  The outbursts of black hole X-ray transients can be understood as caused by a
limit cycle instability in the accretion disk, similar to dwarf nova outbursts.
For adequately low mass overflow rates from the companion star long outburst
recurrence times are expected. But the fact that we find predominantly long
recurrence times or that only one X-ray nova outburst was detected at all poses
a problem. The question arises whether any braking mechanism could act in a way
that long recurrence times are favored. We suggest that a circumbinary disk
exists and brakes the orbital motion of the binary stars by tidal interaction.
The irradiation during an outburst leads to mass loss by winds from the
circumbinary disk, releaving the braking force until the removed matter is
refilled by diffusion from outer parts. We show that this reduction of braking
will self-adjust the mass transfer to the marginal rate that gives long
recurrence times.
