Braking from speed

[White Noise]

As some of you know my off was caused from me being too aggressive with my braking from accerating, this is what happened:
On the third session of the day and on my fourthish lap of the circuit I was on the back straight approaching the Esses, I believe that I was travelling at approximately 140 mph at the end of the straight. Upon braking for the left hander into the chicane, I applied too much force to the front wheel too quickly and the front tyre lost grip due to the massive load I was exerting on it due to non progressive braking. my tyres where nice and warm so don't think that is a major factor
now what i want to know is what is the general techneque for stoping accerating and starting to brake, of course you need to load the front wheel up but what do people use to judge how quickly they can do that?
do you stop accerating (constant speed)and then brake, have no pause in between the two and be very progressive with the braking, or maybe use a little back brake to take a small amount of load of the front or just just do it from feel/no concious of it?
i know that this is something that is best learn't from experience but just wondering
Cheers
WN
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Buy my wife: 96' Yam XJ600s (Diversion)
Wing Commander White Noise - SE Clique
Riding Tip #86: See God, then back off a bit: Problem is i haven't seen god yet, just a close up of tarmac on revett straight

[Silver]

Did you apply the brakes sharply / suddenly and lock the front wheel? That's quite impressive at that speed!

BTW, did you call Bike Stop about your leathers?

[White Noise]

[Davo]

I've found that when coming into a sharp corner, rolling off the throttle and then feathering the front brake seems to load up the front wheel enough for any heavier braking that needs to be done.

[kb-zxr]

On the road I tend to use the rear brake a lot to scrub off speed, as personally I feel nervous going heavy on the front, as I could probably control a wild back end than a slippery front one.

Dunno if this is approprate for the track, as I never been there

[Korn]

For the end of back straight at Snetterton you're usually tucked in to the bike as much as possible with the throttle pinned. When braking for the esses I tend to do this:

1) Move from your tucked-in position to sitting bolt upright with your thighs gripping the tank ready to absorb the braking forces. You should make as much of your body stick out from the bike as possible to take advantage of some wind resistance. At the same time slam the throttle shut and get straight on the brakes, progressively at first to give the suspension an easier time. At no point should you be coasting (neither accelerating nor braking).

2) With the front now settled and applying maximum braking (enough to make the rear end feel light, but not enough to actually lift it or wash out the front tyre) drop however many gears you need to drop for the esses by downshifting in sequence blipping the throttle between shifts. Because you are applying maximum braking the back end may want to jump around a little when doing this, so you should aim to control that happening with the clutch.

3) Once you've reached the gear you need for the esses and scrubbed off enough speed, start turning in by easing off on the brakes progressively and changing your body position, then tipping the bike in.

That's the method I've gotten used to, your mileage may vary. The main thing to do is be progressive with your actions while at the same time doing them as quickly as possible. Have you been on track in the rain before? That's a great way to teach yourself about being smooth... but the downside is you get wet!

A short video from Snetterton in February:
https://www.bikechatforums.com/videos/snetterton4.mpg
(it was cold and damp and I was taking funny lines, but it does show the sequence above)
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3516 Miles, 11 Countries

[slider_zx6r]

according to a book I've been reading, most leading racers practice the following technique:

Shut throttle
Apply rear break a fraction of a sec before light front break
allwoing only enough time for rear to front weight transfer (front forks loaded)
full breaking as necessary
trailing off into corner
Accellerating Smoothly out

Smoothness is key.

Body position and tank gripping with knees are also suggested to be preferred; using outside knee to apply pressure into corner maintaining a light touch on handlebars (to avoid slappers) I find this part hardest...

Apparently some rear brake in corner may add stability.

So far this is all theory to me!

[White Noise]