Bring on those brakes!

[Lou Girardin]

I may be wrong, but I thought trail breaking was feathering the brakes as you enter the corner. Gradually easing off brake pressure as you lean further.
Lou

[Two Smoker]

I may be wrong, but I thought trail breaking was feathering the brakes as you enter the corner. Gradually easing off brake pressure as you lean further.
Lou

Lou's right, u dont need to feather the brake out of the corner, that's what the wrist is for...

[dangerous]

Lou's right, u dont need to feather the brake out of the corner, that's what the wrist is for...

That maybe so on a 150, just this weekend gone I was riding fairly hard around the hills on my VTR1000
On one corner I wacked the taps open rather hard and as I was still leant over a fair way the rear lite up on me and steped out so rather than close the taps and risk locking it up (remember its a V2) I addad a little rear brake which means the rear stops spinning but you still accalarate loosing no time and not biffing the bike.

Watch or ask a track racer this and see what they have to say.

[DEATH_INC.]

A touch of rear brake as you let off the front(not too hard though)will normally help to settle the bike too,especially if yer a bit hot.....

[Two Smoker]

That maybe so on a 150, just this weekend gone I was riding fairly hard around the hills on my VTR1000
On one corner I wacked the taps open rather hard and as I was still leant over a fair way the rear lite up on me and steped out so rather than close the taps and risk locking it up (remember its a V2) I addad a little rear brake which means the rear stops spinning but you still accalarate loosing no time and not biffing the bike.

Watch or ask a track racer this and see what they have to say.

Cheers for the info dangerous, the great thing is u learn so much from this site as i am, but yea i trail sometimes into the corner, and slam it open on the corner due to the lack of power, i would think on a powerful bikee like your own you would do that, i stand corrected

[130wide]

Death_Inc get some Premier PH26 brake pads for your Turbo, these are the best pads I've found and stop the Turbo pretty quick. Had my brother hitting the tank when we swapped bikes from his ZX12R to my Turbo.

As for brakes, front only for me, on option.................

[Lou Girardin]

Dangerous is right, but I don't think it's called trail breaking. How about traction control?
Lou

[White trash]

Dangerous is right, but I don't think it's called trail breaking. How about traction control?
Lou

How about just using a little less right wrist? Probably do some nice damage to pads and disc if you made a habit of that sort of thing
:confused2

[wkid_one]

However remember that I ride Twins and therefore there is a lot of engine breaking which I use a lot, 1-2 3rds of the rev range (but not in 1st on a V2 thats very bad)

Must say tho - having gone from the VTR to the R1 - the engine braking is similar between the two. I actually smacked my nuts on the tank more often on the R1 than the VTR when changing down gears. To me it appears to be a fallacy that VTwins have gob loads more engine braking.

As for 'trailing your rear' - I prefer to use throttle control.

Here is one for all the bike fanatics. When you accelerate does the rear squat down or stand up???

Do a little test. Park your bike with the front wheel against a wall and give it a little throttle - for some of you you will be surprised that the rear of the bike actually lifts under acceleration.

[White trash]

Must say tho - having gone from the VTR to the R1 - the engine braking is similar between the two. I actually smacked my nuts on the tank more often on the R1 than the VTR when changing down gears. To me it appears to be a fallacy that VTwins have gob loads more engine braking.

Cycle world I think, did a test on a number of bikes to find which had the highest ENGINE FRICTION. Roll along on all bikes at maximum revs in first gear then chop the throttle.
Guess what stopped fastest..........you guessed it, R1. By a considerable margin over the V-Twins too.

Slowest was RZ500.

[RiderInBlack]

Here is one for all the bike fanatics. When you accelerate does the rear squat down or stand up???

Do a little test. Park your bike with the front wheel against a wall and give it a little throttle - for some of you you will be surprised that the rear of the bike actually lifts under acceleration.

Call me stupid Wkid One, but would not the force of the bike trying to go fordward with the front wheel against the wall cause the forks to compress? Thereby lowering the front opposed to the rearlifting?

[Jackrat]

Must say tho - having gone from the VTR to the R1 - the engine braking is similar between the two. I actually smacked my nuts on the tank more often on the R1 than the VTR when changing down gears. To me it appears to be a fallacy that VTwins have gob loads more engine braking.

As for 'trailing your rear' - I prefer to use throttle control.

Here is one for all the bike fanatics. When you accelerate does the rear squat down or stand up???

Do a little test. Park your bike with the front wheel against a wall and give it a little throttle - for some of you you will be surprised that the rear of the bike actually lifts under acceleration.

Now do it without a brick wall in front of you.
Even better give me a ring so i can pop round an watch,then do it at full throttle on my XR.You will find out for yourself which way the front end goes.
Shaft drive bikes tend to lift the rear under very aggresive throttle but nothing else I've ever riden.

[Coldkiwi]

yer.. the wall might have something to do with it eh!! (try it on a straight road going the right direction so you can see your shadow next to you wkid).. different answer

oh.. and if anyone hasn't tried the 'hit the rear just before the front' - give it a go. not so noticeable below 100kph but if you're hustling on the open road and trying to knock off 30 or more kmhr for a corner you might be pleasently surprised how planted the whoel show becomes. the downside is that I find it hard to get at the rear brake sometimes if I'm shifting around (maybe I ought to by a BMW or ride with a plank strapped to my bacK?)

[wkid_one]

Actually - this comment is directly from the Race Tech Website.....I tend to believe them. And I am to qualify this by saying it is only immediately following application of the throttle prior to the working of the suspension. Hence why bikes tend to wheel spin due to quick application of the throttle instantenously 'freezing' the suspension until it can react to the acceleration.

This is actually a basis of the principals of weight transferance you are talking about and a laymans explanation of this can be found in the Owners Manual of Gran Turismo of all places if you are interested. Simplist explanation I have ever read.

The problem lies in that suspension can't react instantanously to your throttle/braking inputs and it needs time to adjust.

How many of you have set your bikes static suspension up with you on it - static sag front and rear?? If you haven't you are doing you and your bike a disservice.

Try this site for setting your bike up: http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0006_susp/

The better your bike is set up the less you will find you use the brakes and the throttle will be in a better position to control the balance of the bike.

Ever tried riding your favourite bit of road with NO BRAKES......no not a joke - but a good test. Or with the front or rear only? Teaches you a lot about your bike and what works where. Or try picking ONE SPEED to ride the road on and keep to it through your corners. Kinda freaky blasting in to your favourite corner 20kph faster than usual fighting off the urge to grab a fist full of brake. Probably why I fell off a bit I suppose - I liked testing my limits and playing stupid games like that

I used the front only on the R1 because I had set it up accordingly - the rear was next to fucken useless anyway, the Yam's have some of the best front picks of any bike (mine had the orange callipers), the bike only weighs 170kg, the engine braking was wicked also, and the bike's throttle worked well to balance the bike.

At the end of the day - brake application in a corner is largely scorned upon anyway....you should have set the bikes suspension up using brakes prior to the corner and be gradually accelerating your way through the corner.

[Motu]

Try riding with no brakes - speedway or flat track...no problem,brakes are more a danger than a help.Our local dirt track had a sweeper and a hairpin,I could ride almost as fast with or without brakes