trail braking

Late braking technique used by expert motorcycle roadracers in which the brakes continue to be applied beyond the point at which the motorcycle has been leaned over and has entered the corner. Trail braking is used primarily to delay the onset of braking for a particular corner as long as possible, and thereby overtake another rider. The technique requires a great deal of finesse and skill in order to avoid the loss of front wheel traction, which usually results in a low side crash.

Any attempt at trail braking by a novice rider, although usually unintentional, almost invariably results in a low side crash.

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Trail Braking

A technique used on the entrance of a turn where instead of discrete sections where you brake, turn in, and step on the throttle after, Trail Braking is where you brake later than normal, and continue to while turning in.

This is useful on cars that have a tendency toward understeer, as it puts the weight of the car on the front tires, making it easier to maintain front wheel grip while turning. This works on cars that tend to oversteer too, but it is not recommended, as it will likely induce more oversteer than normal.

Because I was in a Nissan Skyline with too much power, I knew Trail Braking wasn't needed, so instead I braked before, and throttled up to send it through the corner in true JDM fashion.