Hey guys.

Under very hard braking, the rear of my bike chatters like mad. I try to downshift, revmatch, etc... but I can't seem to do so smoothly.

Any advice on how I can control this chatter and/or techniques I could use under hard braking to help me 'control' the bike better?

Thanks.

lightly press the rear brake if it chatters is one way, you can also take a click or two out of the rebound to make the tire touch the ground faster http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

mpdgsxr1000 said:
lightly press the rear brake if it chatters is one way, you can also take a click or two out of the rebound to make the tire touch the ground faster http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif



Also, you may be to tense, and putting a death grip on the bars...start your hard braking at a slightly slower speed...and as you get more relaxed, increase the speed.. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Practice geting your downshifting, bliping the throttle, and braking done SMOOTHLY all at once....keep at it, only slow down a bit.....you'll get it.. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Not sure where you are riding and your experience level. Your rear end should not be chattering during hard breaking. Now you didn't give much information to go on so I'll ask a few questions....

1. Does it seem like your back tire is locking up and/or hopping? if so your not rev matching as you drop down a gear.

2. Have you ever had your suspension adjusted? If not it is a cheap way to improve handling.

3. What is your ratio of front brake squeeze to rear? You really want to put most of your effort into squeezing the front brake and lightly push on the rear brake. Many riders don't use the rear brake at all. This is important, if you factor in physics it makes good sense. If your bike is standing still on a scale, the front to rear weight ratio is within a couple percent of being 50/50 front to rear. When braking this ratio could change to 75% weight on the front and 25% weight on the back (when braking do you feel your weight being pushed forward?). Racing it can be like 90%/10%. Keep this in mind if you are locking up your rear wheel.

4. Are you braking through the turn? You should have all your braking finished before entering the turn. (keeping trail braking off the table for now). If you are going into a turn too hot and squeeze the brakes look out this will greatly upset your suspension. The whole front end will start to chatter.

Give more information. I know on the track I'm braking pretty hard and my rear end doesn't chatter, I'm curious what you are describing.

Z-man

I encounter rear chatter sometimes also. The easiest way I have found to limit the chatter was to float the clutch. I don't like to match revs every downshift. I don't like using the rear brake either. I was trying to learn how to back the bike into a corner by using the clutch and found that it works very well on the chattering also. You don't need to use alot either.

If you recorded the Superbike race from PPIR and watch Josh Hayes on the ZX-10R going into turn 3. One video shot of him you could see him using the clutch with one finger as he entered while trail braking. After he hit his apex he pulled his finger off.

Hey,

I'm new to ridin (with an 03 sixxer) and I see all these words like "blip" the throttle, "chatter", "clicks" in the rebound on this site. what does all this mean? does chatter refer to locking up the rear tire? Thanks.

ok first, a gixxer was a bad decision for a first bike, for all these reasons. Blip the throttle the wrong way will cause you to wheelie, And when brakeing is the intent, that can get UGLY...

So,
Put down the helmit, step away from the bike, and drive your cage to your local MSF center and take the calss. This was all addressed in the basic class. a gixxer is a very very advanced bike, and unlike starting out in advanced computers or something, this is life and death..., and that chatter you hear is a lockup / skip of rear tire which = loss of traction.

The only time ive ever had that is when i didn;t have the clutch in, like a panic brake, which resulted in a stall.....

MSF teaches, when doing panic braking, to do Simunateously any Handlebar operations (Clutch and brake at exact same time), then foot operations (downshift and rear barake). This equalizes your actions / balance, gets your feet ready to come off the pegs, and keeps you doing everyting in the right order,

Bliping of the throttle: when you slightly rev the engine at the exact moment you downshift to creat a smoother shift by matching engine RPM and wheel speed... Basicaly it makes the gears mesh togehter better, and lessens the chance of a rearwheel lockup when downshifting will result in heavy engine braking.

Clicks: I dont think your suspension has "clicks", only the 1000 and newest 750/600 have that. my 03 750 does not "click" when i adkist the suspension, it goes by 1/4 turns. But dont TOUCH this, until you can point out evey part of the bike, suspension, engine, bla bla bla... basicaly, till you have a lot of knoledge. loosening the wrong thing may send your spring through your ceiling, or depresurize your rear shock...

