I've only been riding a year, but I've always pulled the clutch lever when decelerating, used front and rear brakes while downshifting to the gear I wanted to be in, then released the clutch lever when I wanted to use the throttle. I never use engine braking. I also know someone who rarely uses the brakes, and always uses engine braking. However, instead of blipping the throttle, they slowly release clutch lever so matching the revs isn't an issue. I know the "correct" method all the experts teach is while using the front break, pull the clutch lever, downshift, blip the throttle, release the clutch lever. I want to understand the benefits of this method before I go through the trouble of re-learning how to downshift, though. Besides the cool sound blipping the throttle makes and being like everyone else. I do a lot of street riding, but I'm planning on doing a few track days this year.
Just my two cents........I was told that engine braking when done correctly is better for a motor. it keeps the engine from going from one extreme, high RPMs, to the other low RPMs where there is less oil moving through the motor.
So engine braking can slow a motorcycle down faster than using the rear brake? I thought the only limitation to how fast you can slow a motorcycle down was the traction available for your tires. What exactly does it mean to "keep your chassis settled"? If you can elaborate, it would be very helpful.
Engine braking is good with brakes, but don't count on it to be your method of slowing down without brakes. If you do, you'll go to downshift one day and get a false neutral and be up poo-poo creek as you fly into a turn much faster than you planned on. As for downshifting, I just go down as the speed goes down, one at a time. Helps me not to worry about which gear I'm actually in, just concentrating on keeping the RPMs where I want them. But I've seen fast guys do it in different ways (all gears at once or one at a time). The only drawback I see to the slow clutch method would be more wear on the clutch and it leaves room for something to go wrong (fingers slip and let the lever out fast), but if it works you, go for it. Blipping the throttle brings the RPMS closer between the trans and the engine, so the rear tire doesn't get a sharp adjustment which means loss of traction. I rely on my slipper clutch a lot to do it for me, but I know I shouldn't. It can fail me too.
I do sometimes get confused about what gear I'm in, so I guess if the clutch was almost always engaged, it would be easier to match the revs. It's just very difficult for me to use the brake, throttle, clutch, and shift lever almost simultaneously. I guess I have a decision to make.
It takes practice for sure, but it will become natural. It's not something you have to have mastered for your first track day either, so don't worry about not knowing it before signing up for a track day.
When we go over this in the novice class, we always teach braking first and then downshifting. The reason being false neutrals. If you depend on engine braking and hit a false neutral, you are going to wind up way out of position in the corner and maybe in the gravel. Having said that, a lot of folks use a combination of front brake and downshift engine braking (I am guilty). Most do not use the back brake at all and they still depend on the front brake for most of the slowing/stopping power. The really, really fast guys, (ie. the guys that are racing and/or really, really advanced) are primarily using the front brake for getting slowed in to the tight corners and not depending much on the engine for slowing them down. They are downshifting while braking and have all of their downshifting down before tipping in to the corner. They may however carry some braking in to the corner, but never doing downshifting while cornering. Cornering requires a stable bike, downshifting destabilizes a bike, even straight up and down. Folks that blip on the downshift are trying to minimize the destabilization of the bike by matching the revs before letting out the clutch in the lower gear, be it one or more gear lower. Most of the newer sport bikes have slipper clutches that make blipping redundant and inefficient. With a slipper clutch, you can downshift and release the clutch quite quickly and the slipper will take care of not letting the bike get very unstable. Again though, the front brakes are doing most of the work, the downshifting is done simply to get in the correct gear for the apex and exit of the turn, the little bit of engine braking that occurs should be very small in the overall scheme of getting slowed down for a corner. It should also be noted that the type of engine can also play a part in how much engine braking can be used. An inline 4 is going to have much less engine braking that a big twin. All of this also depends on the type of corner you are taking. Most of what I noted above is about tight corners. Not every corner requires heavy braking to get ready for. There are corners where a quick downshift or 2 and easing off the throttle is all the braking that is needed before getting in to the corner and then you are right back on the throttle. Those are fewer than the corners that require real braking though. Remember in the end that track riding is different than street riding. Track riding is about going fast. A racing school instructor once told me that to go fast "you are either on the throttle or on the brakes." Street riding is not about going fast (or it shouldn't be) so engine braking is much more useful to get slowed down for a corner or coming up to a stop light in a safe sane manner. Street skills do not necessarily apply to track riding, but track skills will make you a much better street rider. Having the knowledge and ability to slow the bike down very quickly using the brakes and getting the downshifting done while doing so and keeping the bike stable can get you out of a bad situation safely. Learning to do that at the track where it is expected that you are going to brake hard and if you screw it up there is margin for error and not a big SUV waiting to collect you is a good thing.
P.S. Be VERY cautious with rear brake application (If at all), it takes VERY CAREFUL application to not toss your ass in the air (highside); I'm not good enough to even try and touch the rear on the track, so I avoid it and trust my front brake and gearing exclusively.
As far as rear brake usage during a track day.......the only time that I ever use a rear brake is during an "off track" excursion when you are going into the grass/dirt/etc. I ran off the track at the bowl at Tally a few years ago and right at the transition from pavement to grass, I completely let off of the front brake and feathered the rear brake until I was slowed down enough to turn the bike around and head back towards the track.
Get to the track with STT and your questions will be best answered. I was in your shoes two years ago and track days helped me a lot. Besides being a certified track addict now, I am a much better and safer street rider than I would have ever been without going to the track.
Yep, Ed did a good job of answering your questions. But like DrtDrftR just mentioned, come to one of our events even if you just want to hang out and see what it's like. Get with one of our coaches(myself included, of course) and we can talk bikes/riding all you want.
Well I want to learn how to use my rear brake and backing it in , like david gray in every corner . Been trying but no S*ccess with out U.
coach at the STAR school had a good piece of rear brake advice. Use it once when you are getting set up in hot pit in the morning just to make sure it works, in case of an off track excursion, in which case the front brake lever is just a short cut to braking your collar bone. Only time I use mine is when i am on the lawn somehow
If u want to learn from anyone I defently choose this guy on this video. V Rossi how he use his brake on R6. There is part 2 on YouTube how to take the corners on the track. If u can't find it let me know and I will post it. Hope we all learn something for This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piWyrZhArYI&feature=youtube_gdata_player