Good tip :lol:
Opinion: Do you use your rear brake when emergency braking?
- Thread starter Sushii
- Start date
Good tip :lol:
This is exactly why you (well, everybody really) should be practicing emergency braking every few times you go out (or at least a good practice session once a season). As you're riding just practice your emergency stops a few times when nobody is behind you. The next time an emergency situation occurs your muscles will remember exactly what to do.
If you do apply too much rear brake, ride it until you come to a stop. Otherwise the tire might suddenly grab and you find yourself in a high side.
olayda
Well-known member
Excellent point.. In any emergency situation you will unconsciously default to the familiar. If you use front and rear all the time this becomes your 'familiar'. If you normally brake by sticking out your feet like Fred Flinstone then that's your familiar.
You choose ( ok, maybe that's a bit extreme,but you get my drift
)
Can anyone answer this?
Originally Posted by Sushii
Yes but i believe that you in order to know how much brake to use you will need to drill it into your muscle, which cak take time and lots of practice. But for the normal street riders, your not thinking about anything else other then braking as fast as you can during emergency braking.
and if its reflexive and you grab the front brake hard on the wrong surface down you go.
I agree with practice but it's so you understand consciously how YOUR bike reacts under different road conditions.
Pro racers don't deal with gravel, sand etc and have sticky tires for track racing so front brakes only makes all sorts of sense but I would bet every one of them could straighten out a bike with a touch of rear brake if conditions warranted.
EngineerJoe
Well-known member
This is correct. The solution isn't no rear brakes, it's less rear brakes.
Too much rear brake or too much engine braking. I was practicing my "oh ****" stops a week or so ago and noticed I was still locking up the rear near the end... And today I found myself downshifting at too high an RPM before a turn.
To add to the question, do you guys use engine braking when stopping as quickly as you can?
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Riceburner
Well-known member
Yes. Rear brake a fraction of a second before the front. Do it all the time and it will become habit in an emergency.
rideitlikeyoustoleit
Well-known member
It's been answered. Read the posts.
And read your title as well. Racers don't stop in turns.
some racers do use the back brake, how ever on the road you are not riding the track or racing.
http://www.ebike-ridingtips.co.uk/video/mediaplayer.swf?file=rossi.flv In this video they out right say that the braking on the track is the exact oposite of what you would do on the street. you also see them discuss rear braking. front and rear brakes change the handling of the bike.
as for stopping in an emergency stop, though traction is reduced on the back wheel you still get 100% of your braking by using both brakes. You didn't low side because you skided, even skidding the back wheel will follow the front. you low sided because either you turned the bars or looked to the side which caused the bike to change direction and because the rear wheel had reduced traction it swung out. You probably did this on purpose as a young kid with your bicycle because it was fun, it's not as much fun on the motorcycle unless you get really good at it.
Sushii, you know that I have a Ninja 250 as well. Just keep practicing emergency braking. You should be able to use rear brakes when emergency stopping without any issues.
When you use your front brakes, how many fingers do you use to pull the lever? I use two. It's what I've gotten used to, but I find that two-finger braking allows me to easily balance front end feel and stopping power, and prevents me from mashing the brakes in a panic situation. It makes it much easier to progressively add more pressure, rather than just grabbing and praying.
Also, I do my best to give a bit of rear brake pressure first, just a split second before. I find it helps to settle the bike a bit. As I add more front brake, my rear tire starts to lift and I don't really need to add that much pressure to the rear brake. Eventually, it gets light enough that the tire locks just a little bit, the tire squeaks a bit, and I can feel it fishtailing. All of this happens very quickly, but it's also very controllable. I do nothing except continue to brake, knowing that trying to "correct" things will just make things worse.
Just keep at it, you'll get used to the feeling. Also, trying dirtbiking, it'll help you get used to the feeling of losing rear end traction.
When you use your front brakes, how many fingers do you use to pull the lever? I use two. It's what I've gotten used to, but I find that two-finger braking allows me to easily balance front end feel and stopping power, and prevents me from mashing the brakes in a panic situation. It makes it much easier to progressively add more pressure, rather than just grabbing and praying.
Also, I do my best to give a bit of rear brake pressure first, just a split second before. I find it helps to settle the bike a bit. As I add more front brake, my rear tire starts to lift and I don't really need to add that much pressure to the rear brake. Eventually, it gets light enough that the tire locks just a little bit, the tire squeaks a bit, and I can feel it fishtailing. All of this happens very quickly, but it's also very controllable. I do nothing except continue to brake, knowing that trying to "correct" things will just make things worse.
Just keep at it, you'll get used to the feeling. Also, trying dirtbiking, it'll help you get used to the feeling of losing rear end traction.
Yup, triggers weight transfer so that you don't overwhelm the front tire's friction under braking. Same here, though I'm a little out of practice at modulating the rear brake. Admittedly in my last panic stop, triggered by a moron making a lane change and then immediately hammering the brakes in front of me, I locked the rear a couple of times.
That's often not entirely true, but they are generally using the rear brake only to set up the attitude of the bike going into the next corner as opposed to actually contributing to deceleration. Those bikes have enough front brake to lift the rear off the ground using front only. Look at the size of the front rotors on a race bike, then look at the size of the rear ...
The front brakes are used for by far the most of the braking because THAT'S WHERE WEIGHT TRANSFER PUTS MOST OF THE GRIP.
Note that if one has an off-track excursion onto the grass, rear brake is necessary under those conditions ...
Deceleration is deceleration, whether you are coming to a complete stop or not.
wonderings
Well-known member
As mentioned by others, just get used to using the front and rear regularly. I never just used the front when I started, always did both and it just became how I would brake.
Now I have a linked setup with ABS, so just pulling the front brake uses both for me. Love the setup, just takes a bit to remember when going to a different bike that is not linked.
Now I have a linked setup with ABS, so just pulling the front brake uses both for me. Love the setup, just takes a bit to remember when going to a different bike that is not linked.
Practice... just because you have your license doesnt mean we shouldnt practice what we learned in our courses. Thats one of the things I love about teaching... I get so much more practice now.
Agreed... its good to practice because you know Murphy.. hes gonna wait till your riding your buddies bike back from the dealership or something for him to have that dumbass car cut in front of you or something, and Murphy being as awesome as he is... hes also going to be sure that the bike you are on happens to be the one model that year that doesnt have it.
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what?
I use the front only 95% of the time, the rear is for slippery surfaces, gravel and holding the bike at a light. But like Brian said the rear is unloaded on my bikes under braking as well, yours is smilar.
i gotta say to the "dont use abs as a crutch" statement.. this is very good advice. ive been on the HD demo truck all summer. almost all of our 2011 models had abs,then we switched to the 2012's.. i found out quick that not all those are equipped with abs when i locked the wheel on the softail deluxe and skidded halfway into the intersection.. i didnt realize until then just how effective it really can be.
