Gear change while Braking hard for corner..

[Bernie_Boy]

I would like to know how you all handle your down changes while breaking hard for a sharp corner on a dirt track.

My situation:

Breaking from ~60Km/H from 3rd into 2nd for a corner.

right hand is hard on the from brake, left hand is pulling clutch in. click down into 2nd then release the clutch, rear wheel compression lockup (I'm not saying this is a bad thing, most of the time it helps turn me in better).

My question is how can I make the gear change a bit smoother by matching the rev's?during the down change? It's difficult because I am hard on the front brake.

I would be interested to know how any of you get around this or if you do not.

Note: this is during HARD trail riding with my M8 on his XR600. I'm trying to improve to catch him.... ?

Thanks.

[smashinz2002]

Well, first of all, I have no idea what 60km/h is. I'm guessing it's somewhere between 30-40mph? I don't know.

Anyway, forget about the clutch, just stomp it down to whatever gear you need then nail it when you exit the turn. I have yet to figure out why people still use the clutch to downshift (or upshift) a dirt bike.

In any case, if you are riding an XR600, there is no reason to drop below 2nd for a turn, and in most cases 3rd will work (with some applied clutch slippage). Your clutch is there mainly for two reasons; a) to get started from a dead stop, and ? to slip and bring the bike on the pipe (or cam), if the rpms get too low for a quick exit.

The ideas I mention are for aggressive riding and won't be necessary for casual trail riding.

Also there is a possibility that I have been drinking some beer and dont know what im talking about haha. But seriously, since my bike cost a lot of money, I do use the clutch to upshift and downshift, but under racing conditions a lot of guys dont use it.

[Dual_Dog]

My situation:

Breaking from ~60Km/H from 3rd into 2nd for a corner.

right hand is hard on the from brake, left hand is pulling clutch in.

Sooo let's see 1K = .62MI, .62MI x 60K ~ 37MPH. That's a pretty good clip for downshifting from 3rd to 2nd.

If you're going to do power braking, why even worry about matching the engine speed with the wheel or transmission speed? Just bang it down to 2nd using the clutch, plus the rear brake, and using the engine for some hard compression braking going into the corner as well as the front brake. Of course my XRL with a 4.0 Clarke is a bit different.

Do you ride with 2 fingers for on the front brake & clutch? That's how I ride and I just shift (down or up) as fast as possible and then get back on the brakes to slow down more quickly.

You might want to try a different technique that's described in DirtRiderMagazine.com They've got a pretty good article about cornering with the bigger 4-strokes.

[frogman]

Just hit the throttle with a blip as you tap down on the shifter, whats so hard about that?

[jazzeyb]

Hell.... It's an XR650.. Leave it in third, bear down on the throttle, lean into the corner tight, hold on, and have one hell of a good time !!!!!!

JaZz

[jazzeyb]

Heck.... It's an XR650.. Leave it in third, bear down on the throttle, lean into the corner tight, hold on, and have one heck of a good time !!!!!!

JaZz

[Bernie_Boy]

Thanks for all your advice and Attitude ?

I think I will keep it in 3rd and "Pop/Fan" the clutch when exiting...

Cheers..