<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Slide @ Feb 17 2009, 06:00 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>pre-TC was 990 era...
i've seen 2006 - where the traction control was like doing nothing - and there werent that many falls, and basicly the only falls i remember was the big crash on catalunya, which was i think because gibbers front brakes blocked, and stoners crash on i think qatar, which looked very massive, but he had zero injury....
in 800cc i see a french guy crash like 90% of the races. and young spanish rider who doesnt want to give up on the corners, and with TC off, he would probably still highside, but not that hard...
TC is build for grip... which is good for when you want to go fast, cuzz it lets you expand your limits a bit, but when you lose grip, TC will do anything to get that grip back. with exiting a corner riders are getting on the throttle, while still being turning, will sometimes make your back skid. TC will get that grip back, but when you keep up the throttle - like lorenzo probably did - when the TC got you your grip back suddenly(TC aint smooth), the sudden power will send your bike flying everywhere...
no TC: lets you in control of the 'grip recoverage' making the rider in control of the situation, in stead of letting an computer think for you
The 990s had TC, read about Kenny Roberts Jr's Laguna Seca 2006. He was miserably slow until he told them to turn off the TC. My recollection only dates back to the beginning of the four stroke era but as far as I know, TC has been around all of that time and even back to the late 500 days. Maybe some of the older gentlemen can correct me if I'm out of line.
Additionally, TC
can cause more dramatic falls but the point of the tool is not limiting crashes, it's improving traction and drive. I can't be bothered to google the stats but I would be very surprised if the number of annual crashes between the late 990 era (let's exclude 2002-2004 as KRJR and Hopkins crashed enough in that span to skew the numbers in the 990 favor. Sorry gsfan but the early GSV-Rs were horrendously poor, not to mention dangerous) and the 800 era. It may appear as though the TC reliant 800s have caused more crashes because the falls that we are seeing more of are dramatic high sides. I'm no engineer or electronics expert but from what I gather this is because the electronics can only handle so much, their capacity may be near the edge of tire grip but it is a finite amount, and once its capacity is exceeded then it is likely too late for any rider input to save it.
