Opinion: Do you use your rear brake when emergency braking?

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MacDoc said:
The problem there is the death grip on the front brake and the bike wants to swap ends when the rear lets go .....it will straighten if you ease off the front brake and still drag the rear brake a bit. But under emergency situations that's pretty fine control.
If the front is on full stopping power and your *** end is out sideways you WILL go around and most likely a very nasty high side

So as long as you are straight the rear wheel lockup is no biggy but if it goes sideways at all = gnarly.:confused1:

It's one thing to play bicycle rider on light machine - quite another on a heavy tourer.
Even hauling the 800 lb of me and Burgman down hard is a chore at times on a downhill.
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If you get familiar enough with your bike, you can steer with the rear wheel locked...

This is like 5 years ago when I first started to really play with rear brake lockage and sliding around....Since then I have gotten even more comfortable and can lock the wheels and still maintain control at much higher speeds...
I am sliding on a locked rear wheel towards a fence as soon as the video starts....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmCGXetVhQo

Not everyone is going to learn to swing it around and dump the clutch and drift out of it, but you dont have to panic and run into the fence either. It only gets gnarly if you panic, or let it get too sideways...Thats why you use your body to steer it, not just freeze up and let the bike do whatever it wants...If you do learn it, you can preform the best Uturns ever lol

I believe my bike weights about 500lb, 800lb would take more work but again given time to get comfortable with the bike I would...

If anyone one thinks locking the rear is scary, just wait till you lock the front! No matter how many times Ive done that, I cant comfortable with that ****! And I'll take rear wheel sliding over pushing the front wheel any day
 
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caboose483 said:
Both actually. And also another school to get this silly engineering degree. Kinematic and dynamic analyses I am relatively good at.
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I hated statics and dynamics. Lousy 98%.

People who have a real, functional knowledge of suspension and braking school me on a regular basis. Rick Nelson has shown me just how little I know, on more than one occasion. Nothing beats actually doing something.
 
JohnnyP636 said:
If you get familiar enough with your bike, you can steer with the rear wheel locked...

This is like 5 years ago when I first started to really play with rear brake lockage and sliding around....Since then I have gotten even more comfortable and can lock the wheels and still maintain control at much higher speeds...
I am sliding on a locked rear wheel towards a fence as soon as the video starts....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmCGXetVhQo

Not everyone is going to learn to swing it around and dump the clutch and drift out of it, but you dont have to panic and run into the fence either. It only gets gnarly if you panic, or let it get too sideways...Thats why you use your body to steer it, not just freeze up and let the bike do whatever it wants...If you do learn it, you can preform the best Uturns ever lol

I believe my bike weights about 500lb, 800lb would take more work but again given time to get comfortable with the bike I would...

If anyone one thinks locking the rear is scary, just wait till you lock the front! No matter how many times Ive done that, I cant comfortable with that ****! And I'll take rear wheel sliding over pushing the front wheel any day
Click to expand...

Honestly I'd love to learn skills like that. Not so doable on a cruiser though...
 
This is why off-road riding should be part of the skills taught for street riding.

The skill above is used constantly in off-road riding and teaches the rider much more control(and dirt is more forgiving than pavement)
 
reciprocity said:
This is why off-road riding should be part of the skills taught for street riding.

The skill above is used constantly in off-road riding and teaches the rider much more control(and dirt is more forgiving than pavement)
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In the beginning I would look for sandy pavement to practice on, because its easier to initiate a slide on. And there is less grip for the bike to hook up and pitch you off....I havent done much real dirt riding, but I totally agree that it does teach you alot about making a bike do what you want it too.....On dirt the bike gets in a rut and if you just hold on it will take you where ever it wants too, at that point the bike is taking you for a ride not the other way around..lol
 
Cat13 said:
Honestly I'd love to learn skills like that. Not so doable on a cruiser though...
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I havent much cruiser experience, but from the little riding I have done one them. I find their geometry very forgiving, the rear wheel doesnt come around on you nearly as much as on a sport bike when you lock the rear wheel...They just go straight....With the long wheel base and all the weight being down low.....

