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noamkrief

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Posts posted by noamkrief

  1. Anyone watch motoGP? Sometimes they have onboard video with lean/throttle/brake overlay.

    I watch those very carefully, never once seen an overlap between braking and throttle. Not even when Rossi rides (because there are rumors he applies this technique of brakes and gas at the same time)

    I have data from Xavi Vierge and he doesn't do it either. 

    In theory I could understand the concept but the "juice is not worth the squeeze".

    It's too distracting, and it could take away from your sensitivity on the brake lever if you are also trying to apply 5% throttle.

    If you are not at the limit, and not going fast, you don't need sensitivity on the brake lever because you won't be using it anyway at high lean angles  right?

    So when you get faster, you will find yourself with some light brakes at 48 deg lean, and if you press just a tiny bit more on the lever, your front end will close.

    • Thanks 1
  2. It's a combination of camber thrust and steering angle.

    At a 45 degree lean angle, the profile of the tire generates alot of camber thrust, like when you roll a cone on the ground, it rolls in circles.

    Camber thrust at 45 degrees makes the bike want to turn at a radius of about 5 - 10 feet depending on your specific tire profile. This radius is much less of a radius we negotiate at the track. This is why we can have situations where the front wheel is actually pointing towards the outside of the turn during cornering rather than the inside. That is because camber thrust is TOO large.

    without a rider on a bike, if it leans to 45 degrees at 100 meter radius is 112km/h

    If you add a rider and rider is sitting on bike in the center same condition. 45 deg, 100m 112km/h

    If rider is hanging off, 2 things can happen:

    1) bike is leaning 43 degrees 100 meter radius 112km/h (contact patch to center of gravity angle is now 45 deg)

    2) bike is still leaning 45 deg 100 meter radius ~120km/h (contact patch to center of gravity angle is now 47 deg)

     

    Hanging off the bike reduces bike lean angle, so suspension works more efficiently and you gain more mechanical grip regardless of the coefficient of friction of your tire.

    If you hang off the bike alot, you reduce the effect of camber thrust, and your front tire will have to turn more into the corner.

    If you are a beginner rider, you do not need to hang off the bike because you don't need the extra 1% suspension effectiveness. 

     

    A bike doesn't fall because the steering rack can turn. It's not the rotating mass of the wheels. 

    If you weld your steering column so the front wheel cannot turn, your bike will fall.

     

    • Like 1
  3. Faffi, yes quick steering gives you more possibility of lines. Especially the line that makes the biggest radius around a bend, like that of a moto3 bike.

    Yes - we can have a rider creating an un-necessarily tight radius around a specific turn leaning at 55 degrees going slower than another rider who chose a line which provides them a larger radius, leaning at 45 degrees, and this 2nd rider would be going faster.

    That being said, if a bike/tire is capable of reaching 55 degrees, a lean angle of 55 should 100% be achieved at some portion of any particular turn. This portion would be the moment where you are not braking, and not accelerating. This portion can last 0.1 seconds, or 4 seconds depending on the particular characteristic of that corner.

     

    You will almost NEVER want to reach a lean angle of 45 degrees maximum at a turn, where your bike is capable of 55 degrees. It just means you could have gone faster.

    I'll make an video on this topic in the near future.

     

  4. Hey Faffi.

    The article from cycleworld pretty much explained what is happening and this phenomenon of why moto3 corner faster than motogp so I suggest you read it very carefully.

    The MotoGP video is leaving out some important details in order to glorify and promote moto3 in with this concept of "hey, moto3 still has its strong points, they corner faster". Sort of like - rooting for the underdog.

    The reality is that moto3 bikes do not do anything better than motogp bikes besides maybe the flick rates (from side to side). They certainly are NOT capable of cornering at a higher speed than motogp bikes and the article from cycleworld alluded to that fact.

    I'll try to explain again.

    Imagine a motorcycle doing circles in a parking lot. Constant radius circles non stop at a constant speed.

    The higher the lean angle, the faster these circles can be negotiated regardless of the weight of the bike.

    At a certain lean angle, a given motorcycle tires would start to slide. This is dependent on the coefficient of friction of the tires.

    If the tire coefficient of friction is 1, anything past 45 degrees would result in a slide, and if not corrected, a fall.

    If the tire coefficient of friction is 2, anything past 63.4 degrees would result in a slide, and if not corrected, a fall.

    We know that motogp tires have a higher coefficient of friction compared to the japanese made KR133 dunlops used by moto3. So moto3 bikes can not lean as far as motogp bikes. The article explained this by how moto3 riders do not drag their elbows, but motogp do this frequently, and even tuck in their elbows a bit to allow even MORE lean angle.

    I will try to get moto3 data for Valencia and compare it to moto2 data to compare max lean angles and see which achieve higher. I know moto2 usually do around 56-58 degrees. Motogp can get to 60-63.

     

    So why do moto3 bikes have a FASTER mid corner speed than Moto2 or MotoGP? The article also explained this. It's because moto3 bikes do not have high acceleration potential, so their biggest "tool" for speed is momentum and mid corner. Any 1mph they overslow in mid-corner, is a 1mph they will very much struggle to get back.

