History

What was the origin of the DIAG4BIKE® diagnostics?

In the following paragraphs, I have tried to map very briefly and concisely the history of the car and motorcycle diagnostics and the operation of the company ATAL Tábor in this field.
It is not a complex analyzing summary, yet it is a summary of information that, in my opinion, should be known to everyone who wants to become a user of a diagnostic device.
A motorcycle club, dealer of new or used motorcycles, authorized or unauthorized motorcycle repair shop or specialized repair shop can be potential users of the device.

A diagnostic tool is Actually constituted by a PC equipped with a monitor or display where data saved in the electronic control systems of the motorcycle can be visualized. The serial diagnostics is a term depicting a diagnostics in which the aforementioned computer communicates with a control unit (or units) via the so-called serial communication channel brought out to a diagnostic connector of the motorcycle.
By reading this channel, it is possible to read data of most sensors installed on the motorcycle. Information on correct function of sensors or actuators in the form of error messages is also saved in the electronic systems. These error messages can be usually identified as permanent or temporary which may be important in the event the fault occurs sporadically and usually outside the repair shop. It is also possible to control some actuators and thus to check their functionality directly or by further measurement.
For example, it is the case of the electronic setting of a throttle, of injection valves function, of ignition function etc. The diagnostic device for serial diagnostics is basically equipment enabling a person to communicate with electronic systems of the motorcycle in the form understandable for a human being. Yet it is not only a reader. In many cases its use is indispensable for various setting functions during the maintenance or repairs, especially in the case of the replacement of some components.

There are several problems. The communication channel itself does not have unified rules for various manufacturers and models even in the case of one motorcycle manufacturer both from the aspect of electrical circuits and from the aspect of communication program. The objective is opposite. There is a tendency to make the communication system complicated enough and protected in a certain way so that this diagnostics was available only for the authorized network of the motorcycle manufacturer. This diagnostics is used to be called “Official factory diagnostics“. Official factory diagnostics is oriented almost exclusively on one make, it is very expensive and despite its expensive character it is mostly unavailable outside the authorized network.

The solution is a multi-make diagnostic tool for motorcycles developed by ATAL, a specialized company which has been operating in the field of diagnostics of cars and emission stations for almost 25 years.
The company ATAL in Tábor commenced the development of a new project of the motorcycle diagnostics DIAG4BIKE® at the end of 2010. The first version of this diagnostic tool will be introduced on various events in the second quarter of 2011.