It is okay to
GENTLY use the
FRONT brakes to
gently slow down during a gentle curve (they teach this at Humber).
It is
NOT safe to brake hard during a curve at speed, as this will likely lead to a crash. Applying too much rear brake while decelerating AND beginning to lean over to enter a corner will lead to a crash because while you are decelerating, there is less weight on the rear tire. Too much braking under this condition will cause the rear tire to lock up and slide. Unless you are a very advanced rider, it is not advisable to use rear brake while entering a corner (a technique called trail braking -- see below)
The ideal is to do all your
significant braking before even entering a corner, and then negotiating the corner by modulating the throttle and your lean angle. For this reason it is very important that you are familiar with a corner before trying to take it fast. Start familiarizing yourself with a corner gradually (at slower speeds, progressively trying it a little faster, and a little faster each time), so that there is lots of room for error and correction.
Realizing too late that a corner you've rushed into is tightening far quicker than you can lean the bike (that is, the curve is turning sharper than you can turn your bike) is a very, very bad thing and should be avoided at all costs. Essentially, if you find yourself
in this situation, it is already too late. In this circumstance the only option is to look for a safe run-off (not likely to exist unless you are at a racetrack), stand the bike up and pray that you can keep it up as you go "cross country". Any sudden steering inputs or braking while you are going "cross country" will likely lead to loss of control. Stand on your pegs to help absorb the bumps.
But most likely, there will be nowhere to safely run off (due to ditches, fences, oncoming traffic, etc). All you can do in this circumstance is look through the corner, and lean harder into the corner (push-steer harder), and pray that you have enough traction to not low-side (fall over on your side). Leaning hard into corners at speed is an advanced skill and should only really be practiced in earnest at a racetrack under qualified instruction.
Tire technology these days is incredible. With luck, you will not be going so fast as to overcome the tires ability to grip the road during the leaning, and you will make it through the corner.
Racers do what's call "trail braking". In trail braking, you are still braking during the initial part of the curve. This is possible because as the motorcycle is progressively leaning over, there is still enough traction to allow some braking which is progressively decreased as the bike leans harder into the corner. Imagine this equation:
(grip for braking) + (grip for cornering) cannot be greater than the maximum traction available.
if all your traction is used up for cornering, even a little brake tap will cause loss of grip and a crash. Knowing how much traction you have for a particular corner at a particular speed for a particular tire pressure, for a particular temperature day only comes with experience.
Hope that helps.
similar question. where i work, the driveway into our parking lot is actually on a signifcant bend on a busy thoroughfare.
so i have to slow down and brake, right? during the turn so i can make an even sharper turn into our driveway.
or how about when exiting the highway sometime the exits are curvy and you have to brake to slow down, right?
i'm hoping they explain this @ rider training.