    So moto3 riders choose to put emphasis on the corrector strengths of their machines by choosing lines that have the absolute highest radius.

    MotoGP riders will purposefully create a tighter radius in the entry part of the corner, in order to greatly increase the radius on the exit portion, so they may unleash their 260hp.

     

    If a MotoGP bike used the exact same line as a moto3 bike, it would not be competitive compared to other MotoGP bikes as it would not be able to get on the gas early and hard. But its mid corner speed would be greater than that of the moto3 bikes because it is able to achieve higher lean angles due to its greater tire coefficient of friction.

    Please remember, for constant radius, the only thing that can increase speed is lean. Maximum lean is maximum lateral G's the tire is capable of.

    Weight of the machine, has nothing to do with it.

    So what to do? Get stickier tires and you can lean more and you can have more speed at the max lean portion of every corner.

    Hope this helped clarify.

     

     

     

    • Like 2
  5. Ok I see what the confusion is :) don’t worry. 

    A light bike moto3 with skinny tires will lean to 40 degrees bike lean and because the rider is hanging off to the inside a lot, the effective lean angle - contact patch to CG is 45 degrees. So now this bike is cornering at exactly 1G. Good so far? We agree. 

    Now a heavier bike moto2 rider is hanging off the same distance. But because the moto2 bike weighs more, to achieve an effective lean of 45 degrees (patch to CG) the bike must lean to 43 deg. Now this bike also corners at 1G exactly. 

    So what is the difference in speed around a bend between the two situations? 

    None. Both bikes are at 1G and will make the same mph for a given radius. 

    So why do small bikes have more corner speed? Or do they? I have heard this mentioned before, but the science does not agree. So maybe it’s bogus info - we have to keep an open mind. 

     

    The main thing that matters is coefficient of friction of the tire. We know MotoGP tires have more grip than moto2 and moto3. So actually MotoGP tire may be able to get to 1.9 lateral gs (I think around 60 deg) and a moto3 maybe only 55deg lean. 

    Important to understand, bike lean angle doesn’t really matter for corner speed. Only contact patch to CG.

    i know this is super confusing but once you get this concept it is like a light bulb in your head :)

    i will say, that if bike lean is more vertical the suspension will work better so you will generate more mechanical grip. But it’s very small differences especially on a smooth track.

     

  6. Mph has nothing to do with it. 

    I know it’s counter intuitive but i will explain. 

    If your tire coefficient of friction is 1, your tire can only maintain 1G force. 

    Mid corner where you don’t accelerate or decelerate (can be very short amount of time in this zone) your tire will only be subjected to lateral G forces. 

    At 1.01 G your tires begin to slide. (Let’s not discuss slip angles for now)

    so your tires can only do 1G so your max lean is 45 degrees. At 45.1 you start to slide ok?

    we also must make a destination between bike lean angle and the lean angle between contact patch and CG - lets call them bike lean and effective lean  

    When we do calculations such as 1G = 45 deg we always mean effective lean angle. Bike lean angle doesn’t matter (except for suspension effectiveness and tire longevity)

    so a 200 pound bike leaning at 45 degrees in at 300 foot radius would do the exact same speed as a 900 pound bike at 45 degree at 300 radius.

    moto3 bikes have skinnier tires so their effective lean is close to that of the bike lean .

    bike lean is always more than effective lean .

    At 45 degree effective lean you will always generate 1G lateral regardless of speed. Simply does NOT matter.

     

    i know it is counter intuitive but it is math and physics.

    i hope this reply is not frustrating to anyone.

     

    noam

     

     

     

     

  7. Moto2 riders achieve around 57-58 degrees (1.65 lateral G's) at the neutral throttle phase of the corner (0-10% throttle, no brakes)

    I texted one of the engineers at Kalex and asked him "How do they do 57 degrees? My tires start to slide at around 53 degrees" 

    His reply: "It's Magic :)" 

    Tire coefficient of friction (directly also dependent on track surface) is obviously the biggest variable assuming you don't drag any bike parts before hand.

    Tires used in Moto2 very similar to the now french made Dunlops KR108 rear KR106 front. (moto2 tires can be obtained from the dunlop dealer in Barcelona)

     

    As the OP said - Q4 can do 62 deg lean angle. I don't see how that is possible because my logic says that Moto2 tires must have more grip, so why would moto2 riders stop at 58 degrees? If they could lean more, believe me, they would. They don't have a psychological complex with fear of lean - they lean until the tires start to slide.

  8. Hey guys.

    I wanted to share some videos I made of me analyzing data of of my lap vs WSBK rider who is also riding my bike around Chuckwalla CW direction.

    So far I have made 3 videos that are very basic, but a good place to start because they are simple and hopefully easy to understand.

    My qualifications: I used to race cars, and we were very heavy into data analysis. I also spent many hours with crew-chief of Tech3 and Data Engineer for Gresini which we covered in detail all aspects of data acquisition for motorcycles.

