Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DonTom]

For my 2017 Zero SR with Power Tank, located in Auburn, CA . . .

While on the freeway (I-80) which is anything except level, what should I set my Custom Mode for, especially for things such as declaration regeneration, torque, etc for the best range at freeway speeds. I decided to set the max speed at 75 MPH, and braking regeneration at 100%, but the rest I have trouble on deciding what would be best.

Is there  any reason to NOT have regenerative braking at the max? But my main question is about where the regenerative deceleration would be best for the max range.

And does the eco mode work well for the freeways, or is a custom mode better for max range?

-Don-  Cold Springs Valley, NV

[anton]

A lot of people prefer setting regenerative deceleration to 0 and just coasting as a way to get best range.

[DonTom]

A lot of people prefer setting regenerative deceleration to 0 and just coasting as a way to get best range.

I've heard that too, but it sounds like a waste of energy to me. But I can see what you mean if you're going downhill and then up, as any  charge benefit will probably be less energy than the loss from not costing as fast to make it up the hill.

However, I tried 0% and 20% regen deceleration and didn't really notice any difference in how much the bike slowed down. Even at Zero % there seems to be a fair amount of resistance felt going down a hill. The difference I did notice was a charge bar. So that's why I asked.

And with the other settings such as torque, what would be a good freeway setting for a hilly freeway  and why?

And is there ever a good reason to NOT have the braking regeneration at 100%?

-Don-  Reno, NV

[stevenh]

I've got mine set to zero regen unless I hit the brake (0% normal, 100% regen on brake).  I can't see a reason not to use 100% on breaking unless it feels too strong for your riding style.  Since the return on regen is not 100%, It seems to me that coasting would provide the best efficiency on normal riding and I don't like the drag when just rolling off the throttle when regen is on.

Steve

[Rugby4life]

I've run a '17 SR on an identical route back to back with 100% and 0% decel regen. My route was fairly hilly but a mix of suburban and rural roads at speeds of 40-65 mph. My watt hrs per mile were within 1-2% of each other. I personally like using 0 regen coasting because I have carpal tunnel and need to take my hand off the throttle often. BTW,  I see a huge difference between 0 and 100% regen. Are you sure the bike accepted your changes? I was too far away from my bike once when I changed settings and couldn't figure out why I didn't notice a difference. If you have long downhill sections that would cause you to gain too much speed on coasting, 100% would be the way to go. All this is based on my limited experience so far, YRMV.

[Lenny]

-coasting is more efficient than regen, so 0% normal regen (anticipatory driving assumed)
-regen is more efficient than braking, so 100% brake regen (you can just trigger regen by slightly pulling the front brake lever until the brake light switch engages regen, that is very useful going downhill)

Something very important to understand: at a given driving speed under the same conditions, the mode or the custom mode setting doesn't make any difference in consumption! The mode just changes throttle behaviour, motor efficency is not affected! However stronger accelaration does have higher losses.

[Richard230]

I have my bike set for coasting on a closed throttle.  The reason that I do that is because if I have it set for regen I constantly have to open and close the throttle on most of the hills that I encounter to maintain a constant speed.  The drag of the motor when coasting without regen is just enough to travel downhill without having to open the throttle in my area under most conditions.  My observation is that regen on a lightweight motorcycle provides very little additional power into the battery at the regen settings that Zero provides. If I need regen, I just touch the brake lever enough to activate the brake light and that will turn on the regen, which will slow down my bike without having to use the brakes until just before stopping.   

[DonTom]

I have my bike set for coasting on a closed throttle.  The reason that I do that is because if I have it set for regen I constantly have to open and close the throttle on most of the hills that I encounter to maintain a constant speed.  The drag of the motor when coasting without regen is just enough to travel downhill without having to open the throttle in my area under most conditions.  My observation is that regen on a lightweight motorcycle provides very little additional power into the battery at the regen settings that Zero provides. If I need regen, I just touch the brake lever enough to activate the brake light and that will turn on the regen, which will slow down my bike without having to use the brakes until just before stopping.   

Okay, thanks all. It looks like everybody here is in agreement to have NO regenerative  deceleration at all for the freeways. I have it set low, but I guess totally off is best. Like you say, I can always use the brake to get 100% regen when I think it will be helpful.  I take it the braking regen starts before there is any pressure on the brake pads, is this correct?  I guess I should check for that when I have the back wheel off the ground and see when the brake light comes on. Or perhaps I could put in a switch to turn on the brake light without any disc braking.

I assumed all the mode settings does is to set limits, like top speed, and if I  ride the same in the Sport mode as eco mode, the battery & range would not see any difference, with the exception of the regen.

