Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1365688
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 17 APRIL 27, 2021 P81 in place—this proved useful as I grabbed yet another snack on a steep downhill. Likewise all-out braking performance was stellar at speed in all conditions with the Brembo components proving their worth yet again. Emergency stopping drills proved the linked braking could keep the bike level and stopping quickly, and off- road, the system worked well at adapting to different terrain. Inside most of these systems are more fea- tures such as Rear- Wheel Lift Mitigation (to limit nose wheelies under heavy brak- ing), and Front-Wheel Lift Mitigation (anti- wheelie). There is not All-Wheel Lift Mitigation (jumping), thank goodness. As you could guess, Sport Mode offers the most aggres- sive power delivery, increased engine braking, limits traction control and, on the Special model, semi-active suspension damping rate is increased for higher speed riding. Road Mode is for daily riding, balanced in the middle of system intervention, power delivery and suspension comfort/performance. Rain Mode smooths every- thing down with maximum inter- vention if tires slide or spin, and has the most compliant suspen- sion settings on the pavement. Off-Road Mode is where the party starts. Horsepower and torque are biased to low-rpm rid- ing. ABS is active on both ends but designed for loose surfaces in place—this proved useful as I grabbed yet another snack on a steep downhill. Likewise all-out braking performance was stellar the Brembo components proving their worth yet again. Emergency stopping drills proved the linked braking could keep the bike level road, the system worked well at Inside most of these systems are more fea- tures such as Rear- Wheel Lift Mitigation (to limit nose wheelies ing), and Front-Wheel wheelie). There is not All-Wheel Lift Mitigation (jumping), thank - sive power delivery, increased model, semi-active suspension Road Mode is for daily riding, balanced in the middle of system intervention, power delivery and suspension comfort/performance. thing down with maximum inter- thing down with maximum inter- thing down with maximum inter vention if tires slide or spin, and has the most compliant suspen- sion settings on the pavement. torque are biased to low-rpm rid- ing. ABS is active on both ends but designed for loose surfaces and Traction Control is on the same level as Sport Mode, the least intrusive setting there (but still very much on). Again, suspension is automatically adjusted to Off- Road Mode on the Special model. Off-Road Plus Mode is where the after party comes alive. Here, rear ABS and DTSC are disabled, allowing for rear-wheel slides at will. Traction control is set to its lowest possible active setting (but still on), and Front- Wheel Lift Mitigation is killed so wheelie away you crazy bas- tards! Front-wheel ABS is also at the lowest level of intervention. Custom Modes allow you to select performance character- istics independently. In Custom Mode creation, you can adjust engine power delivery, throttle response, engine braking, traction control intervention level, ABS intervention level and suspension damping levels within specific ranges and apply them to Custom A, Custom B or the Custom Off-Road Mode. So, feel free to get nerdy in there. I built three custom modes in about 10 minutes and quickly figured out that turning traction control completely off is key to real off-road fun. I made a Custom Off-Road Mode with Ag- gressive Throttle response, light engine braking and firm suspen- sion settings. Then, I entered the "Plus" mode to kill the rear ABS. Finally, I turned off the Traction Control and the result is all of the off-road photos in this story. It honestly sounds harder than it is. The changes are real, and