Heavy braking: locked rear tire | GTAMotorcycle.com

Heavy braking: locked rear tire

Onagoth

Onagoth

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Happened to me today, first time ever.

Didn’t crash, but I’m wondering if I could have done something better.

Instinctually, when the rear tire started sliding sideways I let out the clutch and backed off the brakes...everything stabilized and I went on my way.

My bike doesn’t have abs and I realize the tires shouldn’t lockup in the first place, but they did and this was all I could think of.

I didn’t even realize at first that the screeching tires were mine.
 
When you are braking heavily – especially on a sport(ier) bike the mass is transferred to the front wheel. During threshold “maximum” braking over 90% of the braking is done by the front wheel. You are much more likely to lock up/skid the rear wheel as there is very little downward force creating traction between it and the road.

Most pro riders do not touch the rear brake while braking heavily for this reason. Very little braking force is actually being generated. Locking the rear wheel and having it fishtail all over the place is going to lead to more issues.

If you aren’t already spend some time in an empty parking lot practicing hard braking. Let the front tire do the stopping and let the rear tire keep the bike tracked in a straight line. You should also be downshifting at the same time which will add some braking force to the rear tire. Lots of YouTube videos on how to practice your braking – don’t wait until a car is in front of you to figure it out. Especially on a non-ABS you really can only use a touch of rear brake.
 
very good advice - I'd only add that you should be using both brakes to stop all the time so you get a feel for the balance between the two. Generally the front has the big stopping power and the rear is useful for feathering and tracking but get familiar with the mix.

In dirt or gravel or even in the wet it's a very different mix of braking than on dry pavement.

Practicing threshold braking ( bringing the tire just to before lock up ) will serve you well even when you get ABS.

Once a tire is locked up your ability to direct the bike goes to hell...and in most critical situations you need to both brake heavily AND ride around if needed.

Often an unexpected lockup occurs with some oil on the road near a stoplight.
 
I should add that I had a pretty good space cushion and it wasn’t really that close. I think I just miscalculated how fast it would take to stop. But clearly the back tire caught me off guard, no doubt my heart fluttered

I have practiced hard braking in parking lots, but not to this extent. I think I can do it differently to better reflect real life (like using cones to simulate a vehicle bumper)
 
Just remember if you do lock up the rear just continue braking and ride it out, If you are fishtailing a bit and you suddenly let go of the rear brake your back tire will hook up and straighten and could cause you to have a nasty high side.
 
Go to a empty parking lot and try it again and again, till you get used to the slide, and learn the maximum threshold for pressing the front and back till there is very little to no slide, and you can stop quickly, safely, keep doing this for days on your free time till it becomes muscle memory. Do this from all the gears, so from 6th(fast, to 0kp emergency), 5th to 0kp/h etc... Every rider learns every day, from Rossi to us.

Sometimes riding the rear slide, disengaging the clutch, and slowly using the front to stop is safer in an emergency than trying to get out of the slide by adding momentum.

When I had no ABS I did this weekly to keep up, also try a day at Trail Tours riding Dirt. Sliding the back and riding it out is a skill easily learn't on lighter bikes off road.
 
You're lucky the rear suspension didn't start hopping up and down on washboard pavement too, that is always exciting.
You survived, you did good (y) keep learning.
... would need to see you do it to comment on what you did good or bad.
 
taximan62 said:
Just remember if you do lock up the rear just continue braking and ride it out, If you are fishtailing a bit and you suddenly let go of the rear brake your back tire will hook up and straighten and could cause you to have a nasty high side.
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Saw a video of a rider who did this, the bike tossed him into the guardrail on the outside of the turn. It did not turn out well for the rider.
 
Onogoth ...nothing like riding a few dirt roads once in a while to help your braking. Most can brake okay on dry pavement....it's when the surface is uncertain that knowing your rear brake and having a good feel on both brakes saves the day.
 
Years ago both my front rotors were very badly warped and I was too broke and dumb to replace them, so I rode a whole season just using my rear brakes w/ engine braking. Not good times!
 
You rode it out. Can’t ask for a whole lot more then that.

You could’ve got back on the rear brake if you needed to do more braking, a slight lift is usually all you need to get the tire rolling again.

You can have the rear out of line a decent amount and still be safe releasing the brakes. It needs to be pretty sideways to catch, high side and spit you off. It can happen but don’t stress about it too much.

I bet you’ve locked the rear up plenty of other times you just didn’t notice it. It happens. Again good job on riding it out.
 
I like to practice on big moss covered boulders with a nice waterfall, a few big logs and a slippery mud embankment that is vertical at the top leading to a long beaver slide covered in wet roots. You lock up the rear wheel pretty regular on a trials bike, sometimes both wheels, everything catches you by surprise but learning to deal with it is what makes it a fun challenge imho.
 
Locking would happen if you jammed on the pedal - the sudden application would cause a lock - the ability to be smooth even at high threshold braking is key.

And fishtailing would likely only happen if you're looking around...panic usually causes fishtailing.
 
I miss rear drum brakes. They communicate so much information back through the pedal. A rear disc loses almost all of that feeling. Many good suggestions above.
 
Buy cheap pads on the rear that are soft and tend to give a bit more feel in the pedal. Locking the rear is a lot of fun and so is fishtailing it. Go practice in a parking lot and get used to the feeling so that if you have to pull an emergency stop on the street, you know how it will behave
 
Also depends where you locked, when I commuted downtown I found the TTC Concrete portion in the middle so slippery, even a feather touch at any speed and id get a little slide
 
ScorpionT16 said:
Also depends where you locked, when I commuted downtown I found the TTC Concrete portion in the middle so slippery, even a feather touch at any speed and id get a little slide
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That used to be all brick! mostly broken up or partially covered with asphalt, was very exciting.

Is there still a steel grate bridge down on Cherry street? Those are great fun in the rain with full knobby tires.
 
Trials said:
That used to be all brick! mostly broken up or partially covered with asphalt, was very exciting.

Is there still a steel grate bridge down on Cherry street? Those are great fun in the rain with full knobby tires.
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There was the last time I was down there. I try not to touch the brakes while on those bridges.

My parents have a pile of granite cobblestones from when the queen street tracks were torn up about 50 years ago. They look cool, but I am happy we don't use them as a road surface anymore.
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