cobra525

Blake, the answer is simple. MORE SEAT TIME. Questions are good, it will come to you.

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blakegaston

Haha. Only thing stopping me is transpo. If you do anymore track days and want to haul my bike, lemme know and Ill go. :D

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cobra525

Tell you what, you get a hold of me when you are going, and I will tell you if I am and have room.

I am kind of biased

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bukwld

is it bad that I don't even know about this, and this finds me wondering what I was doing at the track when riding this past week.

I'm more focused on ensuring that I have a good line to follow, my speed is decent and I'm comfortable with it, and I'm in the right gearing.

I guess since I did my last track day in pooring rain I wasn't at top speeds going down the straightaway, but then again I still set up well before going into the turn, and didn't have to drop that many gears.

I did drop gear and roll on the throttle to match my engine to avoid massive engine breaking and getting all swirly in the rear end.

As others have said, seat time makes a lot of differnece as well (both on and off the track). Knowing how the bike responds in general at different ranges (speeds/gears) could help.

Just my .02, but I'm no genius of bikes..

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onewheelskyward

Engine braking is a function of how closed the throttle is compared to how much gas your engine needs to maintain it's current RPM. I can tell you that I'm much more smooth on the engine braking when I downshift one at a time, rev matching. If I were to apply the same technique you did, dropping 4 clutch in, I'd be much more likely to start sliding. Slipper or no slipper. It's about being smooth and controlled. Dropping gears like they're going out of style is neither of those things.

The effect of engine braking gets more dramatic as you get closer to first gear. You actually want to use the braking in higher gears because it's more predictable.

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onewheelskyward

Engine braking is not the same as using the rear brake, but the two are inextricably tied by the fact that there is only so much friction the rear tire has to give.

Similarities:

- Both can cause you to lowside. Or even highside, if you let the rear spin back up.
- Both lengthen your effective wheelbase and make the bike more stable.

Differences:

- Engine braking will not lock up your rear wheel. That doesn't mean it will keep traction, just that it won't stop entirely.
- You can use maintenance throttle and the rear brake at the same time.

If you're under heavy engine braking in a low gear, it's pretty easy to lock up the rear with just a little bit of rear brake under the right conditions. Again, see the coefficient of friction of that 2 square inch piece of rubber touching the ground back there.

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PeteN95

I prefer to back it in, but I'm an ex-Supermoto racer!

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