Prevent front end wash out
Posted on May 12, 2008
Filed Under Technique |
If you haven’t don it yourself, then you will have most likely seen someone else drop their bike on a corner because the front end has lost grip and “washed out” from under them. Most of the time it will happen when you are pushing to hard and trying to corner at a higher speed. So how do you prevent this from happening?
There are many reasons why this will occur but there are a few tips you can keep in mind next time you are at the track.
1. Make sure you are running a suitable tyre pressure for the track conditions. You should probably run somewhere from 12 to 17 pounds in both front and rear tyres. Soft sandy tracks so be around the 12 pounds, loamy around 14 pounds, while hard pack should be up around 17 pounds.
2. Body position is critical as how you weight the front wheel will have a direct effect on its traction. For hard packed corners you will need to keep your weight forward by getting as far forward on the seat as possible. Loamy corners will require you to be in a more neutral position on the bike and Sandy corners will require you to position your self backfurther to keep the front end light.
3. How your suspension is set up will effect the traction also. If the rebound setting is to stiff, the weight on the front end will slide instead of pushing against the ground.
4. How you approach the corner will effect the ability for the bike to bite in rather than wash out. If you intend on attacking the corner then make sure you body language says what you are thinking. Approach the corner standing up in the attack position, central on the bike, elbows out, knees slightly bent, chin over the bars. The majority of your stopping power should come from the front brake, doing so will compress the front suspension and load the front end, don’t allow the front end to slide under brakes though. Don’t coast into the corner as you will not be in the correct position nor will your bike.
Comments
Leave a Reply