I have a Panigale V2, and still getting accustomed to the way torque is delivered. When riding my favorite twisty country roads, I often find myself downshifting mid-corner in order to have enough torque to drive out. I would enter the corner in 4th gear, and be off the throttle while the bike is turning. The RPMs fall down rather quickly, and because I dont ride on the top of the power band on the street, by the time I finish turning I am already below the torque band. By downshifting, I get myself closer to it (my bike picks up at around 6k). The transition between 3rd and 4th gear is very smooth on my bike, and I am not really pushing super hard, so at no point it feels scary or unstable, but I wanted to see what other riders think of that. On my 4-cylinder bikes, I am accustomed to a less engine braking and wider power band, so I would downshift before the corner and not upshift until I am out, but that strategy does not work on the V2, which has stronger engine braking and narrower power band. What do you guys do? How do you manage engine speed in a corner? Thank you all for the comments.
Downshifting mid-corner?
- Thread starter stgatev
- Start date
Hey Buddy.
I will answer your question in a way the coach at the track came to my aid when coasting through a corner. To be clear, that is having neither brake nor throttle on when cornering.
Let's start with the tyres. When leaning the bike, the bike is using the smallest radii of its tyres when on the outside edge. This will cause the engine rpm to increase a little, about a 1000rpm. This is good to keep on mind when corning.
Now the coach mentioned that when cornering, the brakes or the throttle must be applied. This will either load the front tyre if on the brakes or load the rear tyre if on the throttle. You may need to start the corner on the brakes then feed off the brakes and as soon as you can open the throttle progressively. I use this on the road as well as the track. It will help keep the rpm in the meaty part of the rev range. You can then decide whether to take the corner on 3rd or 4th gear.
The technic helps to stabilise the bike through the corner. You will see any racer on the track, coming in on the brakes into the corner, then apply throttle almost instantly to drive through and out the corners.
I will answer your question in a way the coach at the track came to my aid when coasting through a corner. To be clear, that is having neither brake nor throttle on when cornering.
Let's start with the tyres. When leaning the bike, the bike is using the smallest radii of its tyres when on the outside edge. This will cause the engine rpm to increase a little, about a 1000rpm. This is good to keep on mind when corning.
Now the coach mentioned that when cornering, the brakes or the throttle must be applied. This will either load the front tyre if on the brakes or load the rear tyre if on the throttle. You may need to start the corner on the brakes then feed off the brakes and as soon as you can open the throttle progressively. I use this on the road as well as the track. It will help keep the rpm in the meaty part of the rev range. You can then decide whether to take the corner on 3rd or 4th gear.
The technic helps to stabilise the bike through the corner. You will see any racer on the track, coming in on the brakes into the corner, then apply throttle almost instantly to drive through and out the corners.
Joined Nov 2018
4K Posts | 3K+
N
Select a lower gear and use more rpm's, if you ride the same road regularly it makes it easier because you know what's coming up. These bikes love to rev.
Thank you guys. I'll see if I can enter the turn with the revs a bit higher. I like the twin's engine braking in that it lets me turn with minimal braking, at times with no brakes at all. What still gets me is how fast it drops below the power band. I am also considering +2 on the rear sprocket (I would've gone -1 on the front, but was told that it confuses the TC) to widen the power band a bit.
Joined Mar 2021
366 Posts | 177+
midwest
I agree with the comments from others. Dragging the front brake helps load the front tire and turn the bike. Maintenance (light) or higher throttle helps load the rear tire. While you can use the engine braking to slow and turn the bike, it is not the best solution. If you have not turned down your engine braking (EBC) to level 2 or 3, I would suggest trying that and avoiding coasting through the corners. If you are not trying to drive hard out of a corner, then don't worry about exiting at 3 or 4K rpms. If you are trying to zip around, then drop a gear before entering the corner. The V2 is happy to take corners at 9 or 10K if you want.
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