Quote:
Originally Posted by ally99
Actually, yes, cutting the throttle WILL make you run wide. Your illustration of the behavior of a rolling tire is correct, but you forget that when the tires are part of your bike, there are different physics and dynamics to consider. Imagine your illustration above, but you have 2 wheels connected to ends of a pole. Do you think both would still work together to decrease the radius of your turn? In addition, as soon as you cut the throttle, your bike is engine braking. Braking runs you wide. You want nothing to do with any kind of braking once in a corner unless you are a pro and understand trail-braking.
I'm also not sure I understand the 2nd quote from you (above). You should NOT release the throttle while turning the bike. Your bike is more stable under slight throttle. You want to be rolling on the throttle throughout the turn. Do all of your braking, set your line/body position just before the actual turn, and then roll on steadily and consistently throughout the turn. Releasing the throttle engine brakes which sends more weight to the front of your bike which can upset the suspension. Under braking (engine braking included) and with a trailing throttle the weight of the bike tends towards the front and loads the front tire so that it’s more likely to lose traction in a corner. The tire has to work harder and the suspension becomes compressed and can’t deal with bumps well.
Just some thoughts to consider.
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Good explanation and yes you are right when you say that chopping the throttle WILL make the bike run wide. Keith Code calls this a survival reaction. When we go into a turn and fear that we are going to fast or fear that we are running wide we instinctively want to chop the throttle which actually makes the situation worse. Rolling off or chopping the throttle tends to make the bike run wider and I appreciate your exact definition of why that is so.
As for the second part of your post, I just want to clarify one thing that seems a little confusing and it may just be semantics. You say that you should "Not release the throttle while turning the bike. Your bike is more stable under slight throttle. You want to be rolling on the throttle throughout the turn. Do all of your braking, set your line/body position just before the actual turn, and then roll on steadily and consistently throughout the turn."
This all sounds correct but I just want to clarify that the throttle should be OFF when actually turning the bike and then cracked on ASAP once the bike is at the lean angle you desire. Then it should be rolled on evenly, smoothly and consistently throughout the remainder of the turn as you describe. You want to make sure that your turning/steering is DONE before you crack on the gas, so essentially when you turn the throttle is off. You get all your braking, downshifting etc done before turn in, turn the bike and THEN get on the gas.
This is one of the reason's that your rate of turning (how quickly you get your bike to the lean angle you desire) is so important because the sooner you get your turning DONE the faster you can roll on the gas.
Cheers,
Misti