i have just completed my fourth track day and starting to see definite improvement in my skill. However can someone clarify traction control because I’m pushing harder and harder in the bends but have yet to see the traction control light come on. This makes me think I can push even more but not sure if that’s what I should be using as a measure of limits? Current configuration is Race Mode with traction control set to 5.
Try turning it off. They will test the theory If you can see it working, you are concentrating on the wrong things imho.
Good point Bradders but the Rev limiter comes up in my peripheral vision, so I’m assuming I would notice TC coming on
What are you riding @IanR ? I definitely notice TC kicking in hard if I set it to 5. I use 3-5 if it is raining hard and if I forget to switch it back when it stops raining it feels like the bike hardly even works. It doesn't do anything as well since the Pani needs the rough treatment at the throttle to help it turn and so on. The way to test it is simply to pull the throttle to 100% once the bike is upright and see if it cuts since it will likely spin the wheel a bit and it's pretty safe if you are upright.
TBH I never did on my multi on track, it was only watching the vid back and the sound and that it picked up the edge of the screen. I'm too busy chasing the next bit of tarmac.
I'd turn it down to 1 on a dry track tbh. 5 is way too much IMO. PS don't blame me if they scrape you up and throw you and the pangiale in the skip
Unless it's wet you probably don't need traction control unless you are a ham-fisted gorrilla with the throttle. If you suddenly decide to give it full gas when leaned over then the obvious will happen but are you really likely to do that? Nah. Turn it off and trust your instincts, as they say 'the throttle control works both ways'!
I leave mine on 2 (1098R, almost off) and I don't think it even works. I often feel the back end kick out if I'm too early on the gas. I prefer to feed the gas in manually and rely on my cat like reflexes.... he he he.... I always remember a guy on an S1000RR at Donington being beside himself with worry because his TC had packed in. He wouldn't go out again as he was so reliant on his electronics. What a puff! I'm thinking of getting a 1199R as I'm dying to have a play with a 'digital' bike. But I won't let the electronics de skill me. Not that I've huge amounts anyhow.
People who turn TC down from 5 do so because they find it intrusive at 5 and feel that it holds them back. If you don't find it intrusive then leave it at 5. With more experience, if it becomes a problem then you can turn it down. If you want to improve more quickly then you could have someone much more experienced shadow you and give you feedback. Look on the bright side. The TC light isn't coming on so you already know you're not a ham fisted twat. You can build on that.
A couple of years ago I hired a 1000RR at Almeria which was my first time with any sort of electronics. Within a couple of laps I found you could just pin it knee down out of corners and the bike would sort itself out. If thats what your used to I can see how worried you would be if it wasnt there......
But it wasn't always there. How about remembering what you did before? I'd love to have a play with a 'bells and whistles' electronic package but I wouldn't feel comfortable relying 100% on it - all the time.
I hadnt ridden an electronic bike before, or after for that matter. I was surprised however how quickly you could adapt to letting the electronics do all the work. No skill involved at all, just lean it and pin it. My 996 with 150 hp is much more fun.
There's some mis-understandings about the use of TC here. The system is designed to run at setting 1 on a dry track with Supercorsas/slicks as it's calibrated to let the tyre spin a certain amount which you need to make the bike work well. I suppose it might be more likely to chuck you off than say setting 5 but it's also just as likely to have you running wide because it's cutting the spin. You dont notice the spin until you really start pushing but it makes a big difference in how well the bike turns. I'm not certain since I've never spent the time to explore it properly but I'm not sure it will work like described above with the S1000RR where you can hit the TC and use it to launch out of corners? It's maybe possible with the latest (evo?) updates on the 1299 which advertises it as 'drift' capable. The update is not available for my R and again I've not tried to do it on my BMW.
