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What say those of you with newer bikes that have ride modes?

I have a rain, road, dynamic and dynamic pro on my S1000XR. I am currently on road because of the break in period. I was informed that the dynamic pro will back off on some of the ABS and automatic stability control. The dynamic pro is supposed to turn it all off allowing things like wheelies and drifting of the rear tire. This bike has 165hp on a bike that is 500lbs wet. I am pretty sure there are good differences between the modes. When I ride with a group (mostly cruisers I will keep it in road just to help with a smoother power delivery). When I am by myself I will go with the dynamic if I am out in the twisties. I honestly don't ever see myself riding in the pro mode.
 
FJR has a sport/tour setting. Sport feels normal and your just dampens the throttle, although you still get 100% of it all at WOT. I leave it in sport all the time.

I do keep ABS and traction control on all the time as well although I don't believe I've done anything goofy lately to where either have saved my bacon.

Had a Suzuki B-king which was just a naked 'Busa and thinking back I love how that beast didn't have any rider aids. It was brutally fast but it was very easy to ride. It did have 2 power modes which cut power (felt like a 600), which I tried it once and never felt the need again since the fueling was spot on and easily controllable in full power mode.

One time when the tires were worn and still cold I was froggy on my 1st to 2nd shift and noticed the revs spin up very fast. I briefly saw the speedo indicate triple digit speeds even though I wasn't moving but half that. Bike was so stable just going down the road in a straight line with the rear tire spinning.
 
I have road and rain mode on my Triumph, and I almost prefer the rain mode for smoothness (doesn't cut overall power, just makes the throttle less sensitive at low opening and more sensitive at high openings). If I had my way I would use rain all the time and road when I was wanting to be a bit more sporty (since there isn't a sport mode).

The only thing is, you can't change the default, so you'd have to remember to set it to rain mode every ride.

If you can set the default, then ride modes aren't a gimmick even if you never change it after the first setting.
 
My K1600 has Rain, Road and Dynamic. Rain limits to 70% power and slower response. Ups the sensitivity of the traction control, including lean angle. Road is full power, linear response and normal traction control. Dynamic is full power, throttle response varies based on how fast you twist the throttle (non-linear) and more "freedom" with the traction control. I use Road almost all the time, Rain when it is fresh rain on dirty roads or very heavy rain. Dynamic only when I'm following Snoopster on her favorite roads...in other words, not often. And not in over a year...
 
One thing I like a lot about my KTM is that it stays in whatever settings you had it in last even after you turned it off. I suppose it's good and bad, if you rode home in a rain storm and had it on rain, you'll start out in rain on your next ride on a sunny day but it's also very clearly displayed as to what setting the mapping and suspension are on in the display and both are able to be changed as you ride so it's not a big deal to switch.

The Super Duke is a street only bike so I haven't turned off the ABS, traction or wheelie control as I find them all useful in all of my riding on that bike. As a result, I'm not sure if they'd stay turned off it I turned them off or not.
 
I bought a super Tenere ES brand new and it was my first ever bike to have an option sport/touring. I had read so many complaints about the stock settings that I had the ECU reflashed before I put more than 20 miles on the bike, since then I have tried sport and touring and just find touring mode flat and boring, so I have stayed in sport mode ever since, maybe in really slippery conditions the touring mode might get used, but I doubt it!! The traction control is far more fun, I love riding with it off as this old girl will lift the front wheel quite well, but it’s a real nuisance that it always turns on with the traction control in mode one and you have to be at a complete halt to turn it off. Shame there is no mode to disable the ABS on the rear wheel, that can be a real nuisance in soft downhill sections, you just have to learn to ride more slowly in those conditions..

In general I think these modes are a waste of money for me, but some seem to like them. Maybe if you have a very responsive powerful bike they do help, but on the Tenere they seem a bit pointless to me.

