How I started:
I was taught the same when I started at the MSF BRC and ERC courses: "Don't brake in corners".
This leads to good habits for novices, setting up for corners early and encourages slow in fast out riding, the safer way to corner when rider skills are low.
In an advanced non-MSF course I took about 1 year into riding we did mid corner panic stop drills. An extremely useful skill and one that taught me I can use enough brakes to do a stoppie from about a 30 degree lean angle on the Daytona and hold the back in the air while standing the bike up while stopping. There's a lot of traction available on good tires to brake when leaning under 45 degree angle (aka at all times on Rocket 3s).
How I ride when playing, mostly intuitive at this point;
Since then I've developed my own Rocket 3 late apex, trail braking habits, I don't usually ride like this around other people for a variety of reasons.
- Late brake hard as F while banging down through gears
- progressively release front just before tipping in, then tip in hard and fast, still moderately on front brake during tip in
- rollon a touch of throttle(less than 10%), release front brake, just a touch of rear brake between tip in and exit line point (exit line point being the point just before, at, or just after apex when I can see my exit line and roll in hard throttle, it's corner and road specific, its a dynamic point determined by sight lines/obstacles)
- at exit line point I roll in pretty aggressively and drive the lean angle deeper(and hang off further from the bike), in corners with good sight lines I'm often at 50% or greater throttle at apex and go from 50ish to 100 as soon as I start standing the bike up, gives insane drive off corner
This has multiple advantages, more ground clearance mid-corner due to shaft effect lifting the body up since I'm on throttle very early, ability to widen my line with throttle or tighten it with rear brake without unloading or disrupting suspension or drive line slack, no slack in the drive line at any point after tip in, and allows me to roll on hard and early, well before apex without upsetting the chassis.
This method is the fastest way out of a corner, it sacrifices some mid-corner speed, but, I don't like being 100% committed on the street at entry, then having to back off on corner exit because I carried too much speed through the apex.
My method can lead to apex/post-apex wheel spin or wheelies, but because the suspension is not loading/unloading mid corner, it's very controllable and pretty much never leads to coming off a corner too wide. Also, I move around a ton in the saddle and hang off the rocket a lot when riding fast, this light in the saddle nature helps control during wheel spin and wheelies while leaned over.
I ride the H2 like the rocket except no rear brake dragging mid corner, as it's not necessary to take up the drive line slop like the rocket and frankly, the bikes limits are absurd for street riding and I don't ride at the H2 limits.
For skill level consider:
I can easily outride the rockets cornering ability.
If I tried, I could easily outride the H2's cornering ability, it's clearance challenged for a sport bike.
I've drug pegs on my Daytona 955i (they're waaaaay high), something that happens somewhere above 50° lean.
I'm a fast(ish) guy in the intermediate group or slow guy in the fast group on track.
The Camps:
If you ask track riders, there are generally two camps, often it comes down to tire stiffness...
1: MotoGP style - late brake approaching a corner and heavily weight the front end right up until the tip in point. With all that weight pressed on the front throw the bike down to the lean you need simultaneously backing off brake pressure gradually until ~apex, then hard back on gas. Staying on brakes from tip in to apex keeps the front weighted and gripping, creates a real risk of tucking the front, but it has only 1 transfer of weight and off corner drive is nuts as you ant the rear tire hard at apex.
2: WSBK style - Extend the braking zone over a bit more distance, get most of the braking done before tip-in. Trail braking after tip in only to bleed speed as required and not to weight the front end like motoGP bikes. Less risk of tucking, potentially higher apex speed, less drive off the corner due to higher mid corner speed. It's more like how quick street riders usually ride.
This comes from the tire differences. MotoGP bikes need to smash the tire to get enough grip due to sidewalk stiffness. WSBK bikes do not with their softer sidewalls. WSBK tires are more like street tires and the technique is less committed, better for street.
Camp 1 and Camp 2 riding together is an exercise in frustration, the main reason I don't ride fast with other people as I'm Camp 1 and most people are Camp 2.
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