    Software and data acquisition system: "2D Data Recording" (used on all moto3, moto2 and many MotoGP machines)

    The videos should be watched in order because they sort of "build" on top of each-other.

     

    Video #1 (time spent at lean)

    https://youtu.be/aJ_E-sUxJc8

     

    Video #2 (roll speeds)

    https://youtu.be/aUDGNg2WDDM

     

    Video #3 (how it is possible that my roll speed is lower and my lean angle is higher)

    https://youtu.be/02q4I4xnyLc

     

     

     

    Future videos will all compare WSBK rider lap with my own (order not yet decided):

     

    - Roll Rates. How fast do we add or decrease lean angle. I will also cover counter steering, and how it works

    - Changing Radius during cornering. Entry, neutral, exit type corners and V-type

    - Motorcycle dynamics (will be many separate videos). Lean angles converted to G's. How to calculate lean angle from radius and speed and the other way around. What are G forces. Braking G's, acceleration G's, combined G's (traction circle). Why a bike does not fall and a self correcting system (rake, trail, offset). Anti-squat. Tire coefficient of friction. Camber thrust. 

    - Focus on entry phase of corners

    - Focus on mid corner phase

    - Focus on exit phase

    - Suspension setup by suspension speed histogram to adjust rebound, compression scientifically.

    - How to find more time at a given track without a reference lap.

    - Oversteer & understeer

    - Sprocket sizes and gear simulations on the software.

    - Throttle acceptance

    - Xavi Vierge data analysis from Valencia Qualifying 2016. This will be fun. He brakes at 0.9 G's at 50 degrees lean! Woohoo!

    - Contact patch. Does a bigger contact patch actually provides more grip? (this one will really piss some people off)

    - Ideal Tire working temperatures, how we can find them, and how we achieve them. 

    - Yaw

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  9. Rear brake should not be used on the racetrack. PERIOD. (unless it rains but i'm not sure exactly).

     

    "Backing it in" can be induced by locking up the rear, true. You can use rear brake, or drop the clutch abruptly on downshift. But this is not what you are seeing in MotoGP or moto2.

     

    To prove it, go watch a few moto2 races and you can see that even on right hand turns, they back it in and don't use rear brake. It's obvious because now that almost all riders let their inside leg hang during braking, you can see the rear end of the bike "come around" while their right leg is dangling in the air.

     

    "Backing it in" is a result of "threshold braking" combined with "trail braking".

     

    If you and your bike weigh 500lbs, lets say when you sit on the bike on a constant speed there is 250lb on the front and 250lb on the rear.

     

    During very hard braking, you would want 490lb on the front and 10lb on the rear. Just enough weight on the rear so it still sort of "follows" the front.

    At times, you will see the rear tire skipping.

     

    So once the rider start to turn the bike, the front end is gripping and turns, while the rear with 10lb of weight on it continues straight ahead. There you go - you are crossed up... Don't release the brakes enough, and you'll get more and more crossed up until you crash.

     

    To sum it up, backing it in is not a stunt that is induced by rear brake like on your BMX bike, it's a result of going very fast into a corner with extremely aggressive trail braking technique.

     

    Hope this helps.

  10. The data acquisition thing - I am definitely seeing much more of this as folks start using GPS-based lap timers with all kinds of post-hoc analysis software. It's actually getting the be the norm around here. These days, if I don't show up with the infrared beacon for my timer, chances are no one else will have one either.

     

    Torque wrenches - anyone who works on axles, brakes, steering components etc. without one is a hack, plain and simple. Surprised you have encountered that very much.

     

    Terminology - I've never been bothered by the differences personally, and I'm actually not as confident as you are that the car world is so "standardized" in the terminology used. I think its fair to say though that the science of driving cars has a better established set of dogma, probably because there are more people doing it and much more has been written about it. Bikes are still a bit of a black art and a lot of riding style elements come into and out of fashion (extreme hanging off, maximum trail braking, backing it in) as do motorcycle design elements (remember the trend towards "tuned chassis flex" in the 1990s, to provide suspension compliance when leaned over, when prior to that it was all about maximizing stiffness?). But the same is true for driving styles. Jackie Stewart claimed he never trail braked at all, and held in disdain the driving schools who were teaching that method. That was in the late 1980s I believe, which isn't so long ago (at least for some of us).

     

    Anyway, I think you might be making a mountain out of a mole hill here - do you really have a hard time understanding what the bike guys are talking about? I am more concerned about the persistent errors in actual understanding of how things work, than I am about what we call them. Ask your average track rider (or car driver for that matter) what they think a suspension preload adjustment does. At least 2/3 of them are *sure* it alters tension in the springs, making them stiffer or softer. I think it is those bits of ignorance that impede our progress, not the syntax per se.

     

    Thanks for your reply. You made very good points.

    Yes - on another post I could not use the term "threshold braking" since no one would know what it means, so I said - 100% brakes and half the people thought I meant braking as hard as my hand can squiz.

