i have a question. I see the AMA and WSB guys back their bikes in all the time. how is this initiated? heavy on front brakes and weight transfer to inside of bike, or are they locked rear or like downshifting to fast and dumping the clutch? I can on my dirtbike on gravel by getting rear wheel spin and shifting weight, kind of flat tracking it. i dont want to spin all the way through a curve though, jsut wnadering how to when track day comes up, if i ever get the nerve.

tap your rear brake to initiate the slide? or downshift hard, i've heard it both ways, never done it myself though

yeah, seems like a track thing. to much gravel and traffic to play with around here.

I would caution against using the rear brake. IMO, you should initiate the slide by downshifting at a relatively high RPMs without matching w/ the throttle and a handfull of front brake. The engine braking will be enough to break the ass loose, but you won't risk locking it up. You still need that centrifugal force to keep the rubber-side down. I can't slide through an entire corner but I can get a little squirn out of her while I'm settling into a turn.

Just my .02, let us know how it goes.

i just slide on my xr 650 r. dirtbikes are easy to step the ass out through a turn and keep it there. i wouldnt dare to flat track my one thru a turn. i jsut get a little squirely coming in to the turn, not till the apex or anywhere near it. i do all that while upright.

If you see someone doing this it's so that they spend less time in the danger zone riding the front wheel and possibly loosing the front end. Also if your good, there is an added bonus of increased RPM at the end of the next straight may result. The sequence goes a little like this.... lean the bike in quick, then get on the power The amount of power you can lay down is limited by the amount of grip the tire has for the given lean angle. If the power overcomes the grip,the tire breaks away and spins. The front tire is still gripping, so the back of the bike arcs out of line, following a different wider line to the front. What happens next is up to you. If your stupid and shut the throttle the rear tire will suddenly stop spinning and grip, which would be fine if it was still in line with the front. Trouble is it isn't. In an instant the laws of physics become painfully evident as you will definately be flipped into the air. This for the uninformed is called a highside and is the second worst way to dismount your bike right behind collision with a solid object. If you manage to keep the throttle open,the spinning wheel will continue to follow its arc until it runs off its edge. This is a low side and the more preferable of the two when it comes time to crash. The trick is to keep the rear tire spinning somewhere between the two extremes. This is harder then it sounds because things are happening quite fast.There are not a lot of safe fool proof ways to practice so use the following advice at your own risk! Once you have found an ideal location your bike and tires you use will determine how aggressive you have to be with the following technique. Keeping the throttle a few thousand RPM below peak power will help initiate this going into the corner. Keep your weight well forward and your head and upper body high on the opposite side of the bike MX or dirttrack style as you physically push the bike downward.As the bike gets to its lowest point get on the gas real hard. Feel for the tire moving through your butt and the outside pegs. Weight on the outside pegs is essential as it helps to control the resulting slide. The hardest part is not closing the throttle when the back end steps out. You have to keep it open but not too far open as this could result in a lowside. A bit like finding the balance point during a wheelie. By using the bikes normal power curve you control the slide by having the tire break away at PEAK POWER so as to have the back end come around just as the bike goes PAST peak power into over rev where the power suddenly but not totally decreases. It's as if the motorcycle helps you find the correct amount of power. 500GP bikes are specifically geared to exploit this feature as a means of contolling their brutal power delivery. As a final point, trial and error has shown the more you lean the easier it is to spin the rear wheel, but also the easier to make a mistake so proceed at your own disgression and wear all your protective equipment because "You will fall off"
:fact

Oops...sorry about the post. That is how to back it in after you have initiated the turn so as to square off the corner. Now I see your talking about when they brake into the corner. Not sure how to do that...I just know how to powerslide it once I'm dipping into the corner. Sorry.

Nicky Hayden and Curtis Roberts claim they do it soley with engine braking during downshifting. They control the amount of the slide with the clutch as they bend into the corner. It all sounds simple enough, just takes rather large cojones to go ahead and try it!;)

hello Suicycle
Its just a matter of them being real hard on the brakes, front and rear when there is a slight turn coming up to the corner. The front being slightly out of line with the rear braking hard causing the rear to step out slightly, or more in Rossi's case. LOL Controlled by the steering and brake.
Trev
:beer

read Twist of the Wrist II by Keith Code and you will know how its done....

or you can just check this movie out...

http://www.simplifiedesolutions.com/misc/racing.mov

Yo Maxxym that was a good clip! :rock

:) :beer

That was awesome!! Thanks Maxxym!! :thumbup

Keep in mind that the pros use specially tuned slipper clutches to get the results they want. Haga attributed one of his nasty highsides entering a corner to an improperly tuned slipper clutch. Doing it with a standard clutch will be even trickier. I'll pass, thank you. :crash

hey maxxym was that clippart of a video thats available or what?