Wory about turning and shit first, and leave more of an "out" when riding so you dont have to panic-brake. Pro=active is always a better gurantee for safety / living than reactive!!!

yesIcannabis said:
Hey,

I'm new to ridin (with an 03 sixxer) and I see all these words like "blip" the throttle, "chatter", "clicks" in the rebound on this site. what does all this mean? does chatter refer to locking up the rear tire? Thanks.



Not to sound all preachy.. But GrandAm is right.. however, always do what you have just done... ASK QUESTIONS... I have been riding for 5 years and I don't fuck around with my suspension too much... but if you get the urge like I did to find out what everything does... DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT... write down every change that you make so you can figure out what changed last and make the proper adjustments.

Practice rev matching in a safe, preferrably car-free environment. It is a very useful riding skill. Stay away from trailbraking, it is an advanced technique that can put on your head faster than your brain can tell your hand to let go of the brake...

Finally.. If you can afford it, the MSF class is a good idea...

Ride Right...

In response to ""Put down the helmit, step away from the bike, and drive your cage to your local MSF center and take the calss. This was all addressed in the basic class. a gixxer is a very very advanced bike, and unlike starting out in advanced computers or something, this is life and death..., ""

I started road-riding on a 90 gsxr 1100. I have ridden trail bikes before. Yes it is a hell of a dangerous bike, scared the xxxx out of me the first couple of months just to be on it. A motorcycle safety course is an excellent idea, one tip could be the difference between dump and no dump. However, I believe that if enough respect is given to the bike ie. full gear, throttle, braking and turning, it can be safe. My area has very little traffic though, I would not ride in a larger city. I also am cautious not to ride in strong wind or rain, as it makes for some dangerous situations.
Just my 2 c worth
Blair

Chattering sounds like a warning of trouble to come. Under hard braking I usually don't engine brake at all. I grab the front brake to get fork/wheel pressure then grab the clutch and the front brake hard. All I worry about is doing a "stoppie." Once I can judge that the braking will be enough I let off the front brake to give more weight to the rear then start dropping gears and matcing the throttle. There's a hazard change here though. I've already learned I can stop in time. Now it's about getting back in gear in case whomever is following me can't stop and it's time to go left or right of the object in front of me instead of stopping behind it. That may require some throttle.

MSF course for sure. If you're "too good" to take the beginner rider course, sign up for the Experienced Rider Course. They teach outside/inside cornering, hard braking when straight, in corners and after swerving, running over obstacles, etc. In addition to what I've forgotten to mention they teach all these skills on your own bike so you'll get familiar with what your bike feels like under these conditions. You'll come out with a life-saving tip or two. They do teach slight rear braking which is a touchy subject in here but after locking it up a couple times you'll get it down and stop WAY faster than the heavier bikes that will be in the course with you. After the course you can give up the rear brake if you feel more comfortable without it, I did.

I'm not a racer, just a street rider sharing how I ride in traffic surrounded by trucks, SUVs and Minivans. Did I mention cell phones? *shiver*

...And you're never too good for the beginner course, trust me. This last time I was there we had two guys who had been riding for over twenty years, and they still learned a lot of good stuff. I recommend the course. Also, don't use your rear a whole lot, that's what caused my first wreck, they teach you on cruisers where using the rear is important, but look at the weight split difference between sports and cruisers. Also, learning to downshift with matching the throttle has become the way I always stop, unless I'm in traffic of course. You basically just pullin the clutch, kick down a gear, and very quickly twist the throttle - all at the same time.

Another possible problem is the suspension setup mentioned before. Have you ever changed anything at all? If you don't know what does what, go to Sport Rider Mag (www.sportrider.com) and click Suspension Tech (http://sportrider.com/tech/suspension/) on the left side menu. Don't look at the suggested settings just yet, first go through the articles (http://sportrider.com/tech/146_0006_susp/) they have on there and learn as much as you can on terminology, what effects what, and look through their troubleshooting guide for a list of what's causing your problem. After you learn all the terms, I recommend you get some friends to help you set up your whole suspension the right way - for your body - and hopefully you won't have anymore trouble. If you don't feel confident in your ability to do that (or you don't have friends like me) then take it to a GOOD, REPUTABLE shop to tweak it for you (meaning, not the dealership. That's not their business.) For example, are there any road-racers in your area that have a shop setup near you? I can name three that are in my area, and all do super work, I'd trust them over just a wrench twiddler (like myself)