     

    Also terms like flick the bikes vs turn the bike. One of my instructors hates the word "flick" and when he was critiquing my riding he said "you need to turn faster". So I naturally though - "wow, I'm already almost dragging my elbow, if I go any faster in the turn, I might lowside". but what he meant was to FLICK faster. So basically 1/2 the day we were not talking about the same thing. What a waste.

     

    Anyway - it's ok. It's just the way it is. I totally get it. most people just want to ride and go as fast as they can without getting scientific about everything. That's fine :)

  11. Hi everyone :)

    A bit of background, I come from the car racing world and I started riding motorcycles for the 1st time 9 months ago.

    I learned how to ride from step 1 (didn't even know which lever the clutch was) and within my 1st week of riding, I rode on the highway on the shoulder at 40mph to my first track day. Since then I've done over 60 track days and enjoy bikes much more than cars because the "limit" is alot more dangerous therefore requires alot more skill and finesse.

     

    That being said I find alot of flaws in the motorcycle world. I hope I do not offend anyone.

    I find the motorcycle racing/track world to be a much more "shoot from the hip" type of sport.

     

    1) Data acquisition. Rarely I see anyone using it. How can you tell if the line you are taking is indeed fastest? What feels fast may not necessarily BE fast.

     

    2) Ever heard of a torque wrench? I had the tire guy at the track change my tires and 45 minutes later I asked him what he torqued my axles to. He said "I don't have a torque wrench are you kidding me? This is a sport of FAITH son!" I've ran into this multiple times.

     

    3) Terminology. This is perhaps the most frustrating thing for me. Motorcycle racers and even suspension tuners don't have a unified terminology and when they do agree on something it's a very unscientific word like "backing it it". Sorry - but that's retarded.

     

    Here are some terms and definitions and maybe some of you can shed some light on if these terms are recognized here or what the motorcycle equivalent is.

     

    Oversteer = the rear end looses traction, the front is still gripping. (overtseer is broken down to the following 2 categories)

    1) power oversteer [you guys say: sliding the rear end] = rear looses traction due to excess in power

    2) corner entry oversteer [you guys say: backing it in] = rear end looses traction under trail braking phase due to the initial turning force accompanied by the rear end being light due to weight transfer to the front

    3) understeer [you guys say: loosing the front] = occurs when the front tire is overtasked between cornering forces and braking and starts to slide.

    4) Threshold braking [you guys say: I brake really hard!] = maximum braking that is capable given the conditions and tires. Braking any harder is NOT possible. This should be the goal for most corners

    5) Corner exit speed [getting the drive] = get the maximum exit speed possible. The "getting the drive" term seems to make good sense in this case

     

     

    I'm very willing to adapt to the sport and use the terminology that everyone agrees on in the motorcycle world, it's just that I haven't seen consistency as to the terminology. Some say "backing it in" and some say "loosing the rear end" when talking about corner entry oversteer.

     

    Can someone clarify please?

    Hope I didn't tick someone off because I can see how someone can take this post as insulting, but please, it is not my intention.

     

    Thanks

    Noam

  12. There is something that could be causing confusion with the terminology "100% braking". As the bike slows down, the amount of brake lever pressure required to maintain the same rate of deceleration decreases. So, a rider that is paying attention to that will be tapering off pressure on the brake lever as the bike slows. So, while I think noamkrief intends "100% braking" to mean maximum possible braking force allowed by the traction conditions, someone else might think he means squeezing the brake lever as hard as possible.

     

    Presumably, and rider that is INCREASING brake lever pressure all the way to the turn point is doing it because SRs are kicking in hard!

     

    At CodeRACE there is a brake/downshift drill that actually MEASURES your braking so you can look at graph to see how consistent you stayed while downshifting and blipping - and compare it to the chart of the ideal, which is Will doing it. :)

     

    Thanks for clarifying :) I indeed meant 100% according to traction. I believe if any of us pressed as hard as we can on the brake lever, the bike would either lock the front (if applied too abruptly) or the rear will come up over the front of the bike and the rider fly over the handlebars. So obviously - yes - 100% of the capability of the bike.

     

    If I understand correctly, unlike in a car which you can easily exceed the traction of the tires under braking where either the ABS kicks in or if no-ABS, the tires skid, on a motorcycle with decent track slicks the limit of the tire is actually never reached. Assuming you properly load the front. the rear of the bike will start coming up. This will almost always under dry conditions with good tires be the first thing that will happen. At this point, if you brake harder, the rear will come up higher and higher until it can just go over the front. Ideally, max brakes is when the rear tire is just barely off the ground - maybe 1/8th of an inch. In racing like motogp they seem to not brake at 100% but more like 98% leaving if I had to guess about 5lbs of weight on the rear tire because if the rear is off the ground, risk in increased and the bike become more unpredictable than it already is.

     

    The longer the wheelbase of the bike, and the lower C.G., more forward G's have to take place before the rear starts lifting off the ground (100% braking).

