• Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

    We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides. Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?

    Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

  • NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

Riding Modes

2019_r1250rt

New member
Greetings fellow Wetheads. I am reasonably new to this forum and to the BMW community as a whole. I ordered a new bike last year taking possession in the fall. I recently turned 7000 Km's, so you can say that I'm still breaking it in. My question is this - What mode do you ride in most of the time?
When I picked up the bike, the dealer said that I would only use 2 modes rain and dynamic. I use the bike for weekend trips as well as to commute to work (130 km's each way) which includes areas of heavy traffic, as well as open roads and mountain passes. What I have found so far is this - When in traffic or 2-up I tend to keep the bike in road, when on the open road I switch to Dynamic. Sometimes on longer rides I will switch the damping mode to road while in dynamic.

It is nice to have these options, and I do realize YMMV but I am curious as to how others like to ride and use these functions.
 
I switch modes all the time, constantly. When slabbing I stick to Road Mode but when back roading, I will switch to Dynamic Pro when it gets twisty. I do use Rain Mode to get the increased ABS and I use Enduro Pro when off roading to hooliganning. Although I thought I would not use the modes much, I find that I constantly switch modes since it is so easy to do on the fly. I really like the shock changes between Road and Dynamic. Road mode is softer and nice for cruising, especially on concrete roads.
 
In my Rider's Manual there is a chapter called "Technology in Detail." In that chapter, there is a brief discussion of 3 systems: Anti-lock Braking (ABS), Automatic Stability Control, (ASC), and Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA). It can be somewhat confusing, because some bikes are sold with Dynamic ESA, and others not. And some bikes have ABS Pro, or not. And then there are "Pro" riding modes vs non-Pro. Since you asked, and your bike is new, I assume you have the all the top-level choices.

ABS Pro can sense your lean angle and wheel speed. ASC modifies the throttle response to affect wheel slippage. Dynamic ESA changes the damping characteristics and suspension pre-load. The "Riding Modes" are pre-set for typical best combinations of braking, throttle, and damping for the modes. Dynamic mode gives you HARD damping and minimal ABS and permits more wheel slippage under acceleration. They are somewhat customizable, for example, the ASC can be turned off. The ABS system can throw a fault, and turn itself off, but I haven't found how to select it off on my RT. I think that GS owners can switch ABS off.

Cap
 
My RT is in Dynamic pretty much all the time. It might get switched to rain on wet roads, it might not.
 
My RT is in Dynamic pretty much all the time. It might get switched to rain on wet roads, it might not.

Same for me. Half the time I don't remember to use rain mode but my brain and right wrist automatically changes to rain mode when the road is wet.
 
First of all, welcome and congratulations on your new scoot! Here's wishing you many safe and happy miles on it.

My strongest preference is to use the Dynamic mode to get the throttle sensitivity I want. I then switch the ESA back to Normal. Note that the order of this is important. When you switch to Dynamic mode that moves the ESA to Hard. If you want a different suspension setting you must do that after setting the mode.

I pretty much leave my settings in Dynamic/Normal all the time. I don't claim that there's any technical or moral superiority to this choice; it's just what I seem to be content with. It sounds like you're well down the road of determining which settings best suit you.

Enjoy!
 
First of all, welcome and congratulations on your new scoot! Here's wishing you many safe and happy miles on it.

My strongest preference is to use the Dynamic mode to get the throttle sensitivity I want. I then switch the ESA back to Normal. Note that the order of this is important. When you switch to Dynamic mode that moves the ESA to Hard. If you want a different suspension setting you must do that after setting the mode.

I pretty much leave my settings in Dynamic/Normal all the time. I don't claim that there's any technical or moral superiority to this choice; it's just what I seem to be content with. It sounds like you're well down the road of determining which settings best suit you.

Enjoy!

Thank you Bob :thumb
I have been very much enjoying to this point. I took 20ish years off to raise a family and a lot has changed with tech on the bikes since then!
I do understand the different settings, and I too set the suspension back to road while staying in dynamic sometimes on longer rides . I just was wondering what settings other riders enjoyed and why.
I pegged most for "all dynamic all the time", but figured that there must be some Roadies out there as well.
 
I switch modes all the time, constantly. When slabbing I stick to Road Mode but when back roading, I will switch to Dynamic Pro when it gets twisty. I do use Rain Mode to get the increased ABS and I use Enduro Pro when off roading to hooliganning. Although I thought I would not use the modes much, I find that I constantly switch modes since it is so easy to do on the fly. I really like the shock changes between Road and Dynamic. Road mode is softer and nice for cruising, especially on concrete roads.

Perhaps the RT is different than the GS, but on an RT Rain, Road, or Dynamic has to do with the throttle response and abs/traction control but not necessarily the suspension.

Each of the Modes has a default suspension setting associated with it, but they can be changed independently. For instance, Dynamic mode defaults to Hard suspension, but you can easily change that to Normal or Soft suspension if you desire.

Personally, I usually ride my RT in Dynamic mode, but with the suspension set on Normal.
 
Same for me. Half the time I don't remember to use rain mode but my brain and right wrist automatically changes to rain mode when the road is wet.

I have been riding for 50 years and the RT is the first ride with traction control. I have been controlling traction for years with my right wrist so I don't use rain mode much. I also have a Yamaha R1 with the old style, manual traction control. With 165 HP and 400 pounds it will spin easily on cold or wet roads.
 
I usually stay in rain mode or road mode for the extra margin of safety. The way I understand the modes is basically the rain mode will decrease throttle response and increase ABS response. Throttle response increases and ABS response decreases as you move to road and dynamic mode. That being said, when I'm at the track it stays in dyna mode. And occasionally I'll get aggressive on the roads when conditions are right and I'll switch to dyna.
 
Dynamic.
I switch suspension to any of the three depending on road conditions (bumpy/smooth) and how I'm riding at that time. But usually I'm on Normal. I set it to rider+luggage and never change this.
 
Dynamic although once I can do a long trip I'll switch to Road in hopes of better gas mileage/longer distances between fuel stops. I've also set the rear spring to max. The rear moved up and down a bit too much for me and this fixed it. Damping is still spot on and it is not an uncomfortable ride.
 
I tend to keep my '16 RT in Road mode, Normal, and change between 1 or 2 riders when riding 2 up or not. Occasionally, during particularly bad rain or road conditions I'll switch to Rain Mode, although I too have several decades of wrist controlled rain mode behind me. I've occasionally gotten into Dynamic, although not often. Having read the opinions of others above, I will probably be trying out that Dynamic / Normal combination in the near future.
 
There is something other than Dynamic mode? ;)

I've tried them all and only ever use dynamic, mostly because of the direct throttle response.
 
Back
Top