Braking techniques

[dantama]

Dan,

Can you touch on the use of engine braking and using the clutch to slow you?

If you really need to stop, pull in the clutch and do maximum braking. Get in the habit when practicing of pulling the clutch in too.

Using the clutch to slow is a semester long class that boils down to, are you a freak that loves to figure out how to maximize a machines potential, or do you just want to ride?

If you are a freak (yup, I am) than there is an art to being in the right gear at the right RPM all the time, and doing it smoothly.

In the freak world, you can roll off the throttle for a corner slow a little, pull in the clutch, rev the motor the proper amount while dropping down a gear (or two depending), and let the clutch back out and other than engine noise it would be as smooth as braking.

Done wrong though and it's not smooth and makes your passenger's helmet bang into yours and you look kind of like a dork.

If you've ever driven an 18 wheeler then you had to learn to match revs. The gears aren't (or weren't, don't know now) synchronized and to shift, the rpm's had to exactly match the speed of the gear you were going into, otherwise it simply wouldn't go in.

That prepares one for matching them on a motorcycle pretty well. So if I wanted to, I could be going 40 mph down a street, need to slow to 10mph for a 90 degree corner and do so without using the brakes (would take a little more space).

You would hear the engine rev high, slow to a lower rev, back to a higher rev, back to a lower, etc.

But by far the easiest way is to forget all that and use the brakes, tap down the gears with the clutch pulled in and braking, be in the right gear once you're at the corner and let the clutch back out.

The other more complicated way that I described can be done very smoothly, no jerking at all, but takes knowing your bike and coordination.

If you really need to stop, pull in the clutch (leave it pulled in) and hit the brakes.

[blowndodge]

How have you been Dan???

[Jared]

Originally Posted by blowndodge

How have you been Dan???

Increasing your post count one pointless post after another.

[blowndodge]

Pointless? how's that?

[Top Cat]

Originally Posted by blowndodge

Pointless? how's that?

Maybe because the post you brought out of the past was last replied to on 01-14-2008 10:16 AM
It was kinda neat seeing some of the old names though.

[blowndodge]

You'd be surprised what kind of bait fish will hit on!!