Technology: is your gas tap really open?
The question is very simple and even seems ridiculous. Naturally, your gas tap is open to the brim when you accelerate from a bend. But are you absolutely sure?
There are two types of “open”: the gas tap is effectively open to the rafters and the psychological version of it. At the second position, your brain tells you that the throttle is fully open, but in reality you are still a long way from that cam. If you want to tighten your lap times, this is the first thing you need to analyze.
Believe it or not, the easiest thing you can do to get faster is to open the throttle wide. Now that more and more teams can easily display the position of the throttle valve on a laptop, the problem is coming to light. It turns out that the slower riders do not open their throttle all the way. They think they do, but they don't.
If you open the throttle all the way every time you get to a straight line and hold it for as long as possible, you will go faster. You will occasionally miss a corner and end up outside the ideal line, but your lap times will drop.
How do you learn that?
Climb onto your motorcycle while it is on the stand and sit in your normal riding position. Grasp the throttle handle. Don't overdo the movement – just turn the throttle as you normally would. Did it open all the way to the top without your elbow moving down? Did you feel the need to regain control?
Try to hold the throttle with a light and smooth touch. Don't put your hand so hard on the grip that there is pressure at the base of your thumb. Once you have adjusted to a kinder and gentler grip on the handle, practice placing your palm on the handle so that you have enough rotation of the handle to pull the throttle slide/throttle valve all the way open without lowering your elbow or wrist to nod. You may need to start by gripping the throttle higher up on the arc of the throttle body to open it all the way. Find the right position by practicing with your motorcycle stopped.
After practicing for a few minutes, you go onto the track and start riding. Try to keep your right elbow up. Concentrate on gripping the throttle in the optimal position and practice turning the throttle but don't expect it to feel natural. The most important thing about your first practice session is to make sure you open the throttle wide (even if you have to drop your elbow). You'll be surprised how much faster your engine is once you start turning it all the way up. You may be surprised to find that you didn't use all the power that was actually available.
The position and shape of your handlebars
The position of the handlebars also plays a role. Loosen the handlebar fasteners and rotate the handlebars. If you cannot achieve full rotation of the throttle, it is best to move the handlebars a few millimeters forward. If your arm is stretched too far, you need to move the handlebars backwards. Also think about the type of handlebars you use. Then try to loosen the grip of your fingers a bit. Squeezing the throttle tightly is counterproductive and causes arm pump. Et voila!
Practice this several times during the coming training sessions and you will see that you can improve your lap times considerably without much effort. Once you have achieved that, you can also take the engine characteristics into account. Some engines almost die at the maximum speed, while others continue to push hard when the gas tap is wide open. Make sure you shift gears at the right time. Also practice finding this “sweet spot”. After all, training is not only done to sharpen your physical body, but also to refine your riding technique.
Photos: GasGas, Neken and MXVintage
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