Phil Nicoletti is back! On a bike, at least. He’s hoping to get back to the AMA Pro Motocross Championship on his Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha YZ450F within the next few weeks, maybe High Point, maybe RedBud. In the meantime he’s still answering your questions. This week we get into some good details on attacking downhills, engine braking and more.
If you have questions send an email to Phil@racerxonline.com.
(Note: Some questions have been lightly edited for clarity.)
Hey Phil, it was cool watching outdoors and seeing some elevation change, even though Pala doesn’t have a ton of it. Seemed like the downhill was one of the few areas Sexton could gain on Jett. I’m wondering what things you’ve learned through the years to go faster downhill. Is it just having the balls to stay off the brakes, or is there a technique to it?
Downhill Bill
Honestly, it’s a little bit of everything. It’s bike set up, technique, less brakes, certain amount of engine brake, and of course…biggest balls. This hills at Pala, aren’t that big like you said. But they are quite steep. This creates a massive load on the chassis. You could tell that Jett was a bit better on the hill climb, but then Chase would gain it back by being a bit more of a bulldog down the first hill. Of course, TV doesn’t show much of the angle from the top of the hill to the bottom. Usually the shoot it from the bottom to the top. So it’s hard to get a grip on how rough, rutted, and shitttttty those hills were. It’s much different in the morning, too. At that time, the bumps are softer and more forgiving coming down. By that second moto, the bumps and ruts were literally concrete. There is so much that comes with going down a hill that fast in those conditions. Having a chassis that helps make you comfortable brings more speed in those sections, no doubt about it. But the technique they have, with floating the bumps, and not heavy on the rear bike, make it seem so easy. But they have balls of steel as well. So yeah, big balls of steel do help!
Dear Filthy,
I watch a lot of Kris Keefer’s test videos and he talks about engine brake a lot with bikes. He’ll talk about an engine’s character and how free it feels, or tuning different mapping to get more or less engine brake. Does that really make that much of a difference in how a bike handles?
Todd Gallagher
Todd,
Engine brake is a HUGE tool. In MX as well as SX. Engine brake is a major factor in the way you set of a chassis, because it loads the bike in a different way. Myself personally, I like less engine brake. I’m not sure if that’s in correlation from riding 125-250 two stokes for awhile when I was a kid or not. But I’m heavy with my clutch and rear brake. People that aren’t normally tend to use more engine brake, because it is a form of stopping, just like a jake brake on a semi. If the track is really hard pack, and it’s hard to use the rear brake because it too hard to feel the breaking point when you’re just going to lock up the wheel. So on a hard, slippery track, sometimes I’ll add engine brake because it’s a more consistent feel with the rear tire to the ground versus trying to finesse the rear brake pedal. But when it’s super loamy and deep, I HATE ENGINE BRAKE. Can’t stand it. The sensation of letting off in soft dirt when you have a lot of engine brake makes me want to go over the bars. So, that’s where you have to start tuning it, depending on the surface. It’s all just a rider preference. But like I said, I personally like a more free feeling bike.
Dear Filthy,
Another one for you. Everyone praises a guy like Kenny or Jett for running a taller gear, because you get more traction and it helps the suspension work better, etc. But, isn’t there a time you actually do need to put the bike in the meat of the power band to get some actual power and acceleration? I know today’s 450s are fast but to me there would be a time when you need some revs to get max power and acceleration, like so you can make your move on someone coming out of a corner.
Todd Gallagher
I guess there is always a time and place for it. A lot of the guys might not seem to rev anymore because bikes are so quiet nowadays. It’s really hard to tell if you have someone being you at times, unless it’s BamBam! I could never ride like Kenny. He’s unreal with the low RPM and higher gear. I swear he can roll the whole track in 3rd gear at 8,000-10,000 RPM going three seconds a lap faster. His ability to keep momentum and throttle connectivity is mental. Same goes for Jett and Chase, but I feel they rev it a tad more then Kenny does. It depends on the track too, if you need higher RPM. Sometimes you need to keep a higher rev to carry the next shift depending on how deep the track is. But ideally that’s the not the correct way to do it, and most of the time the way Kenny does it is correct. But that’s hard as hell to do. I like Eli’s style. Low key hammerhead! - Phil