Stretched bikes are the most forgiving when it comes to the rear wheel coming around on you....The longer the bike the more manageable sliding is
 
JohnnyP636 said:
If you get familiar enough with your bike, you can steer with the rear wheel locked...

This is like 5 years ago when I first started to really play with rear brake lockage and sliding around....Since then I have gotten even more comfortable and can lock the wheels and still maintain control at much higher speeds...
I am sliding on a locked rear wheel towards a fence as soon as the video starts....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmCGXetVhQo

Not everyone is going to learn to swing it around and dump the clutch and drift out of it, but you dont have to panic and run into the fence either. It only gets gnarly if you panic, or let it get too sideways...Thats why you use your body to steer it, not just freeze up and let the bike do whatever it wants...If you do learn it, you can preform the best Uturns ever lol

I believe my bike weights about 500lb, 800lb would take more work but again given time to get comfortable with the bike I would...

If anyone one thinks locking the rear is scary, just wait till you lock the front! No matter how many times Ive done that, I cant comfortable with that ****! And I'll take rear wheel sliding over pushing the front wheel any day
Click to expand...

That's neat...I'm OK with a rear wheel slide out of corners at times too but what's the process you're going thtrough there?

clutch in, rear brake on to start the slide...lean and then smooth clutch out or dumping it with throttle to turn?
 
JohnnyP636 said:
I havent much cruiser experience, but from the little riding I have done one them. I find their geometry very forgiving, the rear wheel doesnt come around on you nearly as much as on a sport bike when you lock the rear wheel...They just go straight....With the long wheel base and all the weight being down low.....

Stretched bikes are the most forgiving when it comes to the rear wheel coming around on you....The longer the bike the more manageable sliding is
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Agreed but a sport bike I would have a better hope in hell of keeping up if she starts to go down... A cruiser that wants to go down is gonna go down. But these are skills I would love to learn. Might have to take advantages of times I am in empty lots and practice what I can. What I really want is that police course.... wish they had it here in Canada too.
 
JohnnyP636 said:
If anyone one thinks locking the rear is scary, just wait till you lock the front! No matter how many times Ive done that, I cant comfortable with that ****! And I'll take rear wheel sliding over pushing the front wheel any day
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Yep. Even my newb self has locked the rear a few times and it didn't really bother me at all other than that I took longer to stop than I would've liked. Locking the front put me on my *** in a half second.
 
jc100 said:
That's neat...I'm OK with a rear wheel slide out of corners at times too but what's the process you're going thtrough there?

clutch in, rear brake on to start the slide...lean and then smooth clutch out or dumping it with throttle to turn?
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Clutch in, stomp on rear brake to initiate slide, use body weight transfer and counter steering to make it start turning in while sliding, and then dump the clutch and hard on the throttle to break the tire loose and transfer from a locked rear wheel slide to a spinning rear wheel drift...

Lots of counter steering involved, both on the way in and on the way out... And I think that is what most people lack, the ability to counter steer a sliding bike without panic....If you never practice a slide situation, its going to scare the crap out of you when it happens in an emergency situation....
 
Cat13 said:
Agreed but a sport bike I would have a better hope in hell of keeping up if she starts to go down... A cruiser that wants to go down is gonna go down. But these are skills I would love to learn. Might have to take advantages of times I am in empty lots and practice what I can. What I really want is that police course.... wish they had it here in Canada too.
Click to expand...

Get 1000 cones and run your own course......I never learned much on the street, I learned the most valuable skills either on the track or in parking lots practicing...

Id really like to see something like the timed police course videos in GTA, just for fun, any bike any kind of rider....Just cone out a nice course and let everyone have a go at it, then a friendly competition would be cool
 
reciprocity said:
This is why off-road riding should be part of the skills taught for street riding.

The skill above is used constantly in off-road riding and teaches the rider much more control(and dirt is more forgiving than pavement)
Click to expand...
i have to agree with you 100% thats how i learned..
 