    That's why in a documentry about motoGP I saw called "fastest" one of Rossi's techs states "max braking of a bike is 2.5G's". He's not speaking of what the tires are capable of, but he knows the wheelbase and C.G. of the Yamaha and can tell you at 2.5 forward G's of deceleration, the rear end comes off the ground at which point, you can't brake any harder (unless of course the rider can scootch his butt farther back on the seat which is very limited because the arms still much reach the handlebars).

     

    I am going to install my data acquisition system from my racecar onto my bike and will be able to see on the laptop how consistent my braking force is while blipping the throttle. I'm certain I'm not reaching 100% because my rear end doesn't feel weightless under braking.

  13. No, I am saying that maybe you should do all hard braking first (full braking force to reduce a gross amount of speed quickly) and start with downshifting only during the last phase of braking (softer braking force just to adjust the entry speed), which should never be 100%.

     

    From Chapter 24 - Efficient Braking of A Twist of the Wrist 2:

    "Trapping yourself into heavy braking at your turn-point is working against the desired result. The basic product (end result) of braking is to get the speed set accurately for the turn."

     

    If I can use softer braking force during the last phase of braking, it only means one thing. It means that I could have braked later and used 100% braking force (until the trailing zone begins).

     

    There is the same problem with cars which is better documented since there are alot more books about driving fast than riding.

     

    In a car, the technique is called heal and toe. While braking, you use the right side of your foot to blip the throttle for the downshift.

    The books and multiple authors are aware and note that the driver's ability to maintain constant brake pressure while blipping the throttle is reduced. For experienced racers it's less of an issue, but it ALWAYS IS. So if I'm in a car without ABS braking at 100% and I blip the gas, I would personally err on the safe side and release 5% pressure off the brakes while blipping. Because if I screw up and accidentally apply an extra 1% of brakes, my wheels will lock. So going from 5th gear to 2nd, I blip 3 times in a car and each blip I go to 95% of max brake which costs about 1/10's of a second for that particular zone.

     

    So the authors recommend skipping gears in a car which allows the driver's right foot to focus 100% on the braking force and the sensitivity it requires in order to achieve 100% brakes...

     

     

    I rode my BMW Hp4 the other day and slowly started testing out its slipper clutch. I can do 80mph, pull in the clutch, RPMS at idle, pop to 2nd gear and JUMP off the clutch, it I barely feel anything. It sounds just as if I SLOOOWLY released the clutch. So you're right - my r6 slipper clutch stinks.

     

    I'm all about blipping while braking and 95% of the time I do it pretty good. 4% I mess up and 1% I totally screw up and fail to blip at all - for that, it would be nice to have a good slipper to save my butt.

  14. .......... I'd say I loose about 5% precision which means if I was braking at 100%, I could accidentally apply 5% more pressure to the brakes while blipping and cause the rear wheel to lift off the ground more than I want it to...

     

    Maybe you should do all hard braking first and start with downshifting only during the last phase of braking, which should never be 100%.

     

    Two more useful articles:

    http://forums.superb...p?showtopic=258

     

    http://forums.superb...p?showtopic=310

     

    The only time I shouldn't be at 100% braking force is once I start leaning the bike and trailing off the brakes. So You are saying I should do my downshifting during turn entry phase? Sounds scary...

  15. You mentioned a concern about keeping the brake pressure steady while blipping - a couple of things that can help with this - how many fingers are you using on the brake? Using 2 (as someone mentioned above) instead of 4 can make it easier to blip while maintaining steady brake pressure - easier to slide your fingers on the lever and you can grip the throttle with the other fingers. Check to make sure your gloves allow you to slide your fingers a little on the brake lever, to allow your hand to move enough to blip.

     

    Some riders have success by focusing on using a forward push with the thumb to blip the throttle, using the upper part of the thumb where it connects to the hand to roll the throttle. If your hands are big you might find that technique easier.

     

    Also check your brake lever adjustment, if you have to stretch to reach the brake lever, it will be tough to get smooth result on braking while downshifting.

     

    Thank you. I use two fingers for brakes and I do actually focus on the thumb going forward for the blip.

    My downshifts are very smooth and I can't feel them. The problem is that the 2 braking fingers must slide while blipping and I loose precision and feel. I'd say I loose about 5% precision which means if I was braking at 100%, I could accidentally apply 5% more pressure to the brakes while blipping and cause the rear wheel to lift off the ground more than I want it to...

     

    Just wondering if the blipping is worth it or if I should just use the slipper clutch reliant technique so that way my right hand can focus 100% on maximum braking and feel...

  16. ..

     

    And dont comment? This is nt your forum you know? Manners pls

     

    Explain yourself

     

    In the original post, he says "anyone who downshifts before braking, please don't comment" which is a bit blunt, someone might have something valuable to add to the discussion, but to be told not to comment on an open forum isn't really in the spirit of this board.

     

    Yes sorry that came out wrong. What I meant is that I don't want to start a big debate on if you should downshift before braking, or WHILE braking... I was afraid it would lead to that....

    my apologies for not wording it better...

