Another stupid question - engine braking

[Lou Girardin]

If you don't engine brake, you don't get all the lovely popping and banging that wakes up cage drivers.

[Lazy7]

right then. thanks for all the replies. i think i got an answer to my question. basically keep doing what i am doing!

i just didn't want to pull up to the lights behind an experienced biker and have him/her thinking... WTF? why is that tard engine braking???

hehe. okay. back to work!

[nadroj]

right then. thanks for all the replies. i think i got an answer to my question. basically keep doing what i am doing!

i just didn't want to pull up to the lights behind an experienced biker and have him/her thinking... WTF? why is that tard engine braking???

hehe. okay. back to work!

Doesn't hurt to lightly touch the brake to illuminate the brake light to let those behind know what you are doing (other than at a stop) to help prevent a nose to tail as is common with bike groups.

[Motu]

Engine breaking? Ah,music to my ears.....

[gixermike]

I thought the question would be the other way around, 'who doesn't engine brake'. Good plan is to do a route your familiar with, and not touch the brakes at all (other than to scrub the last 20k's off at a junction etc). no breaking into corners so nice and stable, no brake lights (confuses everyone else)...gets you taking smoother lines and looking much much further ahead, just go up and down the gears the hole time. clutchless up, blip and change down. you can flow really nicely like that. and it looks cool!!

[Mooch]

You should try to blip the throttle on down changes, that will keep the bike nice and settled on down changes when you are coming into a corner. Even if the bike you are riding has a slipper clutch you still can blip to make it smoother, it just doesn't need the accuracy of a blip on a bike without a slipper clutch.

I just stick to two strokes, throw it down as many gears as you like and never have a problem

Lol K14 , Get a throttle blip wrong with a Vtwin running a slipper and it re-enages again, not good on a vtwin as the back wheel stays nicely locked for a while. Got close to getting highsided when I got that wrong.

Tend to used engine braking quite a lot for normal riding. Vtwins have excellent engine braking.

[quickbuck]

I thought the question would be the other way around, 'who doesn't engine brake'. Good plan is to do a route your familiar with, and not touch the brakes at all (other than to scrub the last 20k's off at a junction etc). no breaking into corners so nice and stable, no brake lights (confuses everyone else)...gets you taking smoother lines and looking much much further ahead, just go up and down the gears the hole time. clutchless up, blip and change down. you can flow really nicely like that. and it looks cool!!

Yeah, gotta start riding like that again. Front pads every 6 months is just plain silly. I think I will be up for Discs next time too

[maniac]

I thought the question would be the other way around, 'who doesn't engine brake'. Good plan is to do a route your familiar with, and not touch the brakes at all (other than to scrub the last 20k's off at a junction etc). no breaking into corners so nice and stable, no brake lights (confuses everyone else)...gets you taking smoother lines and looking much much further ahead, just go up and down the gears the hole time. clutchless up, blip and change down. you can flow really nicely like that. and it looks cool!!

clutchless up? isnt that bad for your gearbox? forgive the stupid question.

[quickbuck]

Na, Bike g/box's are constant mesh. This is bike talk for sequential. As in the gearboxes that touring car drivers rave about. Bikes have had em for years.

So long as the load is off you can comfortably change up through the box.

Going down takes a little abuse, and I wouldn't do it myself. It is a bit hard on the drive train, because everything is going from driving to driven.

[maniac]

Na, Bike g/box's are constant mesh. This is bike talk for sequential. As in the gearboxes that touring car drivers rave about. Bikes have had em for years.

So long as the load is off you can comfortably change up through the box.

Going down takes a little abuse, and I wouldn't do it myself. It is a bit hard on the drive train, because everything is going from driving to driven.

good to know thanks

[gixermike]

Just hesitate / roll the throttle of for a split second as you pull the next gear and accelerate again once it's in. first go will be dodgy (like first ever pull away was) as you need a bit of timing, but its easy to learn. try it in the high gears (closer ratios) to start with and work your way down to first to second when you get the hang of it.

[Goblin]

Maybe Im weird.....but I rarely use my back brake at all I use my gears to slow me down for corners and its usually only a token touch of the clutch to change down, with a blip of the throttle. Has always worked for me

[pritch]

clutchless up? isnt that bad for your gearbox?

Apparently not. It's recommended when carrying a pillion passenger as it permits smoother changes. I don't do it changing to 2nd and 3rd but routinely do it changing to the higher gears when on the open road.

[Sutage]

Maybe Im weird.....but I rarely use my back brake at all I use my gears to slow me down for corners and its usually only a token touch of the clutch to change down, with a blip of the throttle. Has always worked for me

I find most of the time i do the same

[kickingzebra]

Back brake is all good, good combination of engine braking and rear brake for stopping at corners, although I had a bike with a warped disc for 6 months of commuting, maybe it taught me some bad habits!!
The way I figure you come up to the stop, and if you see someone coming up your ass at a great rate of knots, It aint a mission to take off again, as there is no movement from braking to accelerating, also make for a smoother stop with no front compression, which is good for the pillion.