Grip

[stevem]

Interesting little read that might reinforce or get thought started . http://motodna.net/how-much-throttle/

[zooker]

So the tyres provide the grip? Hmmmmm interesting :P

It's always good to go back to the basics. I put my crash at St George PI down to slightly to much throttle injected slightly to quickly at too great a lean angle for the wet. Pretty obvious in hind sight but still caught me by surprise. An uncomfortable bike setup took my focus off my throttle control.

[chubb]

Was a good read to remember the basics..

[stevem]

I raced for 3 years in the late eighties and then didn't go on a race track for 25 years. The thing that has surprised me the most with trying to get back into it is the relationship of the throttle with the suspension. Time clouds memory but i'm sure I used to think of it as two different things. You can have the latest ,greatest motogp suspension but without throttle control you may as well put it in the bin. A sentence I read , THE KEY IS TO LOAD TYRES PROGRESSIVELY TO BUILD PRESSURE ON THE CONTACT PATCH, THIS APPLIES TO BRAKING AND ACCELERATION AND CORNERING. I have been mindful not to grab a big handful of front brake so the tyre doesn't compress and then release so you end up with less of a contact patch but I have never really looked at it quite the same way when putting the power on, maybe I do it subconsciously but have never really thought of it.

Focusing on your foot pressure on the outside peg to listen to what the rear is trying to tell you under acceleration , once again maybe we all do it subconsciously but for me it will be handy to have this in the front of mind at the time as with controlling slides with a steady throttle rather than chopping it , upper body position movement and steering. I ride with my mind constantly going from front to rear to front to rear. Under acceleration the rear is the one that is going to go so 90 % of concentration goes there and 10% front and on the brakes the reverse.
HOW HARD CAN YOU PUSH THE FRONT ? Try sliding an eraser gently across the kitchen table, then try the same thing pushing down hard on the eraser and notice the increase in grip with more vertical load. This is the area I have to work on to go faster and get the bike turned quicker.

[nigelnobody]

Thanks for sharing steve,
After watching your 34's laps prob 20 times what impresses me most is the smoothness of your transitions between on/off throttle.
Unaided by horespower robbing t/c it gives me plenty of motivation to continue working on this.

[zoidberg]

I raced for 3 years in the late eighties and then didn't go on a race track for 25 years. The thing that has surprised me the most with trying to get back into it is the relationship of the throttle with the suspension. Time clouds memory but i'm sure I used to think of it as two different things. You can have the latest ,greatest motogp suspension but without throttle control you may as well put it in the bin. A sentence I read , THE KEY IS TO LOAD TYRES PROGRESSIVELY TO BUILD PRESSURE ON THE CONTACT PATCH, THIS APPLIES TO BRAKING AND ACCELERATION AND CORNERING. I have been mindful not to grab a big handful of front brake so the tyre doesn't compress and then release so you end up with less of a contact patch but I have never really looked at it quite the same way when putting the power on, maybe I do it subconsciously but have never really thought of it.

Focusing on your foot pressure on the outside peg to listen to what the rear is trying to tell you under acceleration , once again maybe we all do it subconsciously but for me it will be handy to have this in the front of mind at the time as with controlling slides with a steady throttle rather than chopping it , upper body position movement and steering. I ride with my mind constantly going from front to rear to front to rear. Under acceleration the rear is the one that is going to go so 90 % of concentration goes there and 10% front and on the brakes the reverse.
HOW HARD CAN YOU PUSH THE FRONT ? Try sliding an eraser gently across the kitchen table, then try the same thing pushing down hard on the eraser and notice the increase in grip with more vertical load. This is the area I have to work on to go faster and get the bike turned quicker.

Jebus, I like the eraser analogy Steve! I've really tried to think about weighting footpegs and feeling them since you last mentioned it, and hadn't noticed so much until I ground my RH footpeg down a little at MG corner. It now has a sharper-ish end on it and I could sure as hell feel a little more through it afterwards.

I do really try to learn from things you say, but find it all kind of goes out the window once I get on track.