Braking in the Corner? Yes or No?

[Mongler07]

the ONLY reason i use braking in a corner is for preparing for when i MUST... deer or something in the road sort of thing. i know its not ideal to do so and i practise setting up corners and what not but its good now and again to remeber what it feels like to have to use either brake in a corner

 

[Dr.D]

I brake when ever I want to or feel the need. As I lean the bike over and lateral forces are applied to the tires im aware that there is less available braking so it’s a feel and experience thing. Journeyman and Kevin have done time in the twisties with me and they might attest that what I do is safe and quick. They know because they was right there with me.

 

[Tripps]

Only the most elite racers and wannabe street outlaws don't utilize breaking in a corner.

the ONLY reason i use braking in a corner is for preparing for when i MUST... deer or something in the road sort of thing. i know its not ideal to do so and i practise setting up corners and what not but its good now and again to remeber what it feels like to have to use either brake in a corner

So which are you?

 

[Mongler07]

So which are you?

The word "don't" kinda makes that not work. But I see your attempt at satire at my expense.
So I'm not a outlaw or elitist... correct

 

[Starmanut]

My rear after a few sessions on the Daytona, after I'd ridden about 25 miles home (smoothed it a bit).

Don't ride this hard on street...



The front was given no quarter:

DANG! You must be getting good at changing tires, too!

 

[Claviger]

Sorry my post was long.

It's just...there are few absolutes. On modern bikes with variable cornering abs intervention rates decent riders get away with a lot more than they could on an older bike.

There's tons of bad advice flying on the net from younger riders who've never riden anything without all the rider aid electronics, so many don't realize their riding habits are reliant upon said rider aids.

 

[Journeyman]

Speaking of cornering.... Just a couple of days ago I got schooled by a guy on a Yamaha sport bike of some kind on my local road, Hwy 80, a.k.a. The Devil's Whip. That doesn't happen often, but I'm old enough now to set my ego aside. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he was behind me (note to motorcyclists, mostly cruisers - that means he is moving faster than me). I passed a car in front of us and then decided to see just who was behind me, as he quickly tucked in behind me. Well, it was a particularly curvy section and with my pegs making a steady scraping noise in each corner, and without enough straight sections to push ahead, I very quickly waved him on (another note to many cruiser guys- this is an option). Watched as he was leaned waaay over through successive curves before passing a car in an area where I was not comfortable following suit. Bye, bye.... good rider.

 

[Dr.D]

One way to think about the limits of traction while braking and cornering is to try to find the limit. The most sure way is to pass it , say OH CHIT, go down and remember not to go quite that far. I'm a bit more cautious than that and don't need to find the limits but I will say you can brake while cornering if it is not overdone. I think it is best to have a speed cushion that allows for braking if needed. I like the option of changing lines also which requires I leave room for correction.

 

[Claviger]

I'm with you Dr D. I sneak up on limits, thus far, I've always been given a warning before complete loss of traction so I've never experienced a front wash out.

I would offer, both generations of rocket, stock, cannot achieve 1g lateral loads except on highly cambered roads, they can't reach 45° lean angle and, therefore, will always have traction available on dry paved roads for braking.

The rocket gets, not sure how to describe it, light in the front and starts to feel like it's skipping/sliding a bit near the limit, at least with my suspension setup. For the most part though, its behaved very well, and the light front thing requires riding like an idiot to find. To be honest, I'm not sure a normal height Rocket can even get there without dragging hard parts.

I have no idea what the Daytona and H2 feel like just before a front end wash out, they have so much front grip I'm always fighting for peg clearance or rear grip before the front protests (as it should be IMHO).

 

[Claviger]

Speaking of cornering.... Just a couple of days ago I got schooled by a guy on a Yamaha sport bike of some kind on my local road, Hwy 80, a.k.a. The Devil's Whip. That doesn't happen often, but I'm old enough now to set my ego aside. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he was behind me (note to motorcyclists, mostly cruisers - that means he is moving faster than me). I passed a car in front of us and then decided to see just who was behind me, as he quickly tucked in behind me. Well, it was a particularly curvy section and with my pegs making a steady scraping noise in each corner, and without enough straight sections to push ahead, I very quickly waved him on (another note to many cruiser guys- this is an option). Watched as he was leaned waaay over through successive curves before passing a car in an area where I was not comfortable following suit. Bye, bye.... good rider.

Always warms my heart a bit when a sportbiker can actually run away on a curvy road. Good on you for waving him past