Honestly, you only have 2 types of feedback that you get from the bike. It will be either
positive or
negative and you only want enough feedback that
you can work with. Too much is just as bad as too little.
So getting back to finding the traction limit... the answer is there is no answer that will fit 100% of all scenarios.
If there was, we all would be traction masters. Instead, focus on assisting the bike delivering positive feedback to the rider. Which is basically why some riders can go faster than others in less than optimal traction conditions, the same thing also holds true when the conditions are perfect for optimal traction. At any time it doesn't feel confidence inspiring, stop right there and figure out why you're not getting that positive feedback of stability. Sometimes, it's the bike setup, sometimes it's the tires, sometimes it's the track, other times the weather, maybe it's simply just the rider having an off day or running into their skill limit. The bottom line is, even if the bike is far from the limit of traction, the risk of crashing goes way up when the bike or rider starts complaining in some way. Many times the rider starts to address these problems via unneeded or improper inputs or changing settings thus reducing the available traction that they ALREADY have. :\
To address Ant's issue with feedback directly, and as far as feedback goes... I currently classify him and many others at the same place in their track riding careers, in the "needy rider" category. It’s not a good nor a bad thing and might change with time and experience, but many riders transition through this same phase in their riding when coming to terms with the unknown. In the beginning, it’s not how to deal with it or find it. It should be how to prevent it in the first place, predicting and dealing with traction loss comes later, actually…. much, much later.
I will use myself as an example, I am not exactly slow, but nowhere near the fastest.. but my bike rarely slides or loses traction even with some of my fastest paces. Those who have attended the track with me can attest to how
LITTLE I reference the available grip, yet ride just as fast or faster than the majority of riders on the course. I credit this to
prevention, NOT acceptance and anyone can follow that pretty easily imho. Throughout my riding, I have learned that I prefer a stable front end. The rear of the bike can move around as needed but the front must stay nearly 100% stable for me to have full confidence, other riders are the exact opposite. In that respect, I am “needy” of the front and less needy of the rear. To isolate this specific area of my riding, I stopped changing things and stuck with a pretty decent bike setup and one brand and model of tires. Since the bike didn’t change, I was free to work on me “feeling” available traction and grip at different paces and lean angles.
It wasn’t what I learned about grip that was profound, what was amazing… is what I learned about myself. Going further, I learned that it wasn’t even about me in the first place, it was about satisfying the minimal needs of the bike. After that the bike became even more compliant and the rider on top of it was much happier knowing the bike was not going to put me on my head at a moment’s notice and what alex.s stated about consistency has real merit here.
The articles linked in this thread are great and all, but it’s just text on a screen. Feeling those events is a whole other matter. To add to my cheesy post above, once you’re ready to try pavement, the kart track on a little bike is a great way to mitigate risk and still experience a very similar feel as Neil so very well knows.
Oh… and one more thing. Read this if you haven’t already.
https://www.ninjette.org/forums/show...9&postcount=31
/Shameless plug
Ps. I am also going into business next year, I am available for personal one on one and small group coaching. PM/call/email me for details before I make it formally public in Feb.