Engine Braking

[lonesoldier84]

ive spent the past week practicing engine braking based on advice from internet forums.

i had not been using it at ALL before and now that I have started using it i am amazed at how amazing it is. coming into corners, mid corners, on straights.....it is a SUPER stable form of braking.

so other noobs out there, start working on it. it will save your life. it will decrease stopping distances, and increase stability when you need it most. thats what i found. but im a noob. hopefully the seasoned vets will back me up on that one.

as for my question:

how much is too much? I have given it quite a bit of clutch and it wants to throw me off the bike almost. thing is, it is holding the bike back at the transmission, which is in the middle of the bike. So will the bike really want to flip forwards if given too much? if you are leaning waaaay back is it possible to still slip forwards in anything short of the worst possible way of engine braking? if you lean waaaay back and drop to first gear and let of clutch as quickly as possible without being abrupt, is that the best possible braking technique (combined with usual front and rear brakes) for WORST case emergency situations??? or do you need to worry about flying off the bike so much that even in a worst case emergency situation you would still be conscious of not giving too much engine braking?

to simplify....can you give the bike TOO MUCH engine braking even if you are leaning waaaaaay back and weigh 220lbs.

[GConn]

If I got the picture right....I wouldn't worry about fliping the bike using engine braking but you should be carefull not to lock your rear when downshifting. That could cause other problems.

[Bullwinkle]

You should be keeping the rpm's to match your speed, with the gearing it will slow you down pretty well just closing down the throttle. Don't over do it by downshifting to far or as GCon said you could lock up your rear wheel and possibly cause yourself a high side crash. You also do not want to brake or slow down in corners, slow down before and either hold a constant speed thru the corner or twist the wick a little. Slowing down robs traction and control.

Bullwinkle

[christod1]

You wont flip the bike. Possibly the worst that could happen is that you lock your rear wheel like the guys said above. Be careful with this because it will unbalance your bike. Also being to excessive could put a strain on your engine, chain, transmission. I'd be careful with the clutch though. If you engage and disengage it a lot you could wear it out very quickly....

[oldfast007]

YouTube - Jason Pridmore's STAR School Onboard...

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[shaggystyle]

I've got a problem with everyone saying that downshifting too fast can "lock the rear wheel". Maybe, I'm a complete idiot (if so feel free to point it out and explain where I went wrong), but I'm pretty sure it is impossible to stop the wheel from spinning by engaging a lower gear. It is possible (in an extreme case) to down-shift too far and cause the wheel to spin (at a slower rate than the bikes current speed relative to the pavement), which could have a similar affect of causing the rear to slide out of line, but you can't actually lock it up this way. I base pretty much everything I do while riding on the simple principle of "as long as the engine is spinning (and I'm not braking or clutching) then so are my tires". In dangerous conditions using the engine's compression to slow down rather than the brakes can be a life saver (snow, ice, rain, etc...). It's a skill that's saved my butt a number of times, and as they say, the proof is in the pudding.

The line for everyone telling me how wrong I am starts here ->

[mdr]

Shaggy - if your rear wheel goes from 15 revs per second to 1/2 "instantly" it's pretty much the same result. Back tire breaks traction. Not "locked" as you accurately said, but similar result. That's why modern race bikes (GSXR-600 for instance) have slipper clutches. One of the few things I miss on the FZ.

[oldfast007]

Ok, Wheel lock can occur with a downshift, Iv'e done so. too rapid a downshift equaling greatly mismatched engine/wheel speed is tantamount to jamming on the rear break, albiet temporary while not very common it definately does happen!

[reiobard]

the engine braking is a great way to assist in braking, but not completely use it to brake, i always make the engine braking feel like using the hand brake and then i use the brakes to complete the stop,

Engine braking is great and if you practice it you can get quite good at it, but remember to always at least put enough pressure on one of the levers to turn the brake light on to avoid getting hit from behind.

[shaggystyle]

Originally Posted by mdr

Shaggy - if your rear wheel goes from 15 revs per second to 1/2 "instantly" it's pretty much the same result. Back tire breaks traction. Not "locked" as you accurately said, but similar result. That's why modern race bikes (GSXR-600 for instance) have slipper clutches. One of the few things I miss on the FZ.

yeah, but in that situation we're talking a pretty drastic change, most likely brought about by dumping the clutch all at once rather than bringing your rpms up and smoothly engaging the transmission. In my mind this is a mistake on par with grabbing the front brake in a quick stop (locking the front wheel). This is why practicing is, as with everything else on a motorcycle, a necessity. Engine braking is just one more skill that can keep you alive when all those crazy cagers are out for blood.

In any case, I just wanted to point on the difference between Locking and Spinning the rear wheel. Call me a semantic nazi if you want.