braking in the corners

[Mark_Able]

I have to agree with Mr Wiltshire Builders. We all cock up our line from time to time, and know we could have done a better job of corner judgement, but it's how you get yourself out of trouble that counts. Although you can get away with a certain amount of braking when the bike is tipped in (front included), it has to be done with care and be progressive. Any snatching of the brakes will have the tyres struggling to keep traction, and at the same time, the bike will react more violently. But smooth progressive braking is probably the last thing your body is trying to do, when you've got a muppet driver heading towards you on your side of the road. Most folks will panic and snatch. Disaster. What you did was to take evasive action, which if it had been a bit smoother, was probably the right course of action. The 'slapper' was probably triggered by an over-enthusiastic hazard avoidance, maybe coupled with another control error, like on/off throttle, or dabbing the brakes, or possibly pulling the clutch in (many people do when they panic). I would be more inclined to practice taking evasive action in a bend. It can be practiced safely on the road, just by counter-steering one way then the other. Pick a nice empty bend, that maybe has something like a drain cover half way round. Aim towards it as if you were riding normally, then take a swerve to avoid. Best to do it when there's no other traffic around...

[Mark_Able]

Oh, and you can brake in corners progressively, as long as you're prepared to keep counter-steering to keep the bike leant over. Because bikes have a tendency to 'stand-up' when braking mid corner, you have to be prepared to apply more pressure to the inside bar to keep the bike leant over. It should not be tried with any serious lean-angles, but maybe with gentle lean angles to begin with. Incidentally, when racing, a lot of riders (me included) would 'turn in' on the brakes, as the steeper steering head angle would aid the bike to turn quicker. When braking, the front of the bike dives, and the rear rises, steepening the angle the forks meet the road, leading to a quicker steering bike. When the bike is leant over to a serious angle, the only way to reduce speed safely is by closing the throttle. Even then, it has to rolled off and on extremely smoothly, as sudden off/on throttle will have the tyres losing traction.

[Dan505]

Thanks for the advice guys & gals. Thanks for the explanation Mark, think maybe i did roll off a bit? :-/

At least i now feel comfortable that i did the right thing but could have been less aggresive with the bars. Seriously thanks, i'm feeling bit happier with the bike now

[Gamer]

"Twist of the wrist 2" - good movie explaining a bit what not to do. Very hard in real life to repeat.
I am still learning, but adding throttle is better than braking, but our instinct say otherwise
When braking (front or rear/brakes or gears) weight goes forward and bike goes wide. You can't cheat physics and that's why we train our "survival reactions" to avoid danger by moving load to bigger, rear tire. With this in mind approach next turn and try convince your mind to not panic, but use physics to save you.
Like I said I am still learning. 8-)

[Conehead]

very usefull link I thought you might like. Not exactly braking but same principle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlfN9...feature=g-vrec

[Swanny]

Cheers Conehead that was interesting

[Conehead]

Dan505, got it sorted. Just do what the link does. Easy as pie. ;D ;D ;D ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCGaQ...eature=related

[Dan505]

holy sh#t! thats mental!

[Swanny]

My mate used to do slow speed circles and figures of 8 in the pub car park on his superdream
Amazing to watch

[470four]

My mate used to do slow speed circles and figures of 8 in the pub car park on his superdream
Amazing to watch

I used to do slow EVERYTHING on my Superdream, lol ;D ;D