JohnnyP636 said:
Get 1000 cones and run your own course......I never learned much on the street, I learned the most valuable skills either on the track or in parking lots practicing...

Id really like to see something like the timed police course videos in GTA, just for fun, any bike any kind of rider....Just cone out a nice course and let everyone have a go at it, then a friendly competition would be cool
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Cept I dont really want to practice with my baby lol... I'm a wuss like that lol. I am going to take a course in the states next year I hope. And I have access to cones. I work for learning curves lol.

But agreed a competition like that would be awesome!
 
I used to live in a seaside town with a massive beach and pretty high winds...when I had my dirtbike there was no option but to ride on sandy roads....glad I did now.

As for front wheel slides....had a big one once...crapped myself but held it up fine, I'm good with small ones but when it starts to tuck that's scary time right there.
 
JohnnyP636 said:
Get 1000 cones and run your own course......I never learned much on the street, I learned the most valuable skills either on the track or in parking lots practicing...

Id really like to see something like the timed police course videos in GTA, just for fun, any bike any kind of rider....Just cone out a nice course and let everyone have a go at it, then a friendly competition would be cool
Click to expand...

When I did my M exit (I think). There were cones in the parking lot where we had to maneuver around them. I end up doing the best, the instructor said he was surprised I could go thru those cones without hitting one.

My secret?? The rear brake. For those ppl who have no idea of weight distribution during braking, they might not of figured it out. When u hit the front brake, everything dives to the front, rear brake, not so much. When u do this thru cones it throws u off balance. Plus the front brakes generally tend to be sharper, the rear brake is perfect for slow speed environment where you can regulate the braking in small quantities
 
RockerGuy said:
When I did my M exit (I think). There were cones in the parking lot where we had to maneuver around them. I end up doing the best, the instructor said he was surprised I could go thru those cones without hitting one.

My secret?? The rear brake. For those ppl who have no idea of weight distribution during braking, they might not of figured it out. When u hit the front brake, everything dives to the front, rear brake, not so much. When u do this thru cones it throws u off balance. Plus the front brakes generally tend to be sharper, the rear brake is perfect for slow speed environment where you can regulate the braking in small quantities
Click to expand...

The Humber College "Pro Rider" course does a section on low speed maneouvers, which is more useful on a daily basis than most of the high speed stuff I've done. It's amazing how slowly you can handle your bike when you drag the clutch, then fight it with a little rear brake.
 
RockerGuy said:
When I did my M exit (I think). There were cones in the parking lot where we had to maneuver around them. I end up doing the best, the instructor said he was surprised I could go thru those cones without hitting one.

My secret?? The rear brake. For those ppl who have no idea of weight distribution during braking, they might not of figured it out. When u hit the front brake, everything dives to the front, rear brake, not so much. When u do this thru cones it throws u off balance. Plus the front brakes generally tend to be sharper, the rear brake is perfect for slow speed environment where you can regulate the braking in small quantities
Click to expand...

Rob MacLennan said:
The Humber College "Pro Rider" course does a section on low speed maneouvers, which is more useful on a daily basis than most of the high speed stuff I've done. It's amazing how slowly you can handle your bike when you drag the clutch, then fight it with a little rear brake.
Click to expand...
They taught this on the basic M1 exit course I took from RTI. I assumed everyone learned the rear brake dragging for low speed stuff.
 
unL33T said:
They taught this on the basic M1 exit course I took from RTI. I assumed everyone learned the rear brake dragging for low speed stuff.
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Not those who are self taught, and I'll bet many courses don't teach it. We had one guy in the class, with a ST1100, who could turn incredibly tight circles at less than a walking pace. One of the Goldwing guys was giggling like a schoolgirl, while tearing a thousand dollars worth of plastic off his running board shrouds.
 
unL33T said:
They taught this on the basic M1 exit course I took from RTI. I assumed everyone learned the rear brake dragging for low speed stuff.
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Can;t remember, lol. That was a few years ago
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