Slide Practice

[shane.hogan]

As the topic title says i'm keen to get some opinions on the most realistic way to build up to controlled rear slides while on the power.

 

Its mentioned in one of the twist books that one approach may be to use a rear tyre with less outright grip ie a sports touring tyre. The rationale being you can, in theory at least, get them to move around easier than a focused track tyre.

 

Now while i admit this idea does make sense on a logical level I would still be a bit aprehensive trying to provoke the tyre to slide.

 

Has anybody tried this approach?

 

If so, what bike did you try on?

 

I appreciate the school cant recommend we all go out and give it a bash for fear of the health and safety police coming knocking........but as a way of becoming familiar with the sensations of reaching the limits of traction on the power what are your personal opinions???

 

And is there any truth in the old addage that sticky tyres let go very quickly compared to a less grippy tyre which gives some warning that its about to give up the ghost before sliding away in a more controllable (recoverable) manner?

 

For me personally I've allways been more confident pushing the limits of traction on the front as, in my perception at least, i get a better feel for whats happening.

 

For example, when you are hard on the brakes and perhaps slighly off dead upright due to the type of corner i get a sort of rolling against the grain or a sort of slide/grip/slide sensation (not and actual slide i dont think, more a sensation) and that lets me know its time to ease off a bit.........

 

On the rear however, be it due to a lack of confidence or just not knowing what to look for i get a bit lost and never seem to get on the power hard enough to make the rear mis behave........

 

will using a less grippy tyre help me become familiar with the sensation i'm after or just launch me into the gravel

[GregGorman]

Just take a track tire and run it for, oh about 130 laps. That assumes your suspension is setup decently and your tire pressure is correct. It will slide, slide predictably - get it warm first - and slide often. You won't have to be going at your full speed so you'll have attention left to spare and by the time you get that many laps in the tire you won't be to scared of what it's going to do either. Just don't do this in the cold, it slides too easily then - scary actually.

[stuman]

And is there any truth in the old addage that sticky tyres let go very quickly compared to a less grippy tyre which gives some warning that its about to give up the ghost before sliding away in a more controllable (recoverable) manner?

 

 

Not really, that has more to do with the "feel" of the tire. The new Dunlop N-Techs have very good feel and are super sticky.

 

 

Do you have a dirt bike? Flat Track is a great way to get the feel for sliding the rear around...

[RonniB]

agreeing with both stuman and greg here, track tires that has gone "off" is great for sliding and the same is a dirt bike. Even on tarmac, a dirt bike is far easier to manage, due to the lazy geometry and low weigth, so that would be my first choice for learning to slide (well is was it was since I started out on dirt bikes ten years ago).

 

With track tires, they tend to slide a fair bit when they reach the stage where the sides are blued and it's very easy to control. Find a corner that you comfortable with, go in as usually and just keep increasing the rate of roll-on untill you feel the rear stepping out. The important part is that it's a rate of roll-on exercise more than anything, no chopped throttles, no sudden burst of throttle, just roll-on

 

Ronni