engine breaking vs. brake braking
 

USUALLY on my bike to stop I coast if I see red ahead, down shift, and when I am in first gear going really slow I apply very little braking to stop. If I need a little faster stop, I brake and engine brake at the same time then as low as first gear goes without lugging I brake from there. Some one I was riding with noticed this and said that I was messing with the transmission and that it was bad for the bike(the USUAL way I brake), and apart from the pissed of drivers on my ass behind me becasue i coast to a red light. What do you guys think? Also I downshift at around 2k-3k rpm and it feels like the engine is lugging at that rpm, does my bike have a problem or do you guys downshift at a higher rpm?

( I drive very very cautious not to push the bike too hard, can someone put an ease to my mind that these bikes were built like tanks and can take that treatment?)
thankyou

The main reason people tell you to use your brakes instead of downshifting and engine braking is b/c when you engine brake you're wearing out the motor. It's better just to use your brakes to stop, as I've heard many times brakes a cheap and engines are not. 2-3k rpm is lugging on these bikes try to keep the rpm's higher than that.

Answered everything spot on, thank you chambers!

Glad to help, I do have to admit that I catch myself doing the coasting downshift coming into corners. I do it b/c if I don't I'll either end up charging the corner or coming in too slow.

I mean in general though, if I were to downshift as my main braking method but at higher rpm's to keep the bike from lugging, it is still recommended to use brakes instead?

I love downshifting into corners, gotta be careful to not downshift too far or else the rear shoots out

chambers answered the tech side so I'll bring up the safety side. You already said one but I don't think you realize it: the pissed off guy on your ass. You ever think he's on your ass and he's pissed because he didn't know you were braking? Engine braking doesn't activate your brake lights. It's a very real possibility you can eat the front end of the car behind you in this situation.

Another concern is the very real possibility of losing control of the rear if it locks up. I've done it before and recovered. But it wasn't fun. Engine brake too hard in a variable traction road surface (sand / coolant / oil) and instead of getting that horrible sounding complaint from your drivetrain, you'll get a fishtailing rear end

Use your brakes as the main way to slow down, ideally you want to be braking while rev matching and downshifting for corners. I can't do it ATM, I've got a lot of other skills that need improvement before I even bother w/ that one.

from now on I will use my brakes to brake, instead of my engine! I have learned of my mistakes

Downshift to be at the correct speed for the corner...more like controlling speed rather than relying on engine to brake. Worst thing is entering a corner being over in gear...then that's a **** moment.

Actually, you can apply all three...downshift first, then + F/R brake......don't try to change to only use brake...then you'll forget to downshift.

estate4life, I have the corners down its just in general about breaking, whether to do it through the engine at low rpm's(which caused lugging for me which I wont do any more) or to do all with the f/r brake and just shift straight down to first or neutral while stopping