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[Doug S]

Krash, it's been a while since I used either "eco" or "custom" modes, but I don't remember having to slow down on the freeway to do it. Are you sure you're rolling all the way off the throttle? That's the other thing that annoyed me...I understand the rationale, but rolling off to 0% throttle on so cal freeways just seems unwise to me.

[ultrarnr]

Doug S,

I have a SR as well and in Custom Mode I can go all the way to 95 MPH. I always use Custom instead of Sport just because I like more regen than what Sport offers.

I have tried Eco mode and don't like it at all. Takes away your ability to use speed to get away from a dangerous situation.

Of course I am now wondering if different bikes have different settings in Sport mode since I sure don't have 100% regen when braking in Sport mode.

[Martin]

A newbie's $0.02 worth: I received my SR in late January 2014, and spent a fair amount of time those first weeks fiddling around with "custom" mode....I didn't like being limited to 71 mph on the freeway here in so cal -- it's fine for cruising, but not so much if you want to get around someone. Finally, after experimenting quite a bit, it dawned on me that if I just leave it in "sport" mode and show some discipline with my right wrist, I can get exactly the same benefits as "eco" mode without any of the restrictions.

So I've been riding it that way ever since. My daily commute uses no more energy than before, but when that 18-wheeler is in the way of hitting my off-ramp, 106 ft-lbs of torque is available instantly, whatever my speed may be.

And I like the full regen -- roll off the throttle to slow down and you put energy BACK into your battery, instead of wasting it heating up brake disks.

I am coming to that same conclusion myself. Custom mode seems to be only beneficial when you want the throttle to peg at a certain speed and I like that. I have mine set to top speed of 85mps with 50% torque, leaving regen brake at 100% while playing with coast regen to see if my milage changes. So far no luck.

[krash7172]

When I picked up my bike, I rode home in eco but I got on a stretch of 70mph highway. I couldn't get into Sport. 1500 miles later, I had the same problem in the same location. Both times I was going 70 in eco. When I decelerated to exit, it switched to sport at 60 mph. I repeated this several times.

Maybe sport brake regen isn't 100% but it is more than sport coasting regen.

I'm always in sport unless worried about range on a long planned ride. Then, I use eco in town, and custom on highway:

25% torque
73mph max (ticket prevention)
0% coast regen
100% brake regen

Custom speed can go higher but I use it as a cruise control on the open road (not in heavy traffic).

[Doug S]

Ultramr,

That's a good point about regen -- I wouldn't mind having a bit more all the time. I suppose I could set it up in custom mode for full speed, full torque but increase the regen, and run in that mode all the time.

I also frankly just don't get much out of the phone app. It's fun and cool and all but I don't use it. I can't find much of use that isn't duplicated on the dashboard. But of course, to change custom mode I'd just have to do it once. I'll have to consider that.

[krash7172]

The best part about the modes is the ability to set it up per your riding style or route. My dealer is wanting to plan an electric rally about 45 miles from my house. I used google maps to look at different routes to find a better way to make the trip than all highway and still have some fun. It's a mix of city, county roads, small towns and highway. I set out last weekend to test the ride. Any road that had frequent stops, I was in eco. County roads and highway were custom per my settings posted previously. After making it to the destination with a surprising 64% battery left, I spent the return trip mostly in sport and arrived home with 12%.

Learn your Zero, route and riding style. Use the modes and have fun. You can plan some pretty cool 100 mile rides with 11.4 kWh.

[Richard230]

Ultramr,

That's a good point about regen -- I wouldn't mind having a bit more all the time. I suppose I could set it up in custom mode for full speed, full torque but increase the regen, and run in that mode all the time.

I also frankly just don't get much out of the phone app. It's fun and cool and all but I don't use it. I can't find much of use that isn't duplicated on the dashboard. But of course, to change custom mode I'd just have to do it once. I'll have to consider that.

What I like about the "custom" mode is that I can set the regen for a broad range of effect.  I have my custom closed-throttle regen set at 0% and my braking regen set for 100%, while power is set for 94 mph (I use my throttle hand to adjust my speed and power consumption).  Combined with the other two modes, this gives me a full range of regen slowing effect, from 0% to 100% by using a combination of the three modes, which can be shifted on the fly depending upon my riding environment, and light braking which I use to activate the braking regen.  I use custom mode (0%) to coast along (so that I do not have to use the throttle to keep moving) when riding along relatively level ground, eco mode when riding in stop-and-go urban traffic and down a steep hill and sport mode for general riding.  I find sport mode to be the most useful during much of my traveling, but switching to the other modes can be helpful at times, too.

In any case, don't expect regen to do much to lengthen your ride.  The amount of time you spend while slowing down under regen is very small compared with the amount of time that you are under power during all riding conditions that do not involve going down a long, steep, hill.  Plus, when in regen, the amount of power returned to the battery as you go down a hill is much less than the amount of power used by the motor when you went up the hill.

[Doug S]

"In any case, don't expect regen to do much to lengthen your ride."

Amen, brother. In my very informal testing on my Zero SR, by FAR the greatest determinant of range is top/cruising speed, almost to the point where nothing else matters. If you accelerate repeatedly at full throttle, but limit your cruising speed to 70 mph, you'll get more range than if you accelerate much more slowly but cruise at 75. Similarly, regen helps a tiny bit (and every little bit is good on an EV!) but realistically it isn't going to help you cruise home much faster if at all.

It's also VERY clear that improving the aerodynamics is a tremendous help. I found an honest 20% improvement (if not closer to 25%) in range when I added my Slipstreamer windscreen. Yes, it's ugly and retro-looking, and there's a large gap around the headlight housing, but it's bigger than either of the factory-offered windscreens and I have to think it offers more improvement to the aerodynamics. I drool a bit looking at Terry Herschner's Vetter "dustbin" fairing but it's a bit much even for me. I've done a lot of fiberglass work in the past though, so maybe.....nah. Too busy riding my bike. :-)

[trikester]

I do more dirt riding than pavement. Since the average dirt ride is "out & back" it means that every uphill going out becomes a downhill coming back and visa verse. Because of that nature of out and back rides and the much slower speeds on rough terrain, I find that my regen greatly adds to my range. I can get as much as 8o miles on my 2013 5.7 FX on certain dirt rides. If there is much sand however it goes way down and with regen also not working well when sand is slowing the downhill sections.

As I have posted before, I have my modes set up for zero regen (free coasting) unless I activate the brake light. With brake light I have 15% (100% in Sport) and 25% (100% in ECO) regen. I also have ECO programmed for full torque and max speed so that I can ride city in ECO without any drawbacks to safety in traffic.

Trikester