[maxthrust]

Some of you probably know this already, but I made a discovery this past weekend while on highway 4 coming out of Los Alamos National Laboratory and heading to Jemez Springs via Valles Caldera National Preserve.
This is an amazing ride, and a lot of fun, but I sometimes find my Goldwing hunting for the right gear in tight corners. It is unsettling to have a gear change mid-corner, especially when I didn't want or need one.
I, of course, use trail braking, but I was still having to manually control the shifting at some points.
I finally decided to put the bike into Sport Mode and use trail braking in an attempt to get full control of the bike.

OMG!

It was magical. As I slowed for a corner it would often drop a gear. The moment I touched the front brake it would automatically drop a gear. If I applied a bit of pressure it would drop another gear. It did this extremely smoothly and in a manner that I found perfectly intuitive.
The rest of the day I played with Sport Mode and trail braking and it is 100% consistent. I truly enjoyed the experience and didn't have to worry about getting my foot caught under the shift lever. (My past two Goldwings had this issue in left hand corners....bad JuJu.)

Some of you may be completely aware of this, but I thought I would share. I did't choose sport mode in the past because I thought it would be too abrupt in the corners. Not true, it is completely controlled and superbly intuitive when combined with proper application of trail braking.
I highly recommend this approach even if you aren't a speed demon in the corners.

 

[FireEater]

What is trail braking?

 

[Joebillybob]

What is trail braking?

Using the rear brake in slow speed maneuvering.

 

[Phoenix599]

opcorn:

Or trailing the rear brake to back it in so you can square off the corner to get a better drive on exit...not recommended on a Goldwing...

 

[maxthrust]

I think there is some ambiguity on using this term. But I use it to help setup a corner. It tends to be a bit biased to the front in my usage of the term, but honestly, you should use both. Not your everyday corner, rather, a somewhat quick corner. LOL

 

[tkenny53]

The moment I touched the front brake it would automatically drop a gear......this happens in most Modes

 

[bob2002]

Exactly why I say a test ride with a DCT isn't a true picture of how good it is.

Some of you probably know this already, but I made a discovery this past weekend while on highway 4 coming out of Los Alamos National Laboratory and heading to Jemez Springs via Valles Caldera National Preserve.
This is an amazing ride, and a lot of fun, but I sometimes find my Goldwing hunting for the right gear in tight corners. It is unsettling to have a gear change mid-corner, especially when I didn't want or need one.
I, of course, use trail braking, but I was still having to manually control the shifting at some points.
I finally decided to put the bike into Sport Mode and use trail braking in an attempt to get full control of the bike.

OMG!

It was magical. As I slowed for a corner it would often drop a gear. The moment I touched the front brake it would automatically drop a gear. If I applied a bit of pressure it would drop another gear. It did this extremely smoothly and in a manner that I found perfectly intuitive.
The rest of the day I played with Sport Mode and trail braking and it is 100% consistent. I truly enjoyed the experience and didn't have to worry about getting my foot caught under the shift lever. (My past two Goldwings had this issue in left hand corners....bad JuJu.)

Some of you may be completely aware of this, but I thought I would share. I did't choose sport mode in the past because I thought it would be too abrupt in the corners. Not true, it is completely controlled and superbly intuitive when combined with proper application of trail braking.
I highly recommend this approach even if you aren't a speed demon in the corners.

 

[DWAS]

Most riders are taught to break before initiating a turn, hold their speed through the apex of the turn and then accelerate out of the corner. A more advanced skill is to continue braking through to the apex of the turn, allowing the break pressure to “trail off”, as you approach the apex of the corner. This is trail breaking, ideally done with both breaks, and needs to be done very smoothly. It helps keep the suspension compressed prior to accelerating out of the corner. If not done smoothly, it can upset the suspension which can have some unpleasant consequences.
I have done many track days on my sport bike and we were taught that you NEVER use rear break only in a corner on asphalt surface. As novice, we were advised to use front break only until we learned to smooth things out.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I just assumed the new goldwing had linked breaking, so if you stick with the front lever, you are going to get a bit of breaks on both wheels.

 

[MisterK]

The dct magic!

 

[The prophet]

Most riders are taught to break before initiating a turn, hold their speed through the apex of the turn and then accelerate out of the corner. A more advanced skill is to continue braking through to the apex of the turn, allowing the break pressure to “trail off”, as you approach the apex of the corner. This is trail breaking, ideally done with both breaks, and needs to be done very smoothly. It helps keep the suspension compressed prior to accelerating out of the corner. If not done smoothly, it can upset the suspension which can have some unpleasant consequences.
I have done many track days on my sport bike and we were taught that you NEVER use rear break only in a corner on asphalt surface. As novice, we were advised to use front break only until we learned to smooth things out.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I just assumed the new goldwing had linked breaking, so if you stick with the front lever, you are going to get a bit of breaks on both wheels.

