We need some good techniques threads....I'll start.
I don't know a thing, but I've been doing trail braking since 1968. Naturally.
Not as a substitute for the premium stopping power of the front discs, but as a technique to modulate the speed, suspension 'feel' and stability dynamics of the bike in corners of various types.
Who has knowledge, experiences, and information to share?
TIA
Trail Braking
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MikeCam
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Trail Braking
The Older I Get, The Less I Know.
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beemerphile
There seems to be a common misunderstanding that trail braking involves carrying rear brake into a turn. Most effectively, trail braking involves carrying both brakes into the turn. It allows a faster entrance speed if you can do it without low-siding. Done at it's limits you are riding the fine line between upright and flat. The trick, and it is difficult to master, is to fade the braking out as the cornering forces take over. You cannot maximize both. You have 100% traction available and you have to divide it between cornering, braking, and acceleration. Braking at the entrance has to fade smoothly into cornering at the apex and cornering into acceleration at the exit. Now having said all that, the best way to ride the twisties, and the safest, is to set your cornering speed while upright and power through and out of the turn. Kenny Roberts (what the hell does he know) says "in slow and out fast". That is a saner approach than hitting a corner hot and trying to slow and steer the bike at the same time. It can be done and it is a good skill to know in case you run into an unexpected issue in a turn, but it is a dangerous way to ride on the street routinely because you give up your safety factor. Better to find the pace that you can comfortably ride without using heroic measures to stay on the street. Otherwise, one day you will need that margin of safety and it will not be there. - Lee
