If the 250 had either more torque or more flywheel weight, this technique could potentially be dangerous, and is not one I would recommend to newbies. Advanced riders with strong throttle control skills... well, maybe. But in the BRC (as in all the racing clinics I've attended) they teach you to be as smooth as possible on the gas and to roll on from the very beginning.
In fact, for bikes with jerky/abrupt throttle responses, I tell my kids to roll on BEFORE they press. You want to get anything jerky to the driveline over with while the bike is straight up-and-down, then keep things as smooth-smooth-smooth when the thing is leaning over.
If it works for you, Original Poster, that's fine, but don't try it on an RC51 or TL1000!
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After all my pious advice on keeping a steady roll-on through the turns, I started paying closer attention and dang it if I'm not doing the exact same thing the OP reported! When I'm riding at about seven-tens pace, leaning Elmo over to about 42, 43-degrees (still have only scraped my footpeg once, but I'm still trying) I'm micro-managing my line with small throttle inputs... mostly additional power when I want to go wider or lean over farther, but occasionally a little nip in to stand the bike up or tighten the line.
I still say that doing this on a bigger bike with more power will provoke a more dramatic response, and I still say it's not a great habit... but on the baby CBR, it's not the worst thing you can do.
I'm micro-managing my line with small throttle inputs... mostly additional power when I want to go wider or lean over farther, but occasionally a little nip in to stand the bike up or tighten the line.
You're confusing me here . . . are you saying that additional power can make you go wider OR lean further and that a nip in (reduced throttle, I presume) will either stand the bike up OR tighten the line?
How it works is, more power makes you lean further (tighten the line) and reduced throttle make you stand up (go wider); you can't have it both ways . . . .
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Without additional input to the bars, opening the throttle will make the bike want to stand up/go wide.
On a high powered machine it is best to keep the throttle steady (either still or very slow roll on) until the apex then open the throttle on exit.
This should be practiced on the 250 as well despite the fact that its very forgiving and lets you do things that would flop you on your butt on a much more powerful bike.
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To clarify:
All else being equal, more throttle will push the bike out (wide.)
Going wide forces me to lean farther to maintain the correct line. Ergo, more gas forces me to lean deeper. More throttle will NOT make the bike stand up if you're holding the bars steady.
All else being equal, rolling off mid-corner will EITHER stand the bike up OR tighten the line (bring the bike back in.) Thus, if I chop the gas mid-corner, the bike slows down and either stands up or tightens its line, depending on the other variables. This not a good technique for steering a bike around a corner.
In a perfect world, you would set you entry speed on every corner just low enough that you could roll on a tiny bit all the way through the curve (not just from the apex) but as I've said, it's tough to be perfect every time.
I think we're all saying the same thing but I wasn't making it clear which was cause and which was effect. And I also think we all agree that the little CBR will let you get away with it, whereas a Buell 1125 would probably high-side you.
All else being equal, rolling off mid-corner will EITHER stand the bike up OR tighten the line (bring the bike back in.) Thus, if I chop the gas mid-corner, the bike slows down and either stands up or tightens its line, depending on the other variables.
I've only seen my turn radius increased by throttle roll-off due to the bike being forced upright. How could the opposite effect be possible from the same input unless you're really pushing the tires to the point of losing traction?
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Last edited by superfly; 12-06-2012 at 03:35 AM.
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In my original post I was asking if anyone else was using the throttle to steer through corners while riding on the street. Obviously, you are not riding at 10/10ths on the street at it seems a lot of the advise given was for track use when the bike is at the limit.
It doesn't take much change in throttle to move the line of the bike through the corner. I am not talking about going from half throttle to full throttle, just a change of 500 rpm's will change your apex or corner exit. And if this technique keeps the tires off the painted lines on the road, I have a higher comfort level through the corner.
Superfly: if you hold the press - that is, maintain the same position of the handlebars/clip-ons -the line will tighten with less speed. If you relax on the bars and allow the bike to stand up like it wants, yeah, it goes wider. But I was stipulating "all things being equal," meaning holding the press.
And Jim, I'm not talking about 10/10s riding at the track, I'm talking about spirited 7/10s pacing in the real world. The techniques described in books like Twist of the Wrist and the like apply everywhere, not just when your toes are scraping the ground. The same four steps and O-I-O line should be used whether your corner is a long lazy sweeper taken just under the advisory speed posting, or a 180-degree hairpin that you're taking at antisocial, knee-dragging speed (which I don't do in public.)
And I maintain that line correction SHOULD be done with the bars, not the throttle, but that it is possible with a CBR250. I know, I've done it, and now I've got to try NOT doing it so I don't transfer the technique to my FZ1!
Last edited by Boomer1911A1; 12-06-2012 at 10:18 AM.
Reason: Typo correction
2011 Honda CBR250R
2012 Honda CBR 250 RA
