Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
They may not have had any choice. The throttle bodies and ECM are OEM'd from Keihin. The ECM changed in 2008, so it's always possible that the old ECM they were using was discontinued or the new version let Honda improve emissions so they could manufacture the ST longer. That's all speculation, though.I get all that thanks. I think it's interesting that Honda redesigned this part in the "08" redesign.
I don't think it's a case of the computer being fussy. I'd bet that there's enough hysteresis in the system that if the engine has reached operating temperature once, small changes aren't going to convince it that it needs to warm up again. The cooling system in this bike is brutally efficient, and if there's coolant flowing and wind at the radiator, the engine temperature is going to drop. A lot. The ECM has no way of knowing the cause; it just knows the engine's not warm enough and something has to be done about it. If a sensor fails outright or is giving readings that are impossible (such as a coolant temperature of 50 degrees when the air temperature is 80), the ECM can punt and use sane default values that will keep the engine running, but not in an ideal way.... perhaps the onboard computer is not so freaking fussy about all of it, dumping extra fuel at the drop of a hat or a couple of degrees.
Anyway, the bottom line is that if your fuel economy is ratty, there's probably a reason that can (and should) be corrected.
--Mark