Trail Clutching?

[Rick Johnson 29]

I just heard about this technique.For those who do not have a slipper clutch like myself.
(Trailing the clutch to the apex to modulate engine braking and thus to prevent rear wheel
hop.)Have any of you used this technique before? If so does to work well or help?

[Garywc]

I dont think its a good idea
if you dont let the clutch out  your suspension isnt under load andy more putting more weight on the front and your bike is lower giving you less ground clearence
and if you are leaned over when you let the clutch out theres more of a chance of loosing traction do to contact patch and weight distrubition.

just my thoughts i could be wrong

[P_M]

Ok, from a non-racer.. 

I used to do it a lot with my old Buell (XB9) and it seemed to be the natural way to feed the power back to the wheel.  Usually no drama when I was smooth going through a corner, however if it slips and the revs were up.. Well.. lets just say it was interesting exiting the turn..  It does allow you to keep the revs up and be 'back on the power' without having to wait for the engine to spool up (I used to idle through turns - still do a little but I'm trying to get better at it)..

Hope that helps.

[Super Dave]

Yeah, you can carry the clutch all the way to the apex modulating it.  Even with a slipper.  Really depends upon the feel you're looking for, but you can modulate the chassis with it.  You could make a mess of it if your chassis set up is crap though. 

[bel-biv]

i did it with my 954
basically you just hold the clutch in a little bit on the last downshift into a corner (not all the way into so that the rear wheel is disengaged from the engine - you just hold it at the "slip")

once i got used to it, it became automatic - just drag the clutch on that last downshift and viola!
no more wheel hop

that said, i'm loving the slipper on my r1

[Sobottka]

yep... drag the clutch lever (just slightly) during downshifts and you have a "manual slipper" 

[tug296]

Going into turn 13 at Jennings GP always seemed the perfect place, I always thought it was bad for clutch plates.

[dylanfan53]

+1.  Just doesn't seem like the cure fits the illness...which I'd think could be addressed by better gearing and braking technique...IMHO and all that.

[Rick Johnson 29]

I might try it on a trackday and see how it works.I'll also ask a few mechanics if
they think this will wear the clutch plates much quicker than normal.

[bel-biv]

its probably not "good" for those clutch plates, but probably not that bad either
high rpm upshifts with the clutch are probably the absolute worst thing you can do to it
i can't see how dragging it a little here and there will torch it, but then again people tell me that i'm dumber than a bag of hammers on occasion, so hey.....

[RAISING CANE]

I use this technique in a couple places even with my slipper. I can run into a chicane hard and modulate the clutch as I'm already in my exit gear #2. Just gotta be smooth with clutch release cause if you are leaned over and you allow it to engage too much things can go wrong real fast. I learned this watching D-wire run into the 12-13 chicane at Homestead super fast.

[danman67]

The technique was almost a natural carry over from dirt especially when I started backing the bike in to deal the transition on the back straight at NSS. Even with a slipper clutch it helps to modulate the slide on entry and then spin on exit.

[Scotty Ryan]

I use this technique on every bike I ride. Depending on the bike setup and weather it has a slipper clutch or not, I will change up how I do it. Feeding the clutch out on corner entry is an advanced technique, There are allot of variables to take into consideration.

It can reduce rear wheel hop, it can allow you to enter corners differently depending on the situation, you can control how the bike backs into a corner, and you can use this technique to change how the chassis loads up on corner entry.

But again, This isn't something that can be taught by trying to explain in text.

And I guess this technique could possibly reduce the service life of the fiber/steel plates in a clutch - But then again - I'm not a technician..

[Solo]

Because I'm too lazy to learn how to blip the throttle I have to use that method on every corner, every time.
Here are a lot of my examples ::)

[Super Dave]

This is a good example of how much can be done.

[tzracer]

Because I'm too lazy to learn how to blip the throttle I have to use that method on every corner, every time.
Here are a lot of my examples ::)

Tom Kipp had a similar riding style. He would pull in the clutch, do all his downshifts, then after the last downshift he would feed out the clutch.

[Rick Johnson 29]

I used to do that when I first started doing track days but when
you do that you don't have engine braking to also help slow
the bike down.

[tug296]

I recall some hideous down shift clunks from Kipp's Yamaha entering the old International Horseshoe at Daytona on the 3.87 mile course.
I have tried both methods, blipping is best for me.
Someone else from more recent events also uses the method of pull in clutch and do all downshifts.
  Yates? Hacking?

[Solo]

Tom Kipp had a similar riding style. He would pull in the clutch, do all his downshifts, then after the last downshift he would feed out the clutch.

May not be the fastest way around a track but I'm comfortable with it.