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Re: [ST] Low Side
- Subject: Re: [ST] Low Side
- From: chuck boatwright <dirac@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 11:24:48 -0800
Al Garvin wrote:
> Masiak, Richard wrote:
>
>>
>> Question: Should one just go with the flow of a low side or is it
>> fightable/recoverable without incident?
save it. save it. save it!
I have saved many likely lowsides with my knee. Knee + smooth gas
allowed tire to hook back up. I have lost the rear and the front on
different occasions (the old T2 and T4 at sears^H^H^H^H^H infineon is a
classic place to lose the front, where T11 is the classic lose the
rear). It's all about how smoothly you handle it... Last year at
sears, I was duking it out for 29th place with a rider and I did exactly
this. The front started to tuck, and I said (loosely translating one
word into a sentence) "NO. YOU WILL NOT TUCK!" and pushed my knee
harder onto the tarmac (I think there was also a "pucker"). the front
hooked back up -- and I gave the guy behind me a scare -- heh heh but
not enough. We swapped places 3 times a lap, but he won by .04 seconds
(less than bike length). I digress.....
If you're on the track, make use of the kneepuck and keep the right hand
smooth. If you're on the street save it with the gas. If you are on
the rear brake, and this has caused the slide, enroll in a riding skills
course (track day for first time track riders).
Any non smooth throttle action (chop or hammer) can turn a impending low
side (or just a slide) into bad news.
Chop the throttle if the rear is sliding and you set up type-1 high side
(rear wheel rotating slower than it should). ham fist the throttle, and
if you are lucky the bike slides away and the slide turns into a
lowside. If you are unlucky the slide turns into a type-2 high side
(rear wheel spinning faster than it should). In short, respectfully
avoid lateral accelleration.
>
> When in doubt ---- gas it.
Al Garvin, you musta went to the same preacher that I did. heh..
Seriously.. The guy who taught me to ride, a crazy friend who spoke
with a thick german accent, said exactly this. "heh, get on the gas"
It's very hard to overcome the instinctual "let off the gas" reaction.
Teach yourself. Justify a tank of gas to your favorite curvy road and
ride it in 2nd or 3rd, no brakes. learn how to use that throttle
smoothly. Tell the SO, kids, dog, boss etc that you are making
yourself a better rider, and that is why you have to ride over the
mountain on the same road 5 times in one day!
ok.. all this talk of riding is sending me to the garage (with two
shims in hand -- time to get the camshafts back in the bike and ride!)
- --chuck
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