Is it wrong using rear brake in a corner ? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Is it wrong using rear brake in a corner ?

Ugur Dinch

Ugur Dinch

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Hi everyone,

Is it a really bad idea to use (constant) brakes while in corners (for example, at right turns at lights) ?

I got into habit of using the rear break, whenever my bike (Ninja 250) is cold (jumpy) and when I don't want to play around with the throttle or clutch in a corner. I remember that at RTI, we were advised to adjust speed before entering a corner, as well as not to use any brakes, and just have a constant throttle until just before the exit, but does the rules change a little as I am getting to know my bike and gaining experience or should that be obeyed just like the law of physics ?

Altho I am a bigtime noob, I know when my rear wheel locks up, and when it doesn't. So please have some faith in that before you start typing "you will hit your head to the asphalt soon".
 
Go ahead and use it, however realize that the more you break the less traction is left to corner...in other words you might find yourself doing backflips beside your bike
 
I should note that I dont use it to decel but to balance the pozitive force that the throttle is providing.
 
whetaus-tr said:
I should note that I dont use it to decel but to balance the pozitive force that the throttle is providing.
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That doesn't strike you as counter-productive?

If you're having that much trouble with a jerky throttle, feather the clutch instead of dragging the rear brake maybe? But the best advice is to learn to control your throttle more finely. It should come with time.
 
Yes, it's wrong. Don't start to use habits like this as a crutch because it'll be harder to shake them later on. Fine throttle control is just one of those things that comes with seat time.
 
Ehh..I've used a bit of rear brake in a corner before, seemed to help me turn in a little and scrub a tiny bit of speed off. I wasn't stamping on the bastard though.
 
whetaus-tr said:
I should note that I dont use it to decel but to balance the pozitive force that the throttle is providing.
Click to expand...

You have the right idea. You shouldn't have to use the brake but if you find it helps for whatever reason then there's no real risk as long as you aren't asking the rear tire to decelerate much while cornering (same goes for acceleration).

Of course you CAN decelerate/accelerate while turning but the more you do, then the greater the risk of breaking traction. And that's why we're taught to stay off the brakes in the corners. The principles used to teach safe road riding are crude rules used to get the point across simply, but the more you understand the dynamics or principles of riding, the more you can ride around those rules.
 
whetaus-tr said:
I should note that I dont use it to decel but to balance the pozitive force that the throttle is providing.
Click to expand...

Unnecessary, for that purpose. When you lean into a corner, you are essentially reducing the circumference of your tire. This means that if you keep steady throttle, going into a corner, you'll actually slow down. You want to be gently rolling on the throttle, through the corner, if you have correctly set your entry speed.
 
Using the rear brake gives the effect of lengthening the bike; which for your purposes doesn't help when cornering. It's used on the track to settle the bike or sometimes prevent running wide under throttle but not a good idea for the situation you're describing.
 
As long as you don't fall off or hit something.
 
Use the rear brakes for slow speed maneuvers but for doing a regular street turn... just adjust your speed before entering the speed. Why don't you let the bike warm up for like 30 secs on full choke before hopping on the bike? and if thats not the issue, set the idle speed higher by turning a nob on the right side of the bike.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
Unnecessary, for that purpose. When you lean into a corner, you are essentially reducing the circumference of your tire. This means that if you keep steady throttle, going into a corner, you'll actually slow down. You want to be gently rolling on the throttle, through the corner, if you have correctly set your entry speed.
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No, steady throttle and the revs will pick up on thir own to match the speed of the bike, given the smaller circumference of the edge of the tire.

If you think about it, there is no higher load requirement when banking through a corner at a given speed, so you shouldn't need more throttle. Another way of looking a it that gives the same result is that the reduced radius of the wheel at an angle means that the engine will be less stressed to deliver that same wheel speed. Likewise, it will be equally stressed to deliver a higher wheel speed. That equal stress translates to steady throttle.
 
fastar1 said:
No, steady throttle and the revs will pick up on thir own to match the speed of the bike, given the smaller circumference of the edge of the tire.

If you think about it, there is no higher load requirement when banking through a corner at a given speed, so you shouldn't need more throttle. Another way of looking a it that gives the same result is that the reduced radius of the wheel at an angle means that the engine will be less stressed to deliver that same wheel speed. Likewise, it will be equally stressed to deliver a higher wheel speed. That equal stress translates to steady throttle.
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Maybe with a 2-stroke, where engine braking isn't an issue. Let's put it this way then: If you go into a corner, with steady rpm, then you slow down.
 
Tripletrouble said:
That's scary on it's own! My rear wheel doesn't lock up.
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Is the rear brake broken? Any bike can lock the rear easily unless you've got ABS (even then, it will probably lock at low speed).
 
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