  17. If the slipper clutch technology works so well, how come I hear riders in the braking zone release the clutch slowly?

     

    How do you think you can "hear" how quickly they are releasing the clutch? What you hear is that at first the slipper clutch is slipping, so the engine revs don't rise very much, but then as the bike speed decreases and the back-torque declines, the clutch begins to engage and the engine speed starts to approach the driveline speed. That is a slipper working properly, and it sounds exactly like someone releasing the clutch slowly.

     

    Some slippers work better than others, but I am happy to report to you that with mine (Bucci) I can downshift with no blip and simply dump the clutch, and let the internal workings look after the rest. I have not skidded the rear once since installing the thing. Mind you, I don't use the rear brake at all and also never downshift while leaned over.

     

    Ah, maybe you're right. Maybe that's the sound of the slipper clutch that sounds the same as someone releasing the clutch slowly :)

     

    On my 2013 Yamaha R6, if I dump the clutch without blipping the throttle, my rear end locks up momentarily. I guess the r6 is one of the bikes that has a bad slipper clutch.

     

    Thanks for everyone's replies.

  18. Hey everyone.

     

    This question is regarding the technique of downshifting while braking...

    (anyone who downshifts before braking, please don't comment)

     

    So there are 2 methods I guess:

    1) blip the throttle while on the brakes and downshift. This is what I do.

    2) use the slipper clutch technology and don't worry about the blip and just release the clutch slowly

     

     

     

    The problem I'm having with method #1 is that although I'm comfortable doing this technique, you always loose a little sensitivity on the brake lever while having to blip the throttle. So if I'm braking at 100% and I screw up a little bit and while blipping I increase brake pressure accidentally I could get the rear off the ground too much. What i'm saying is that if I don't multitask with my right hand in braking and blipping at the same time, my brake pressure can be more predictable, consistent, with less possibility for errors.

     

    The problem with method #2 is that I don't trust the slipper clutch. If the slipper clutch technology works so well, how come I hear riders in the braking zone release the clutch slowly? Should they be able to just release the clutch quickly without worrying about rear end lockup? I see very fast riders using this technique and their rear end is always squirming during the downshift clutch release moment.

     

     

    I'm not the type to reinvent the wheel so I've watched alot of onboard motogp videos but I can't exactly tell which method they use. Sometimes I think I hear method #1 and sometimes #2.

     

     

    Thanks for reading everyone :)

    Noam

  19. Peter, welcome to track riding :)

     

    I have been riding motorcycles for about 9 months now total and have around 60 track days under my belt so my memories of the beginning phase are very fresh in my mind.

     

    I wanted to share with you that what you are experiencing has occurred to me for about the first 30 track days. My legs got very tired and i can only stay out for about 3-5 laps before the pain was too much to bear.

     

    From my experience you are suffering from 2 issues:

    1) you are tensing up your legs muscles because your brain thinks that the grip is coming from your legs. In a sense, subconsciously your brain thinks that your feet are on the ground, and that your feet and legs are doing the gripping in the corner.

    To fix this, be mindful in the corners that it's the tires that are gripping the ground, not your legs. Try to relax and put your trust in the tires. The tires will grip and clenching up your leg muscles does not create more grip :) you know this, but your brain does not because it goes to panic and by your photos, you are afraid to lean the bike. An exercise I recommend is for you to ride the track without any body position technique. Sit straight up and down and lean the bike in the corners. Sitting straight up and down on the bike will make it easier to relax your legs and body, and at the same time you will put trust in the tires. You will also get comfortable being on the side of the tire. Make sure you do this with GOOD tires and make sure they are up to temp - 2 laps. You'd be surprised how low you can lean the bike...

     

    2) Hanging off the bike only works well at higher bike lean angles. That being said, you are not hanging off that much, but never-the-less expect it to be uncomfortable because when you hang off your body, you will feel like you are about to fall off the bike and you will need to use some muscles to stay locked on.

    When you go faster, and you lean to about 45 degrees or more, you can hang off a ton and be very relaxed. Centrifugal force will suck you into the bike and it requires very little effort to hang off the bike and you can stay relaxed.

     

    It gets better man! Keep up the good work!

  20. Glad I made some of you laugh regarding my body steering post but please keep an open mind...

    The countersteering method is very real and effective but when running at a faster pace, body steering becomes a big part of turning the bike.

     

    Fact is that countersteering is not the ONLY way the bike leans or stands back up. An application of the throttle as most of you will know will stand the bike up without applying pressure to the outside bar - I think most of us can agree. So if there is 1 exception there may be others...

     

    Ride your bike in a straight line and move your but cheek over to the right and a generous portion of your upper body.

    Now - for the bike to keep going forward you may notice 2 things.

    1) the bike has to counter balance itself. It will lean slightly to the left

    2) you will need pressure to the left bar.

     

    So now your body mass is to the right side of the bike, the bike leaning to the left and pressure to the left bar is applied and you keep going straight.

     

    According to basic physics, the masses of the bike + rider are at tendency to converge. Meaning - you will feel forces to go towards the bike and the bike towards you.

