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Does anyone use the Pioggia mode in heavy traffic?

Pete BoBeet

Pete BoBeet

Cruisin' Guzzisti
GT Famiglia
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I read an 8-year-old review for the 2014 Moto Guzzi California 1400 Custom in Ultimate Motorcycling and the author stated, "In crowded conditions, I found the Pioggia setting to be appealing." I have never used the Pioggia mode, rain or not, and it seems like few riders on the Forum have used it, either. Has anyone used it for stop and go traffic and found it to be useful?
 
Strange you bring this up , I've never tried the Pioggia setting either . Next trip , for sure . There's definitely
more than a little traffic to get out of Vancouver . And to imagine it really is just the touch of a button ! Peter
 
Pete BoBeet said:
I read an 8-year-old review for the 2014 Moto Guzzi California 1400 Custom in Ultimate Motorcycling and the author stated, "In crowded conditions, I found the Pioggia setting to be appealing." I have never used the Pioggia mode, rain or not, and it seems like few riders on the Forum have used it, either. Has anyone used it for stop and go traffic and found it to be useful?
Click to expand...
Absolutely - usually under two conditions 1) The traffic you and Moto-Uno mention, 2) When I'm just feeling lazy and want to take in the scenery and just want to flow with slower traffic. Don't get me wrong, I love the other two modes as well and will switch to veloce asap, but the acceleration can be a bit abrupt and heavy in this mode and the throttle requires too much finesse in stop/go/slow traffic
 
PaulDavies said:
Absolutely - usually under two conditions 1) The traffic you and Moto-Uno mention, 2) When I'm just feeling lazy and want to take in the scenery and just want to flow with slower traffic. Don't get me wrong, I love the other two modes as well and will switch to veloce asap, but the acceleration can be a bit abrupt and heavy in this mode and the throttle requires too much finesse in stop/go/slow traffic
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Thank you for the feedback! I will definitely give the Pioggia setting a trial this week in bumper to bumper traffic and when I think slow and easy is the way to go!
 
On the V95TT, I do the opposite. When I'm in traffic, I usually make sure I'm in "sport mode" rather than "rain mode". Reason being that in my neck of the woods, drivers are murderous (figuratively, and sometimes literally), and I wan full unadulterated power to get out of their line of fire as expeditiously as possible. Pokey little puppy could become somebody's hood ornament real quick.

__Jason
 
On a Versys 1000 2015 I made the mistake of riding in the rain mode during a storm one day. I pulled out to pass a car on a uphill mountain road that normally would be a zip bang. On the Kawi the HP dropped from 108 at the rear to about 75-80. BIG MISTAKE!!!
Not sure on the V85 is the same, but I don't ever use rain anymore.
 
jwtucker said:
On the V95TT, I do the opposite. When I'm in traffic, I usually make sure I'm in "sport mode" rather than "rain mode". Reason being that in my neck of the woods, drivers are murderous (figuratively, and sometimes literally), and I wan full unadulterated power to get out of their line of fire as expeditiously as possible. Pokey little puppy could become somebody's hood ornament real quick.

__Jason
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Good point, sir!
 
vagrant said:
On a Versys 1000 2015 I made the mistake of riding in the rain mode during a storm one day. I pulled out to pass a car on a uphill mountain road that normally would be a zip bang. On the Kawi the HP dropped from 108 at the rear to about 75-80. BIG MISTAKE!!!
Not sure on the V85 is the same, but I don't ever use rain anymore.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing.
 
vagrant said:
On a Versys 1000 2015 I made the mistake of riding in the rain mode during a storm one day. I pulled out to pass a car on a uphill mountain road that normally would be a zip bang. On the Kawi the HP dropped from 108 at the rear to about 75-80. BIG MISTAKE!!!
Not sure on the V85 is the same, but I don't ever use rain anymore.
Click to expand...

I would have thought that the power to weight ratio was still clearly more than one needed to pass however I have never ridden this MG setup before.

Hmm. Very interesting.
 
scottmastrocinque said:
I would have thought that the power to weight ratio was still clearly more than one needed to pass however I have never ridden this MG setup before.
Hmm. Very interesting.
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Scott, the system cannot "reduce power" - it simply limits the percentage of power delivered to the rear wheel via traction control (TC), in the same way it limits power when the wheel spins in relationship to the front tire. I haven't looked yet for real world acceleration tests with various modes (on any model), but when I have a spare minute, perhaps I will. I'm posting because I was asked yesterday (and and often) about this. The engine will always deliver the same power as it's designed to do, regardless of ride mode "map." People tend to think of it like variable valve timing or similar, which simply isn't the case.
 
I didn’t think it reduced power because as you said, that remains a constant.

I think we speed-bumped on the nomenclature.

As it is ride by wire, I was under the assumption that it limited the transmission of the signal from the throttle to the induction system, in effect, slowing down the throttle input to a more gradual increase of throttle (not power) to better control rear wheel rotation for the designated riding condition.

What caught me totally by surprise and why I wrote that initially, was because of vagrant’s statement of “On the Kawi the HP dropped from 108 at the rear to about 75-80. BIG MISTAKE!!!”

I thought that didn’t make sense and my bad phrasing got the best of me.

Surely you must have noticed my language difficulties by now. I have to edit and re-edit multiple times because I often struggle to find the correct word or terminology.

It happens to me when I speak as well.

Thanks my Brother!
 
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vagrant said:
Not on a Versys 1000 the're not! It turns into a pig in rain mode.
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From Kawasaki's page, read where it CLEARLY states "Throttle-controlled power delivery" - this is done via the T/C system. It does not reduce power output of the engine, it simply limits power to the rear wheel.

Versys-PowerGraph.webp
 
This discussion is getting way over my head. I just want to ride safely and have fun. But if I was thirty or forty years younger I'd turn my Cal 1400 into a trike with giant Goodyear racing slicks, a 650 horsepower Chevy crate engine, a rock crusher 4 speed transmission, paint flames on the tank, get a truck driver horn and ride it like I stole it, rain or shine!
 
scottmastrocinque said:
I didn’t think it reduced power because as you said, that remains a constant.

I think we speed-bumped on the nomenclature.

As it is ride by wire, I was under the assumption that it limited the transmission of the signal from the throttle to the induction system, in effect, slowing down the throttle input to a more gradual increase of throttle (not power) to better control rear wheel rotation for the designated riding condition.

What caught me totally by surprise and why I wrote that initially, was because of vagrant’s statement of “On the Kawi the HP dropped from 108 at the rear to about 75-80. BIG MISTAKE!!!”

I thought that didn’t make sense and my bad phrasing got the best of me.

Surely you must have noticed my language difficulties by now. I have to edit and re-edit multiple times because I often struggle to find the correct word or terminology.

It happens to me when I speak as well.

Thanks my Brother!
Click to expand...
When I was installing the pcv/at300 way back when, it was required that a throttle calibration be carried out using a laptop to establish the min, max limits of the throttle I.e from closed to wide open. In pioggio mode a wot produced about 2.0 volts. In the other two modes, it went up to about 4.4. This was the basis of my post back then not to do the calibration in pioggio. Basically I think it's what scott said about pioggio limiting the demand from the throttle.
 
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