10 things you need to know about Trailbraking

[Ken C]

I get a lot of questions about trail braking, so I thought I'd write my thoughts. Anything to add?
How many of you trail brake? On the street? on the track? Both?
ridinginthezone.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-trailbraking/

[Chippertheripper]

I do. Everywhere. It's instinctual for whatever reason.

Great read.

[Trouble]

I don't intend to trail brake on the street but keep it in my bag of tricks if I find myself going into a corner too hot.

When I first started racing I used to do it but I was using it as a crutch. I'd go into a corner too fast for my comfort zone and trail brake too long. It really effected my drive out of the corners because I wasn't getting on the gas soon enough. Last year I tried to stop trail braking. I wanted to take a step back and work on my drive. I'd brake hard, throw the brakes away and pitch it into the corner hard. It worked. I was way more comfortable getting on the gas at or even prior to the apex. The second half of this year I've been slowly reintroducing it corner by corner. Now I'm braking less hard and utilizing trail braking to reduce the amount of time between brakes off and throttle on.

[Ken C]

I don't intend to trail brake on the street but keep it in my bag of tricks if I find myself going into a corner too hot.

When I first started racing I used to do it but I was using it as a crutch. I'd go into a corner too fast for my comfort zone and trail brake too long. It really effected my drive out of the corners because I wasn't getting on the gas soon enough. Last year I tried to stop trail braking. I wanted to take a step back and work on my drive. I'd brake hard, throw the brakes away and pitch it into the corner hard. It worked. I was way more comfortable getting on the gas at or even prior to the apex. The second half of this year I've been slowly reintroducing it corner by corner. Now I'm braking less hard and utilizing trail braking to reduce the amount of time between brakes off and throttle on.

Awesome self-evaluation, John. A lot of people charge into corners thinking it's the fast way, but as you say, it prevents them from getting on the gas early so they get passed at the exit.

[carsick]

Nice article, this kind of information needs to be more widespread to counter the "don't use the front brake" line. I've always trail braked without really understanding it was a technique. That being said, I was doing it like John stated above, as a reaction to corner speed anxiety and to slow far too much. I've refrained from using it as heavily on the track, now that I understand the traction I'm using for trail braking could be converted into higher corner speed! On the street I tend to keep a little pressure on the front lever until I can clearly see my exit line to prevent any pogo action if I get surprised by a decreasing radius or road hazard. This has helped a lot with riding two-up to smooth out the bike. Another great help was Ken's suggestion from his book of starting with a little rear brake to settle the bike before applying the front brakes.

Awesome self-evaluation, John. A lot of people charge into corners thinking it's the fast way, but as you say, it prevents them from getting on the gas early so they get passed at the exit.

Yep, I did that for most of my rookie season! Turns out those other riders didn't have Velcro tires and monster motors, they had skill.

[ZX-12R]

It's something I do on the street fairly regularly without thinking about it. One of the few scenarios where I'm acutely aware that I'm doing it is in the middle of a big turn that unexpectedly decides to decrease in radius.

[kumpy]

Trail braking is something I heard about in the past few years while sitting in the classroom with the TTD instructors, but I felt like it was some advanced technique that was not where my skill level was at. It wasn't until the beginning of this year that I starting diving into corners with greater speed and started braking later. It was at NHMS turn 3 where I dove in with more speed than I normally do and needed to do more braking. I did most of my braking upright and began leaning in. The more I leaned, the more trailed off until just before I hit the apex and I was completely off. Lean angles are now synonymous with how much I trail off and has become autonomic. I continue to develop my trail braking technique and depending on the corner, trail braking is completely integrated into all my braking. Thanks for sharing John, thanks for sharing your knowledge Ken!!

[backinthesaddle]

Great read, thanks.

[Not Sure]

Helpful info here thanks.

[gadget]

Thank you for the article.

When it says "It is a speed that allows you to negotiate the turn comfortably while applying gradual acceleration without the need for deceleration or braking."

Does this mean that you should be able to increase your speed or maintain it as you go through the turn.

I have no experience in racing.

It was my understanding that the best line through a curve is one that allows for the most amount of speed and the least amount of change in your input.

If this is correct, it would seem to me that you would want to start your line into the curve with as close to the speed at which you will lose traction during your turn and not change your speed at all until you begin to straighten out at the end of the turn and you can increase your speed as the centripital force begins to taper off.

Again, I have no actual hands-on bike racing experience, so no one here needs to worry about my misconceptions being a danger to them on the track.

My interest in this is purely academic or at the most an attempt to improve my road skills...well, maybe more of the latter than the former...

[Paul_E_D]

Not a lot of constant speed at all. Speeds generally decrease until you reach max lean, then the NEED to increase a little or the bike will not stand up as you exit. Cornering slows a bike. You need acceleration to simply maintain a given lean angle.

[gadget]

Not a lot of constant speed at all. Speeds generally decrease until you reach max lean, then the NEED to increase a little or the bike will not stand up as you exit. Cornering slows a bike. You need acceleration to simply maintain a given lean angle.

cool, I had not thought about it like that but I know exactly what you mean.

Thank you

[Ken C]

"Maintenance throttle" is when you use enough drive to maintain your lean angle and path or line through the turn. As Paul said, just leaning onto the side of the tires causes drag and deceleration, so you need to add throttle just to maintain speed. Ideally, you would gradually roll on the throttle a bit more than that to finish the turn so the bike naturally stands up...more acceleration, the more the bike stands up and runs wide, so use it as a tool to refine your exit line. You want to avoid chopping the throttle while leaned as that upsets the chassis, which can cause traction loss.

[gumby]

Thanks for sharing Ken.
Well written article and great video riding at NHMS where you put it all together... trail braking, body positioning, and throttle control.

Thanks again!

[Woodcraft]

....I trail brake every time that I touch the lever, it's just a matter of the duration for each specific corner. Every rider should implement this into their riding repertoire, and I appreciate people like Ken who help spread the word on this stuff. The main prerequisite to doing it properly is having good body position so that you can relax your bar input as you trail brake. With that critical piece in place, this practice will open a whole new world of confidence for many riders.

[brady]

The main prerequisite to doing it properly is having good body position so that you can relax your bar input as you trail brake.

Keep talking, don't tease!

[TTD]

....I trail brake every time that I touch the lever, it's just a matter of the duration for each specific corner.

Agreed (at least on the track). Wet or dry too!