Tips for new riders to get sliding

[ecliptikk]

I'm a younger rider looking to improve at speedway. i've been riding 125cc bikes for about a year and a half now and while i feel confident in my riding and how it has progressed, i am always looking for ways to improve my technique. 

In my early early days of trying to learn how to meet the unique challenges in the sport i took to looking for advice from others that rode online, yet there was not much to find. The information that is currently online can also sometimes be quite conflicting, particularly in the technique of sliding and being able to control the bike around the track. I read some articles telling me to shut off the throttle almost entirely before the bend and open it up at the entry to powerslide around whereas others would say to avoid shutting the throttle like the plague and to use momentum to glide around, which i felt were both hard concepts to grasp as a new rider. 

To summarise, i would like it if any past/current riders can share their experiences with riding and give any sort of advice and suggestions for newer riders or ones that are trying to perfect their technique before going to the next step in their career.

 

[Youhave2minutes]

Well that fell on deaf ears

[SPEEDY69]

On 8/26/2024 at 6:07 PM, ecliptikk said:

I'm a younger rider looking to improve at speedway. i've been riding 125cc bikes for about a year and a half now and while i feel confident in my riding and how it has progressed, i am always looking for ways to improve my technique. 

In my early early days of trying to learn how to meet the unique challenges in the sport i took to looking for advice from others that rode online, yet there was not much to find. The information that is currently online can also sometimes be quite conflicting, particularly in the technique of sliding and being able to control the bike around the track. I read some articles telling me to shut off the throttle almost entirely before the bend and open it up at the entry to powerslide around whereas others would say to avoid shutting the throttle like the plague and to use momentum to glide around, which i felt were both hard concepts to grasp as a new rider. 

To summarise, i would like it if any past/current riders can share their experiences with riding and give any sort of advice and suggestions for newer riders or ones that are trying to perfect their technique before going to the next step in their career.

 

Well, the best thing is to go at your own pace - too fast too soon can spell disaster. I learnt by building up speed on the straight, lean right over, standing on footrest with bum off the seat and forward then put the throttle back on mid bend. You then gradually bring that bit to earlier in the bend but speed into the corner must also increase. When you feel confident enough you'll find you're then doing all the bend sliding. Once you start sliding, mid bend onwards, you can experiment with the throttle - less and back comes out less, more and you turn more. This teaches you how to change direction in the corner. 

The biggest thing for me was starting. You really have to go full throttle from the gate and not let off at all, otherwise you may struggle to get around the corner, especially from the inside, but no need to start that until you've mastered the bends. 

Edited October 15 by SPEEDY69