So in my Custom mode, should I set the toque to 100%?  Can somebody here please explain what difference i will notice by reducing torque  from 100%?

-Don-  Reno, NV

[Richard230]

I believe that reducing torque from 100% will just slow the top speed and acceleration accordingly.

[anton]

Reducing torque might be helpful when riding in wet conditions. I ride in Custom 90% of the time with torque set to max. When it rains, I usually switch to Eco. It doesn't take much to break traction with 100% even on dry surface, much less during rain.

[Doug S]

To belabor the obvious, there are no "right" settings. That's why they give you choices. To me, regen is overrated but it is better than braking, so I set my "throttle off" regen to 0%, and my "brake on" regen to 100%. I have a rather large hill in the middle of my commute, and it is nice to be able to coast all the way down in each direction. At 0% regen I'm able to do that. But I do agree that feathering the brake to give you 100% regen is a better way to slow down than just warming up your brake pads, and with just a bit of practice you can do almost all your braking that way.

I also set my max torque and power to 100%. I firmly believe that any economizing I need to do can be done by exercising some discipline with my right wrist, and then if I DO need power to get around a truck or something, it's instantly available. I'd feel a bit unsafe riding on the freeway without full torque and power being available if I need it.

But of course, everybody has their own opinion. So try it several ways and see what works for you.

[schadenfreude]

buy the way, when set regen to 100%, does your display show full 4 bars?
mine ends on 3 bars, maybe wasting full performance.

[stevenh]

To belabor the obvious, there are no "right" settings. That's why they give you choices. To me, regen is overrated but it is better than braking, so I set my "throttle off" regen to 0%, and my "brake on" regen to 100%. I have a rather large hill in the middle of my commute, and it is nice to be able to coast all the way down in each direction. At 0% regen I'm able to do that. But I do agree that feathering the brake to give you 100% regen is a better way to slow down than just warming up your brake pads, and with just a bit of practice you can do almost all your braking that way.

I also set my max torque and power to 100%. I firmly believe that any economizing I need to do can be done by exercising some discipline with my right wrist, and then if I DO need power to get around a truck or something, it's instantly available. I'd feel a bit unsafe riding on the freeway without full torque and power being available if I need it.

But of course, everybody has their own opinion. So try it several ways and see what works for you.

Sounds like this is the setting set many of us end up using (100% torque, 0 regen, 100% breaking).  I do have my top speed set to 80MPH on my custom settings just to avoid tickets when passing, I don't want to go faster than that normally, and it's so easy to overshoot.  It is nice to have options!

Steve

[gborgan]

I’m a bit late to this thread but I’ll throw in a couple of points anyway. From 2 years and 9,000 miles of riding a ‘15 SR within 25 miles of home, I am in the habit of using Sport on freeways and switching to Eco on the exit ramps. I stay in Eco on all surface streets. I used to get anywhere from 0.7 to 1.2 miles per 1% or 70-120 miles estimated depending on speed.

After recent firmware update, to stay on topic, the factory has recalibrated Eco with noticeably more Regen.  I’m with Doug in that “Regen is overrated.”  Regen combined with wind resistance replaces energy for only a few seconds at best before I have to power up some. I live on a steep hill where gravity will outpull even Max Regen. This is the only place I ride where Regen might really work. The only problem is whenever I roll off my driveway the battery is already at 100%. LOL

Off topic, since the update I now get 0.6 to 1.0 mile per 1%, or 60 miles est range at 65.  It doesn’t take much speed to drop under 1/1 now.  So at this point I agree with the poster who said he’d rather not accept updates since he likes his bike just the way it is.  Smart decision. My dealer was notified several weeks ago but I haven’t heard anything.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ESokoloff]

..........Or perhaps I could put in a switch to turn on the brake light without any disc braking.

I assumed all the mode settings does is to set limits, like top speed, and if I  ride the same in the Sport mode as eco mode, the battery & range would not see any difference, with the exception of the regen.

So in my Custom mode, should I set the toque to 100%?  Can somebody here please explain what difference i will notice by reducing torque  from 100%?

-Don-  Reno, NV

 If your concerned about vehicles behind you not seeing brake light(s) when you decelerate via regen, consider something like this https://vololights.com/ that indicates deceleration automatically & independently of the bikes brake switch(s).

Sport mode yields the quickest reaction time of the throttle whereas eco mode limits the reaction (ramp-up) so by design, eco mode will yield greatest miles/charge.

 I would think that torque adjustment would yield an incremental decrease dependent of value selected.
I.E. 50% setting yields 50% of potential (but don't quote me on that).

If you incramently lower the value before the start of each ride (identical route), then you will know from experience what settings work best for your needs.