Gary
 
My K1600 has Rain, Road and Dynamic. Rain limits to 70% power and slower response. Ups the sensitivity of the traction control, including lean angle. Road is full power, linear response and normal traction control. Dynamic is full power, throttle response varies based on how fast you twist the throttle (non-linear) and more "freedom" with the traction control. I use Road almost all the time, Rain when it is fresh rain on dirty roads or very heavy rain. Dynamic only when I'm following Snoopster on her favorite roads...in other words, not often. And not in over a year...

I usually keep my K1600 in Dynamic, when I am not in traffic, though I struggle at times with clutch release. I still kill it sometimes in stop and go traffic. No problem in either Road or Rain, but I don't like the sluggish throttle response at speeds above start up. It would be easy for BMW remap the throttle up in Dynamic???

I guess I don't ride any of mine hard enough to notice any difference in any of the settings other than the throttle response. Except for the Wing, whose exhaust tone definitely changes.
 
I like the riding modes on my Duc. It has 4 modes, each programmable for TC and ABS, I have not changed any of those for now. The two modes I use are Sport and Urban, the biggest difference is throttle response and HP, Urban mode has a slower throttle response and 80% hp , very tame. If I grab a hand full of throttle it kind of thinks about for a heartbeat then the power just kind of rolls in nice and smooth, in Sport mode if I do the same thing I better have a good grip and hang on, it does not think about it, it just goes.
 
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The bike will only lift the front wheel in OFF or so I'm told.

Lol [emoji23] “so I am told”. I have ridden with you and seen that front wheel come up.........[emoji23]




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My S1000RR has 3 or 4 modes. I leave it in street cause I can't remember which, slick or race, leaves you vulnerable to highside and its too fast for me already.

My 1198RS Ducati has aftermarket traction control. I trust it zero as it is just based on gear position, throttle, and revs. But it has saved my bacon on the track a couple of times. It has a dial, 0 - 9, and I can't remember which is more or less interference so I leave it at 5. See a trend here?

Why can't they just make them super simple, easy to change, with reasonable explanations on the dash? They probably do now...but not in 2012 ish.
 
Cool Thread. I'm with Tourmeister, gotta slow down to speed up. My 1290 has Sport, Rain, offload and street. I can switch off ABS and or traction control as I want. They reset when the bike turns off unlike the Duke. ABS can be Dangerous when offroad. It's also got a quick shifter option that makes things interesting.
 
I tell people that the electronics on my 2015 KTM SA make it a docile beast because the motor is a brute. But I wish they would detail more what each suspension mode does. It wasn't until I talked to a KTM development rider/racer that I found out what the Super Adventure changes on the forks for turning performance when in sport mode. It allows the front end to compress more when trail braking into a corner to decrease trail and allow it to hold a tighter line and prevent it from wanting to run wide. The other modes (especially Comfort) try to keep the bike level more for passenger comfort.

I typically use Street and Comfort damping on the street as I think you have to ride way to aggressively to utilize the benefits of Sport modes for public roads. It was a bit trippy to go against my brain's better judgement in the rain one day in the proper modes and give it WAY more throttle that was normally sane and have it rocket out of a corner at rates I'd only see before on rains at the track! lol

I want to say on the first super adventures you could buy some dongle where it remembers ABS modes when turning off the key...
 
My Super Adventure never comes out of "Sport" fueling mode even when off-road or in rain. I think this is because one of my previous bikes was a 2000 ZX-12R. That bike was a powerhouse and the gas was either ON or OFF with little to no dampening. It had no ride modes, ABS, or TC. You had to be gentle in the rain (and 2nd and 3rd gear corners) with the throttle or you were likely to get thrown off! As for the SA's suspension and ABS / TC settings, I swap them all the time. I usually leave the suspension in "Comfort" mode unless I'm off-road and then I switch to "OFFROAD" mode. It seems to work well but I am not sure what parameters are actually changing. It appears to let the forks float a little more initially prior to tightening up. I guess this setting relaxes the compression dampening. I also switch the TC off and the ABS to "OFFROAD" mode which disables ABS on the rear tire but it remains active on the front.
 
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