Throttle control is an extremely important part of entering and exiting a corner. Ultimately, if you lack good throttle control your lap times will never be as good as what they could be.
A lot of my students ask me questions about their suspension and what they can do about chatter. The answer is not the suspension but rather throttle control.
If you come down a straight towards a corner full throttle, then chop off the throttle suddenly...all the weight transfers to the front too fast. You lose a certain amount of control entering the corner and miss your mark (apex). At this point you might have front end chatter from having too much weight on the front end. On the exit of the corner, someone might get on the throttle too hard, too early and have front end chatter. Everyone thinks it is their suspension, but in fact this is lack of throttle control and your suspension maybe fine.
The trick is.."rolling off the throttle." Rather than "snapping off the throttle." Very small difference, but the balance of the bike is way different from rolling off vs. snapping off. It is not easy, but something that will ultimately get you into the corner smoother and with the bike more balanced. If you can get into the corner with more control, you should be able to hit your mark with more ease and then be able to get out of the corner quicker as well.
Getting back on the throttle is even more important. As you come into the apex and pivot the bike out of the corner you need to "roll on" the throttle at the exact same time as you finish your braking to the apex. It is true...you are either on the brakes or on the throttle. So as you finish your trail braking roll-on the throttle finding the verge of traction. If you are spinning off the corner you are losing time. If you are not rolling on hard enough...you are losing time. So the real trick is to be able to find the limit of your tire grip.
There is so much that goes into getting in and out of the corner quickly. Throttle control, Clutch control, Braking, line Selection, body positioning etc. And you have to do all these things basically at the same time or linking them together.
That is the real magic...If you look at most of the AMA National Pros you will notice that all of these things blend together. Once you can master all of them together you will be able to reduce those lap times and continue to ride faster.
A good drill for throttle control is to only use the throttle all the way around the track with limited or no brakes. This will force you to be smooth both with rolling off and rolling on the throttle.
Someone asked in the welcome section "How do I trick myself to get on the throttle sooner? I can keep up with the Pros entering the corner and mid corner but they leave me exiting the corner."
The answer to that question I think is in the entry of the corner rather than the exit. Anyone can brake late and carry alot of mometum into the corner. But, very few can contain that momentum and smoothly get into the corner, pivot the bike at the apex and get back on the throttle consistently. I would say that the entry speed between the guy with the question above and the pro maybe the same, but the pro is doing it with better control, and maintaining better balance of the bike, which in turn enables the pro to get out of the corner quicker. I have said many times to my students " A beginner may actually be going faster right at the center of the corner tahn I am, but I am in more control, have already pivoted the bike correctly at the apex and am rolling back on the throttle way sooner than they are.
It is all these thing that make throttle control a very important part of getting both into and out of a corner.
Hope this helps....:thumbup::thumbup:
Gary Silent "H" Trachy
National #357
Silent "H" Supermoto Schools
Supermoto357 Instructional DVD
A lot of my students ask me questions about their suspension and what they can do about chatter. The answer is not the suspension but rather throttle control.
If you come down a straight towards a corner full throttle, then chop off the throttle suddenly...all the weight transfers to the front too fast. You lose a certain amount of control entering the corner and miss your mark (apex). At this point you might have front end chatter from having too much weight on the front end. On the exit of the corner, someone might get on the throttle too hard, too early and have front end chatter. Everyone thinks it is their suspension, but in fact this is lack of throttle control and your suspension maybe fine.
The trick is.."rolling off the throttle." Rather than "snapping off the throttle." Very small difference, but the balance of the bike is way different from rolling off vs. snapping off. It is not easy, but something that will ultimately get you into the corner smoother and with the bike more balanced. If you can get into the corner with more control, you should be able to hit your mark with more ease and then be able to get out of the corner quicker as well.
Getting back on the throttle is even more important. As you come into the apex and pivot the bike out of the corner you need to "roll on" the throttle at the exact same time as you finish your braking to the apex. It is true...you are either on the brakes or on the throttle. So as you finish your trail braking roll-on the throttle finding the verge of traction. If you are spinning off the corner you are losing time. If you are not rolling on hard enough...you are losing time. So the real trick is to be able to find the limit of your tire grip.
There is so much that goes into getting in and out of the corner quickly. Throttle control, Clutch control, Braking, line Selection, body positioning etc. And you have to do all these things basically at the same time or linking them together.
That is the real magic...If you look at most of the AMA National Pros you will notice that all of these things blend together. Once you can master all of them together you will be able to reduce those lap times and continue to ride faster.
A good drill for throttle control is to only use the throttle all the way around the track with limited or no brakes. This will force you to be smooth both with rolling off and rolling on the throttle.
Someone asked in the welcome section "How do I trick myself to get on the throttle sooner? I can keep up with the Pros entering the corner and mid corner but they leave me exiting the corner."
The answer to that question I think is in the entry of the corner rather than the exit. Anyone can brake late and carry alot of mometum into the corner. But, very few can contain that momentum and smoothly get into the corner, pivot the bike at the apex and get back on the throttle consistently. I would say that the entry speed between the guy with the question above and the pro maybe the same, but the pro is doing it with better control, and maintaining better balance of the bike, which in turn enables the pro to get out of the corner quicker. I have said many times to my students " A beginner may actually be going faster right at the center of the corner tahn I am, but I am in more control, have already pivoted the bike correctly at the apex and am rolling back on the throttle way sooner than they are.
It is all these thing that make throttle control a very important part of getting both into and out of a corner.
Hope this helps....:thumbup::thumbup:
Gary Silent "H" Trachy
National #357
Silent "H" Supermoto Schools
Supermoto357 Instructional DVD