Patent ID: 7315779

Claim:
A vehicle comprising: a vehicle body; a straddle seat for a driver, the seat being associated with the vehicle body; a handlebar for steering the vehicle disposed forwardly of the straddle seat; an engine associated with the vehicle body for powering the vehicle, the engine having at least one combustion chamber; an electronic control unit (ECU) on the vehicle for controlling an operation of the engine; a throttle body in fluid communication with the at least one combustion chamber; a throttle valve disposed in the throttle body for controlling an amount of air supplied to the at least one combustion chamber; a throttle valve actuator operatively connected to the throttle valve and in electronic communication with the ECU; a throttle operator mounted on the handlebar; a throttle operator position sensor for sensing a throttle operator position and in electronic communication with the ECU for sending a signal representative of a throttle operator position to the ECU; and a vehicle speed sensor for sensing a vehicle speed and in electronic communication with the ECU for sending a signal representative of a vehicle speed to the ECU, the ECU sending a control signal to the throttle valve actuator based on the throttle operator position signal and the vehicle speed signal, the throttle valve actuator adjusting a degree of opening of the throttle valve in response to the control signal, if the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined maximum vehicle speed, the control signal causing the throttle valve actuator to adjust the degree of opening of the throttle valve based on the throttle operator position signal, and if the vehicle speed is higher than the predetermined maximum vehicle speed, the control signal causing the throttle valve actuator to reduce the degree of opening of the throttle valve.