A few weeks back I finally test-rode a Varg, at BigBoyzToys in Marlboro NY. The one I rode was #303, a fully broken-in demo. The ride was street-only, as I wanted to see what the 80hp map was like from 0 to 100% with no dirt in the mix (good decision, it turned out), and test the brakes as well. This dealer has sold at least 15 Vargs so far.
I used Mode 3 at 80hp / zero regen for the high-power testing, and left the others as they were. I set M3 to max regen near the end, it increased hi-speed regen but had less effect at lower speeds. Other modes had much more regen at all speeds.
As expected, with max traction available the bike accelerated super hard and felt like it was going to loop out any second at lower speeds. Going faster at full throttle it felt like the hp curve dropped off a bit, and finally went into limiting at some ridiculous-for-conditions speed. My Alta MXR is no slouch, but this bike at 80hp would run away from it at nearly every speed and throttle setting, traction permitting.
I tried all the maps, and found them quite different from the Alta (where maps 1-2-3-4 are noticeably different from each other throughout the throttle rotation, non-adjustable, and range from low-power/regen up to max-power/higher regen). On the Stark I rode, it seemed like M3 - and likely others as well - had its own limited adjustment range tweakable only within the min-max values Stark pre-set for that range. On this Varg, M2 had way more regen than M3 at max, M1's 0-1/4 throttle 'snap' was significantly higher than M3's at 80hp, etc. I personally would prefer being able to set each mode anywhere from 0-100% of the bike's capabilities for each parameter (power/regen/traction control etc.) rather than be confined to pre-set min-max limitations within each mode, allowing 4 nearly identical modes, 4 night & day-different ones, and anywhere in between. I also prefer linear throttle response (1/4 throttle rotation = 1/4 RW power, 1/2 = 1/2, etc.), which M3 / 80hp seemed to have; the other ones varied, especially when power limiting kicked in at higher throttle rotations.
The brakes were fully bedded in, and the front worked great for me w/1 finger. The rear brake pedal's tip was well above the peg & looked bent to me, but even so the brake seemed fairly powerful. If the pedal had been adjusted correctly for me it likely would've been just fine.
All in all, a great experience. Once the firmware's been fully sorted out, I can't wait to take delivery.
I used Mode 3 at 80hp / zero regen for the high-power testing, and left the others as they were. I set M3 to max regen near the end, it increased hi-speed regen but had less effect at lower speeds. Other modes had much more regen at all speeds.
As expected, with max traction available the bike accelerated super hard and felt like it was going to loop out any second at lower speeds. Going faster at full throttle it felt like the hp curve dropped off a bit, and finally went into limiting at some ridiculous-for-conditions speed. My Alta MXR is no slouch, but this bike at 80hp would run away from it at nearly every speed and throttle setting, traction permitting.
I tried all the maps, and found them quite different from the Alta (where maps 1-2-3-4 are noticeably different from each other throughout the throttle rotation, non-adjustable, and range from low-power/regen up to max-power/higher regen). On the Stark I rode, it seemed like M3 - and likely others as well - had its own limited adjustment range tweakable only within the min-max values Stark pre-set for that range. On this Varg, M2 had way more regen than M3 at max, M1's 0-1/4 throttle 'snap' was significantly higher than M3's at 80hp, etc. I personally would prefer being able to set each mode anywhere from 0-100% of the bike's capabilities for each parameter (power/regen/traction control etc.) rather than be confined to pre-set min-max limitations within each mode, allowing 4 nearly identical modes, 4 night & day-different ones, and anywhere in between. I also prefer linear throttle response (1/4 throttle rotation = 1/4 RW power, 1/2 = 1/2, etc.), which M3 / 80hp seemed to have; the other ones varied, especially when power limiting kicked in at higher throttle rotations.
The brakes were fully bedded in, and the front worked great for me w/1 finger. The rear brake pedal's tip was well above the peg & looked bent to me, but even so the brake seemed fairly powerful. If the pedal had been adjusted correctly for me it likely would've been just fine.
All in all, a great experience. Once the firmware's been fully sorted out, I can't wait to take delivery.