Thank you, yes you have described trail braking correctly. Braking into a corner and trailing off the brakes smoothly as to not upset the suspension while picking up the throttle. A bit to add in braking on asphalt, most of the effective braking is done with the front brake.

 

[maxthrust]

Most riders are taught to break before initiating a turn, hold their speed through the apex of the turn and then accelerate out of the corner. A more advanced skill is to continue braking through to the apex of the turn, allowing the break pressure to “trail off”, as you approach the apex of the corner. This is trail breaking, ideally done with both breaks, and needs to be done very smoothly. It helps keep the suspension compressed prior to accelerating out of the corner. If not done smoothly, it can upset the suspension which can have some unpleasant consequences.
I have done many track days on my sport bike and we were taught that you NEVER use rear break only in a corner on asphalt surface. As novice, we were advised to use front break only until we learned to smooth things out.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I just assumed the new goldwing had linked breaking, so if you stick with the front lever, you are going to get a bit of breaks on both wheels.

Thank you...I'm not so good at describing it, but I've done it for decades. I learned very early to do this or suffer the consequences. LOL

 

[dduelin]

Honda's linked brake systems have historically included bias toward the front when using the hand lever so as the brakes are eased off at increasing lean angle & nearing the apex the system is applying very little rear brake. The same for the pedal, when dragging a bit of rear brake at slow speed in the friction zone on a manual or against the DCT to control thrust to the rear wheel, the system is applying very little front brake. So there is no worry about "never using the rear brake" when trail braking when hustling corners. The action is transparent and you'd never know the rear brake is slightly applied. My own method on the ST1300 and '06 Wing is to use both front the rear into the corner but end up bleeding off the rear as the throttle comes back on.



A bit of pet peeve.... You take a break to rest or cool off, you apply a brake to slow down. Different words, different meanings.

 

[DWAS]

I stand corrected. “Apply break” would be the proper term.

 

[BR-549]

I believe one of the benefits of braking into the corner or to the apex is somewhat lost on the 18/19 wing. On a typical motorcycle with forks, braking, especially front braking pushes the front end down shortening the wheelbase, rake and trail. All of which make the bike less stable and make it want to turn. I believe this benefit is lost on the 18/19 wing as the front wheel moves straight up rather than back. Not sure what the rest of the geometry in the front end does.


I also have a Tiger 800XC which has really soft fairly high travel forks. Making the forks dive on it makes a really big difference in its turning.


This being said I still believe it is a good process.

 

[Mengy]

Yeah sport mode with the DCT is extremely useful for pushing the twisties, I feel like it performs wonderfully. My only issue with sport mode is the twitchy throttle, it really takes gentle wrist control to use it. But frack if sport mode doesn’t turn the Wing into a rocket of a bike, it’s balls still sometimes surprise me!

That said I mostly just stick to tour mode as I usually just do the speed limit, so cruising through the curves isn’t too demanding for me and tour mode more than suffices. “Usually”. I do occasionally ride a tad harder.

 

[Fred H.]

Most riders are taught to break before initiating a turn, hold their speed through the apex of the turn and then accelerate out of the corner. A more advanced skill is to continue braking through to the apex of the turn, allowing the break pressure to “trail off”, as you approach the apex of the corner. This is trail breaking, ideally done with both breaks, and needs to be done very smoothly. It helps keep the suspension compressed prior to accelerating out of the corner. If not done smoothly, it can upset the suspension which can have some unpleasant consequences.
I have done many track days on my sport bike and we were taught that you NEVER use rear break only in a corner on asphalt surface. As novice, we were advised to use front break only until we learned to smooth things out.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I just assumed the new goldwing had linked breaking, so if you stick with the front lever, you are going to get a bit of breaks on both wheels.

:agree:

 

[gkarasik]

I stand corrected. “Apply break” would be the proper term.

I need a brake.

 

[Farmguy]

I need a brake.

Saw what you did there...:wink2:

 

[thebroz]

I enjoyed watching this video about trail braking:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=gPE67XqGsV4&usg=AOvVaw2HB87gGLpSHH1Vp3zS_iZe

Regardless of how the front suspension is different on the 2018 GoldWing, the method still applies. When you trail brake, you load up the front of the bike as the weight shifts forward, giving your front tire a larger patch of grip on the pavement. It makes the bike more stable.

What I need is a large, empty, parking lot to practice this technique. I'm used to braking before entering the turn, and accelerating out. This isn't ideal for blind turns. Trail braking really good for blind turns and safer all around, if you're to believe the video.