- Joined
- Jun 30, 2012
- Messages
- 14,004
I road raced often for about 12 years in the 1960s and 1970s. Then did a few between 2000 and 2018 with my Seeley Commando 850. Over the years, when I practiced, I always worked up into the corners while braking and tried getting on the gas earlier when accelerating out of corners.
Many years ago I rode at Phillip Island and had a drum brake which dragged as it was released. I found that if the brake was dragging I could not turn the bike, so I ran off two times. The first time, I started dodging small trees. The second time I went up a four foot bank on my back. When you brake, the front of the bike goes down, the steering head angle steepens and the bike becomes more stable and understeers more.
Often if you get into a corner too hot, you tend to gently apply some brake. When you do that, the bike tends to run wider, and there comes a point at which you must either accelerate to get the bike to turn, or run off the bitumen.
The change in steering head angle affects the trail.
With bike which has neutral steering, braking can cause the bike to be difficult to turn, and accelerating causes the bike to hold it's line.
If you increase the trail by reducing the offset on the fork yokes, you can move the steering spectrum.
As you brake the stability does not change, but as you accelerate the bike oversteers in the correct direction.
What it means is, you can fly into a corner without counter-steering, and the bike will turn a lot as you begin to accelerate.
With my bike, I can brake to about one third of the way into a corner, braking and changing down as I go, then get straight back onto the gas.
Most other bikes are usually out on the ripple strip at full lean.
One thing is important, I must always brake before a bend or a corner, then accelerate. If the back of the bike does not go down and the front up, the bike will not turn - it would run wide. The rear suspension setting is important.
The rake on my Seeley frame is 70 degrees, the yoke offset is 53mm, wheel size 18 inch, and the bike wheelbase is about 1540mm Rear springs are rated at 80 pounds.
Many years ago I rode at Phillip Island and had a drum brake which dragged as it was released. I found that if the brake was dragging I could not turn the bike, so I ran off two times. The first time, I started dodging small trees. The second time I went up a four foot bank on my back. When you brake, the front of the bike goes down, the steering head angle steepens and the bike becomes more stable and understeers more.
Often if you get into a corner too hot, you tend to gently apply some brake. When you do that, the bike tends to run wider, and there comes a point at which you must either accelerate to get the bike to turn, or run off the bitumen.
The change in steering head angle affects the trail.
With bike which has neutral steering, braking can cause the bike to be difficult to turn, and accelerating causes the bike to hold it's line.
If you increase the trail by reducing the offset on the fork yokes, you can move the steering spectrum.
As you brake the stability does not change, but as you accelerate the bike oversteers in the correct direction.
What it means is, you can fly into a corner without counter-steering, and the bike will turn a lot as you begin to accelerate.
With my bike, I can brake to about one third of the way into a corner, braking and changing down as I go, then get straight back onto the gas.
Most other bikes are usually out on the ripple strip at full lean.
One thing is important, I must always brake before a bend or a corner, then accelerate. If the back of the bike does not go down and the front up, the bike will not turn - it would run wide. The rear suspension setting is important.
The rake on my Seeley frame is 70 degrees, the yoke offset is 53mm, wheel size 18 inch, and the bike wheelbase is about 1540mm Rear springs are rated at 80 pounds.