To maximize traction and control, it’s necessary to have precise and deliberate throttle and brake “feel” and control. Try the following exercise in a parking lot:
Throttle:
1. In neutral, starting at idle, slowly rev up the engine to 5000 rpm, and then slowly drop it down to idle. How slowly and smoothly can you control that rise and fall of rpm? Can you make the rpm “creep” up and down slowly and smoothly? Can you stop at any rpm you choose, hold it there for a second, then go up 100 rpm, then down 100 rpm?
2. Speed up the up/down revving – can you maintain the same level of smoothness?
3. Put the bike in first gear, repeat the above exercise. Focus on revving up and down smoothly WITHOUT making the front end rise and dive abruptly. Speed up the throttle movement after a while, and still focusing on being smooth. (This was the first exercise they made us do in Lee Parks’ Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic, Level 1 class.)
To make a really “fine” on/off throttle transition (important in a cornering transition), you’re not even moving it 1mm. Instead, imagine moving it “just a hair” to take up the slack in the throttle cable. Instead of moving the wrist, just curl up the fingers to put a little pressure, rather than movement, on the throttle, and feel how the engine changes from coasting to driving, and vice versa. On some bikes if you move the throttle off/on abruptly you can hear and feel a “clunk” in the drive line; focus on being smooth to avoid that clunk.
Brake (front or rear):
Same idea as throttle control – smoothly engages, smoothly squeezes, and smoothly releases the brake. Can you avoid making the front end dive (brake on) and rise (brake off) abruptly?
Do the above exercise slowly to learn the “feel” of being smooth. At higher speed, the movements become faster, but the emphasis on needing to be smooth remains the same.
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