     

    So at this point, and at the track, be it the braking zone, you are off to the right side of the bike, pressing on the left handle bar, and the bike slightly leaned over to the left. At this point you have created potential eneregy towards a right side lean. If you release the pressure on the outside bar, the bike will "attempt" by the laws of physics to come towards YOUR center of mass and will fall towards your body.

    This motion of the bike "falling" to the right towards your body mass is loaded with 400 pounds of inertia.

     

    Also - if your bike suspension is set aggressively, under braking you will have "rake" meaning the front will be lower than the rear of the bike due to compression of the front forks. This creates an inherently unstable system. In aerodynamics (even according to motogp techs, bikes are more like airplanes than anything else) unstable planes are maneuverable and stable airplanes are not maneuverable. So with the rake, your bike is unstable which causes it to "want" to turn, or have a tendency not to be stable, in other words, fall down easily towards the direction of the turn.

     

    What I have explained here is very subtle and probably not noticeable by most riders. Remember, just because you're fast, doesn't mean you really understand what you are doing... I've met plenty of people who were a second or 2 off the track record who had no idea how or what they were doing to achieve those laptimes let alone try to explain anything...

     

    Sorry for my taboo "body steering" post. Countersteering does work great, but I find it more useful on the streets, and in transitions between 2 turns at the track where you really have to manhandle the bike from side to side.

     

    Again - the no BS bike by Keith Code is nothing short of genius but lets see what that bike does under braking and loading the front end, while applying some pressure on the right peg and moving the body over to the right side. Under constant throttle without loading the front - of course that bike doesn't want to lean over and needs the somewhat "rough" technique of countersteering.

     

    race conditions with a supermoto race bike huh?

     

    Anything short of race conditions(read: PUBLIC ROADS and naked / non race preped bikes) = countersteering is all you need.

     

    I'd put my money on countersteering 99% of the time because body steer only works for the remaining 1% which you have stated.

     

    It seems that you have watched motovudu... if you have , the techniques inside only applies to a fully prep-ed race bike prep-ed for a specific style.

     

    I've tried that on "lesser " bikes and most of the techniques inside only serves to run the bike wide/ upset the "cheap" suspension .

     

    No I have not watches this.

    Countersteering is the only way to change the lean of the bike effectively and quickly agreed.

    Another way to explain what I already have is this:

     

    Take an arrow and put it through a 2x4 with your hands. You can't. You don't have the strength. But you have the same strength to pull a bow and shoot that arrow straight through a 2x4 right?

     

    The energy when stored or sprung can behave quite differently...

     

    So when you watch twist of the wrist on the BS bike you will notice that when the rider bounces on the right peg, the bike indeed does lean to the right, but very slightly and it's very ineffective. But if you countersteer and press on the left handlebar, the bike will continue to go straight. At this point you sprung loaded the bike, sort of like a bow and arrow. Now, when you ease off the countersteer effort, or shall I say, release - the bike will dive to the right.

     

    So if you just shift your weight over, it's like trying to push an arrow through a 2x4. When you store the energy, it's like drawing a bow.

     

    The feeling of going into a turn at the track is MUCH different than on the street. On the street countersteering is 100% the way to turn the bike, no question.

    On the track, since the turns are memorized, and smoothness is key, we don't usually find situations in which we have to turn the bike abruptly enough to require counter steer. Situations on the track that require countersteer are things like traffic avoidance, and quick flick situation as in a chicane.

     

    When I first learned how to track I used countersteering always. So when entering a turn I was STEERING the bike to turn. Now, in the method I described, I'm "LETTING" the bike turn in. That's a good feeling, when the bike is eager to turn for you...

     

    I don't think any CSS instructors will agree and that's ok. Motorcycle riding is very interesting topic because there are so many schools of thought. Some say no trail brake, and some say you do... For the record - I'm a big fan of trail braking, but that's not the topic :)

  21. Glad I made some of you laugh regarding my body steering post but please keep an open mind...

    The countersteering method is very real and effective but when running at a faster pace, body steering becomes a big part of turning the bike.

     

    Fact is that countersteering is not the ONLY way the bike leans or stands back up. An application of the throttle as most of you will know will stand the bike up without applying pressure to the outside bar - I think most of us can agree. So if there is 1 exception there may be others...

     

    Ride your bike in a straight line and move your but cheek over to the right and a generous portion of your upper body.

    Now - for the bike to keep going forward you may notice 2 things.

    1) the bike has to counter balance itself. It will lean slightly to the left

    2) you will need pressure to the left bar.

     

    So now your body mass is to the right side of the bike, the bike leaning to the left and pressure to the left bar is applied and you keep going straight.

     

    According to basic physics, the masses of the bike + rider are at tendency to converge. Meaning - you will feel forces to go towards the bike and the bike towards you.

