Ducati Monster Forum

Someone tell me why this is a bad idea.

Track bike btw.

I have never in my life used the rear on the track.  Why would I keep it?  Im not going to race, so legality for WERA doesn't matter to me.

'cause you won't be able to do this:
(http://www.intelephoto.com/2wheels/supermotard/medium/2007-0331-0616-007.jpg)

But seriously: the main reason is for when you go off track. Your rear brake is the ONLY thing you should use in that situation.

The last thing you wanna do is run off track and not have a rear brake.  You ever hit dirt or (worse) wet grass at 70mph and tried to use your front?  It ain't pretty.  Trust me.

Also, better riders than you or I use the rear brake to settle the suspension and change weight distribution in turns.

I don't think any of the guys who use the rear brake to control wheelies and wheelspin are riding professionally any more. I think Mr Intel or Mr Motorola deal with that these days...

big

Unless Monsterlover is riding for one of the Big Boys He probably doesn't have traction control on his bike.
(http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/transport026.gif) (http://www.freesmileys.org)

Because you'll never get through tech at track days. Most require brakes...front and rear.

Damn you all and your logic.

ML thwarted again. . .

ML, a better idea for your track riding is to take off your front brakes.  You wanna learn to be smooth and carry corner speed?  ;D   And I'm certain the Tech guys won't check for it b/c no one in their right mind would actually do that.  <looney bin smiley>

Big, I wasn't talking about traction or wheelie control, but settling the suspension with the rear which I know some more experienced riders do.

Supa, traction control has moved down to club racing.  Anyone on a 1098R with a race kits has it.  As does anyone buying the new 1098S.  And there are aftermarket traction control units that club racers can and do run if their club rules permit it.

This is so true and the only reason you need. I don't use my rear brake on the track but before each race, I just pump up the rear to make sure it's there in case of a runoff. If you can't resist temptation to use it while braking into a corner and that's the reason for removing it, then try this...just keep your right foot up on your peg at all times. Put the ball of your foot on the peg and keep it there. This way you are already in the right position to hang off, and have one less thing to think about. Just stay up on your toes the whole time and you will get into the habit. That's how I broke myself from using the rear.

^

That's what I do.  I never have used the rear.

I just wanted a lighter bike ;D

The rear brake saved me all sorts of grief  when I ran off the track into the slippery Texas caliche.

I know the 1098 has TC but didn't know it has become that accessable. Thanks for the tidbit! :)
My point is that Mlover is doing track days not racing and hence probably not using TC but riding for fun and improvement on the street.

What $$ are we talkin'?

http://www.kneedraggers.com/details/Bazzaz_Performance_ZFI_TC_Traction_Control_System_Suzuki_GSXR750--618146.html (http://www.kneedraggers.com/details/Bazzaz_Performance_ZFI_TC_Traction_Control_System_Suzuki_GSXR750--618146.html)

Wheelies/wheelspin are not the same as the "settling" that you are responding to.

I occasionaly ride without touching the brakes, on the road it teaches you to anticipate, and on the track starting off slow then increasing speed teaches you about lines.

We used to have these 12 hour moped marathons, a two hour stint on a 50cc step through could get boring, I'd try to get round with the throttle on the stop and without touching the brakes, learned a lot from that.

+1 
I've run off track a few times coming into a corner too hot.  You'll be missing that rear brake when you try to slow down running in the weeds.  Its just not safe... and has other uses on track as stated above.

last time I ran off track in the wet grass...the rear brake caused me to start to flattrack the damn bike sideways until it tossed me like a ragdoll...but the photo dude caught most of it on film in it's unflattering glory...

in reality...I shoulda just slowly steered the bike back toward the track and gone back on....but I was thinking I was going too fast and had to scrub speed in order to do it in the grass without problem....

but that was a combination of too much rear brake because mine is actually fully functional and works REALLY well and me being so amped that I didn't pay enough attention to how much I shoulda been steppin on it even though I was pulsing it like ABS or something...

usually I use the rear mid corner (if at all-which is usually moreso the case) to, if I am too hot, to modulate a lil bit more speed off and stabilize the rear before giving it some throttle to power out of the apex...helps keep some of that front to back transition of the chassis from happening more noticably

other than running off i have never once touched the rear brake while at the track.  but i would never disable it  ;)

If your rear is as sharp as you say it is, then you sir are a brave man. I salute you. [thumbsup]

An old flat tracking buddy once told me...

Brakes just slow you down... ;D

that's why I rarely do it!....it was more of a street habit of many that I found I had to break when on the track...

one time I did it and the rear started to come around on me a little bit just before the apex and I gassed it and pointed it and shot through the rest of the turn with a degree of dirtbike look to how I executed it and checked my shorts when I came into the pits after that session...that was around the 1st time I got the 98 and had it on the track shaking it down to know moreso what I had to deal with...I was glad I had a much more street biased tire set on that bike then (Metzler Sportec M-1's) or the front might have caught more and tossed me highside like in the air...I have done alot of work to that bike to sort it out since then...