Wrecked my FZ1 in the Catskills, what to do now...

[CruisnGrrl]

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I locked my rear twice in panic reflex and while I didn't go down I started to question using the rear for emergencies. So I went out and practiced over and over using the rear and not using it and honestly my fastest braking was using just the front. I think when I focus on just the front I'm able to get to the threshold faster.

Scary thing is I was braking so hard and so often that I actually lost braking power completely. The lever had no resistance. I thought I broke something but 10 minutes later my brakes were back. Some googling suggested the brake fluid reached its boiling point...

change your brake fluid & invest in stainless steal lines

 

[MacDoc]

Scary thing is I was braking so hard and so often that I actually lost braking power completely. The lever had no resistance.

Good advice certainly on the fluid change - noticed a big difference on the Burgman which is heavy but has excellent brakes just with the fluid change.

I can image the stainless lines would help as well. I have ABS so tend to use both brakes with of course much emphasis on the front.
The rear I find useful in a number of non-emergency situations and I think riders should be using the rear as a matter of course to understand it's effect
There is a reason for it being there and on uneven and uncertain traction surfaces it's very important and you need to be able to modulate it smoothly....that skill won't happen if you are only using the front all the time.

 

[Sarchi]

Would be nice if the threshold braking convo could be split off from this thread. As the OP, the hard lesson from my crash is about staying OFF the rear brake in a panic/reflex situation.

Maybe duct tape, or some adaptation of the old racing pedal would cure it. (or more likely, some advanced rider training...)

 

[Dresden]

I'm not making any assumptions about you. And, by the way, anyone that thinks that making assumptions makes an arse outta you and me hasn't gotten past Grade 3 semantics.

You wrote, previously, that your rear contributes 25% to braking in an emergency. It doesn't.

Then, in your latest response, you seem to indicate that you have nine years of experience braking at threshold and that your rear is in the air "numerous times". So, which is it? Do you get 25% of braking from the rear or is it in the air? Or do you get some sort of miracle physics out of your ride and get 25% braking through air resistance? Just curious cause it seems to me you haven't a clue what you're writing about.

And finally, "do what works for you" is what I was advocating in the post you quoted.

Now if you only saw him on his bike, you wouldn't question his magical braking thresholds!

 

[GreyGhost]

Good advice certainly on the fluid change - noticed a big difference on the Burgman which is heavy but has excellent brakes just with the fluid change.

I can image the stainless lines would help as well. I have ABS so tend to use both brakes with of course much emphasis on the front.
The rear I find useful in a number of non-emergency situations and I think riders should be using the rear as a matter of course to understand it's effect
There is a reason for it being there and on uneven and uncertain traction surfaces it's very important and you need to be able to modulate it smoothly....that skill won't happen if you are only using the front all the time.

Is it possible (without doing something stupid like leaning forward) to get the burgmann to lift the rear tire? With the design I would expect it to slide the front before flipping.

I miss rear drum brakes, they were never quite round and you could feel what the rear wheel was doing through your foot. On my old nighthawk (which didn't do stoppies for me, it would lock up the front first), you could feel when the rear wheel was just on the verge of locking. As soon as I got a bike with a rear disc, I hated it and saved the rear brake for crappy road surfaces and turning on the brake light while stopped.

 

[Griffin]

My point is that it doesn't matter how experienced the teacher is. The curriculum is to teach both brakes, whether they like it or not.

So don't be surprised when street only riders use both brakes.

Ah, I get your point then. I guess it isn't a surprise then to see how many newer riders have to lay'r down when trying to stop in a hurry. Too bad.

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