     

    So at this point, and at the track, be it the braking zone, you are off to the right side of the bike, pressing on the left handle bar, and the bike slightly leaned over to the left. At this point you have created potential eneregy towards a right side lean. If you release the pressure on the outside bar, the bike will "attempt" by the laws of physics to come towards YOUR center of mass and will fall towards your body.

    This motion of the bike "falling" to the right towards your body mass is loaded with 400 pounds of inertia.

     

    Also - if your bike suspension is set aggressively, under braking you will have "rake" meaning the front will be lower than the rear of the bike due to compression of the front forks. This creates an inherently unstable system. In aerodynamics (even according to motogp techs, bikes are more like airplanes than anything else) unstable planes are maneuverable and stable airplanes are not maneuverable. So with the rake, your bike is unstable which causes it to "want" to turn, or have a tendency not to be stable, in other words, fall down easily towards the direction of the turn.

     

    What I have explained here is very subtle and probably not noticeable by most riders. Remember, just because you're fast, doesn't mean you really understand what you are doing... I've met plenty of people who were a second or 2 off the track record who had no idea how or what they were doing to achieve those laptimes let alone try to explain anything...

     

    Sorry for my taboo "body steering" post. Countersteering does work great, but I find it more useful on the streets, and in transitions between 2 turns at the track where you really have to manhandle the bike from side to side.

     

    Again - the no BS bike by Keith Code is nothing short of genius but lets see what that bike does under braking and loading the front end, while applying some pressure on the right peg and moving the body over to the right side. Under constant throttle without loading the front - of course that bike doesn't want to lean over and needs the somewhat "rough" technique of countersteering.

  22. Christian,

    Honestly do whatever works for you. By your post, you are working on personal limits and barriers. So you are not quite riding to the limit of the bike.

    I'm not either, but I race cars and I have no problem riding to the absolute limit.

     

    Once you find the limits of the bike at your favorite track, you'll be able to go from track to track. Each turn at your home track will remind you of another turn at another track and so forth. After a while - and it may be a while, you can go to a new track and by 2 sessions be your maximum potential where you'll be working on shaving off 2/10ths of a second for the rest of the day...

     

    If you shaved off 1 second in 1 session, you are nowhere near the limit yeah??? hahaha

  23. Quick flick is just the rate that your bike goes from being upright to your target lean angle.

     

    So if it takes you 5 seconds from being upright to 35 degree lean angle, that's a SLOWWWWW flick. If it takes you 0.5 seconds, that's a quick flick.

     

    Technique? Countersteer the ###### out of it hahah!!!

     

    For the track, usually slower turns require a higher rate of "flick" and faster turns require slower rate... My 2 cents.

  24. Trail braking is KEY for fast laptimes around a racetrack. For street riding, if you are trail braking, I personally think that you went in too hot.

     

    Definition if trail braking is to trail off the brakes past the entry of the corner. In other words, you will still be using the braked in the initial portion of the corner.

     

    Depending on speed and radius, the ratios would change but here is what I think the average corner should look like.

     

    1) straight line braking zone before the corner - 100% front brake. (rear tire should be almost skipping off the ground)

    2) at initial tip in you start easing off the brakes. As the bike leans more and more as you are entering the corner, you ease of the brakes more. This section I call "corner entry phase" is the first 40% of the corner.

    - At the first 10% of the corner you will be at 15% lean angle and 85% front brake.

    - at 20% of the corner you will be at 30% lean and 40% front brake

    - at 30% of the corner you will be at 40% lean and 20% front brake

    -at 39% of the corner you will be at 50% lean (or your max comfort lean) and 1% brake.

    -at 40% of the corner you should have the apex in your view infront of you and the exit as well. At which point you may spend about 0-1 seconds OFF throttle NO brakes. Then you start applying the throttle and on you go...

     

    The reason I feel trail braking is so important to running fast laptimes is because corner entry phase and corner exit phase are the same. As you exit a corner you should be accelerating towards the coming straight. As you enter a corner, you need to decelerate.

     

    Trail braking also improves bike handling if done right. If you apply too much brake pressure for the given lean angle, you may overload the front, slide it, or tuck it. But if you give it just the right amount of brake during the trail braking phase, the geometry of the bike (increase in rake = front lower than the rear) will make the bike turn very nicely. Also - the contact patch on the front tire will be greater and the front will steer very well.

     

    Remember, without the front tire gripping, the bike cannot turn. Even if you are leaning the bike, the front tire is crucial to ROTATING the bike in the direction of the turn, just like a car. That front tire MUST hold!

     

    The initial reaction if you attempt to trail brake for the first time is that the bike refuses to lean under front brake. This is correct. Front brake stands the bike up, and rear brakes makes it lean over. But if you properly hang off the bike BEFORE tipping into the turn, the bike will REALLY want to turn for you and with just the right amount of front brake, the bike will tip in nicely. If you feel like the bike doesn't want to tip in when you are under trail braking, odds are you are using too much front brake. Trail braking is a very delicate matter. Not more pressure than crushing an empty can of soda I'd say...

     

    Good luck and practice this at the track. Not the street. Go enjoy the scenery at the street - nothing to practice there...

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