols. I'm sure that one day in the not-too-distant future, motorcycles will have a (mandated) common standard too.
My view is that manufacturers should be required to make their codes available, at least to qualified service people so they can do their job properly. It's nonsense that the information should be restricted dealers. But it won't happen as it would impede the march of large manufacturers to squeeze out the middleman.
But thy won't win in the in the long run. It's just data. Some techo will quickly work out how to read bike ECUs with a plug, a cable and a laptop and then it won't be long before the codes and their meanings are everywhere. It's pretty much what Don Guhl does with ECUs.
