Lone_RT_rider Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 This may be a lame post for some of you track fiends, but today something happened for the first time for me. Heres the scene..... I am on my way into work this morning...late...because I needed to take the youngest to school because of exam week. I am headed down a road I take every day on my 2004 R1100S. There is a nice gradual sweeper followed by a right hander that leads into a wonderful S curve. I am progressing through the S curve as I always do, leaned over and into position. Then for some odd reason I decided on the last curve of the S that I was going to power through it...hard! Then... it happened. I was literally full throttle when the real wheel starts to spin. It was completely controlled and not abrubt in the least. I never backed out of the throttle at all and the bike never stepped out in any kind of crazy fashion. In all my years of riding, I have never done this before. It was fun and felt completely controlled. I know this is old hat to some of you, but I just wanted to share my first time.... There are so few firsts anymore at this stage of life. Shawn Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 So do we address you as Giacomo Agostini, Barry Sheene, Wayne Gardner, Kevin Schwantz, or John Kocinski??? Ah, the bliss of being one with the bike! Link to comment
big-t Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 I can only wish I had a bike with enough power to do that ...maybe if I took the knobbies off... Link to comment
wrestleantares Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 This may be a lame post for some of you track fiends, but today something happened for the first time for me. Heres the scene..... I am on my way into work this morning...late...because I needed to take the youngest to school because of exam week. I am headed down a road I take every day on my 2004 R1100S. There is a nice gradual sweeper followed by a right hander that leads into a wonderful S curve. I am progressing through the S curve as I always do, leaned over and into position. Then for some odd reason I decided on the last curve of the S that I was going to power through it...hard! Then... it happened. I was literally full throttle when the real wheel starts to spin. It was completely controlled and not abrubt in the least. I never backed out of the throttle at all and the bike never stepped out in any kind of crazy fashion. In all my years of riding, I have never done this before. It was fun and felt completely controlled. I know this is old hat to some of you, but I just wanted to share my first time.... There are so few firsts anymore at this stage of life. Shawn Small correction: It was not completely controlled - you did not lose control. Completely controlled (IMO) means you meant to do it. Glad you did not panic and wipe out. Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 Completely controlled (IMO) means you meant to do it. And this would be where we agree to disagree. IMHO, complete control means that conditions are such that your actions taken during the events can correct and maintain your intended path of travel. Mine did. YMMV. Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 Need tires? Nope..lol. Metzler MeZ6's with about 1K on the clock. Not my favorites, but they work. Shawn Link to comment
wrestleantares Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Completely controlled (IMO) means you meant to do it. And this would be where we agree to disagree. IMHO, complete control means that conditions are such that your actions taken during the events can correct and maintain your intended path of travel. Mine did. YMMV. We will probably have to agree to disagree, but to put my opinion a bit more clearly: You maintained control in an an uncontrolled situation. You were not controlling the instigation and carrying out of the spin. Not quite the same in my book as controlling the situation entirely. Still my compliments on not panicking in this newfound situation. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 I never backed out of the throttle at all And of course that's a key part of it. As I'm sure your know, one of the quickest paths to a high-side is to suddenly back off the throttle while a rear wheel slide is in progress. Fun isn't it? Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 I never backed out of the throttle at all And of course that's a key part of it. As I'm sure your know, one of the quickest paths to a high-side is to suddenly back off the throttle while a rear wheel slide is in progress. Fun isn't it? The funny thing is Ken, that the rear wheel never really stepped out that much at all. If it moved a 1/4 inch I would be surprised. And the RPMS just barely came up at all. It was like it was just teetering on the edge of traction, all controlled with the throttle. Shawn Link to comment
MadDuck Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 If you're going where you want to go, you are in control. All tires are slipping at all times. If they had perfect grip they would not roll. Typically this is only 3% or so traction loss on good smooth asphalt. In dirt, riders easily adapt to 10-20% traction loss. Bonneville racers can have 30% traction loss at well over 200 mph. Look at the rooster tails in the photos. If you want to "practice" lateral slipping at lower speed buy those Dunlop tires that come standard on Harleys. Your cornering technique will be different when both ends are sliding tho. The adventure can be fun and it is a good skill to master as you never know when the available traction can just go away. Link to comment
David Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 What's fun is to be following someone closely on the track and see them laying down a "darkie" (spinning the rear wheel) right in front of you. It happened half a dozen times today, actually. When it does happen, the key is to stay in the throttle, albeit eased off just a bit. And be as upright as you can. Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 It can be fun and you don't even need a lot of hp. It is a question of horsepower/surface traction/tire. I did it first on my GILERA 500cc racer (1954). Good road surface, only about 40hp, but on a 3.50x18 racing tire. In today's sizing that would be about 90/90x18. I haven't done it much since. Usually I have more tire than horsepower. Even with the ME880 Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 What's fun is to be following someone closely on the track and see them laying down a "darkie"... Hm...careful where you use that word... Link to comment
smiller Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Hm...careful where you use that word... He was (quite obviously) using it in the context of motorcycle racing. Do you think someone might have gotten that confused? Link to comment
mxstone Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Similar thing happened to me but the realization was that as I nailed it coming out of a high speed turn at 80ish mph my front tire was off the ground. I stayed on it and left the corner as the tire came down with the slightest of wobble to let me know all was where it should be. Great feeling. Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 What's fun is to be following someone closely on the track and see them laying down a "darkie" (spinning the rear wheel) right in front of you. It happened half a dozen times today, actually. When it does happen, the key is to stay in the throttle, albeit eased off just a bit. And be as upright as you can. The last time I was at CSS, my instructor reported that I was doing that at most corner exits. I never felt any spin at all. I don't think you need the sort of "RPM shoots up and rear end steps out" spin to leave a nice darkie. Link to comment
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