Educate me on front vs rear brake situations
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From: Clearwater, FL
Educate me on front vs rear brake situations
So, you take the MSF, you get "use both brakes" drilled into your head.
Now that I'm reading more, the general message that I'm getting is that for sportbikes, rear brake= balance on gravel, slow speed manuevers, while front brake= stoppage.
Input?
Now that I'm reading more, the general message that I'm getting is that for sportbikes, rear brake= balance on gravel, slow speed manuevers, while front brake= stoppage.
Input?
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Joined: Jun 2008
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From: Portsmouth, Ohio
I use the rear for a bit of stabilization if I have to change my line in mid curve or something and I use it always to finish up stopping after I let off the front brake, it brings you to a nice controlled stop. I do touch the rear brake with a bit of pressure in most all braking situations but the majority of the stopping power is applied to the front.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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From: Raymond, New Hampshire
Back in the day when tires were hard as Hell, it was scary using both brakes to slow down cause it was almost inevitable that the rear would slide out on you if you had to stop quick. But these modern tires grab really well and provide good grip for stopping, and thank God for that! There has been a few times when I went into a ramp or corner a little too hot and had to use the rear brake hard to get slowed down and have never had a problem yet with it slidding out on me. But every mile you ride is different. If I'm just putting around I'll use more rear brake, but generally I'll use both of them to get better mileage on the tires and pads.
I'm with dragginazz on that. I use the rear brake a lot on the street, just to add a little "oomph" to engine braking, or for pulling in while turning without the risk of throwing a ton of brake force with the front brake. You kinda use it in conjunction with the clutch micro-manage the power to the rear.
Of course, it wears your pads and rotors down way faster.
Of course, it wears your pads and rotors down way faster.
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You will get a ton of different opinion on this subject because the use of brakes at the end of the day comes down to a few main things..
The speed at which you are traveling when you use them..
Where and when you use them ..
Road conditions ..
Weather conditions ..
and your particular experience level..
As you already know prolly , the rear brake alone will not stop a bike at speed!! even at low speed they are pretty hopeless..
The front brake does as has been mentioned , 90% of the braking..
Experienced riders can and do feather the rear brake in close to all situations, for balance and adjusting the attitude of the bike in corners and slowing/stopping maneuvers..
but ...
I know the MSF courses tend to steer newer riders away from over use of the front or rear in corners and rightly so..
This is because they work on one basic premiss , ...that they would like to assume that you will not go riding around like a bat outta hell...LOL
In my experience , when pushing it on the road , I will use both brakes in combination for all of the above reasons, because I do tend to go a touch too fast allot of the time...
For the sake of this conversation though , I would advise you to listen to the instructors until you yourself have quite allot of miles and years under your belt and the personal experience to do otherwise...
Preference for braking to a large degree, is a rather personal thing that depends on the bike, the speed and the rider ...
Never rely on your rear's to pull you up alone....ever...!!
The speed at which you are traveling when you use them..
Where and when you use them ..
Road conditions ..
Weather conditions ..
and your particular experience level..
As you already know prolly , the rear brake alone will not stop a bike at speed!! even at low speed they are pretty hopeless..
The front brake does as has been mentioned , 90% of the braking..
Experienced riders can and do feather the rear brake in close to all situations, for balance and adjusting the attitude of the bike in corners and slowing/stopping maneuvers..
but ...
I know the MSF courses tend to steer newer riders away from over use of the front or rear in corners and rightly so..
This is because they work on one basic premiss , ...that they would like to assume that you will not go riding around like a bat outta hell...LOL
In my experience , when pushing it on the road , I will use both brakes in combination for all of the above reasons, because I do tend to go a touch too fast allot of the time...
For the sake of this conversation though , I would advise you to listen to the instructors until you yourself have quite allot of miles and years under your belt and the personal experience to do otherwise...
Preference for braking to a large degree, is a rather personal thing that depends on the bike, the speed and the rider ...
Never rely on your rear's to pull you up alone....ever...!!
Last edited by CBRclassic; Jun 23, 2009 at 03:47 PM.
Junior Member
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When exactly would you want to use the rear brake soley? I don't understand how correctly driving on gravel or at low speeds would require soley the rear brake.
I was always taught to stop effectively, you use them both end of story.
If you're getting fancy with using one or the other you're probably in a situation that you shouldn't be in like turning. Don't plan for that.
I was always taught to stop effectively, you use them both end of story.
If you're getting fancy with using one or the other you're probably in a situation that you shouldn't be in like turning. Don't plan for that.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,473
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From: Newcastle, N.S.W. Australia
Horses for courses, My Guzzi's used to have a linked brake system, the rear brake pedal activated the rear brake (naturally you would think) & one of the front discs. The front brake lever activated the other front disc, in the manual it said for "Emergency braking". Your style of braking & what brakes you use comes down to your riding habits, same thing with just about everything else you do when you ride, setting up curves, cornering & taking off from the lights (whatever), all the things you do when you ride, most of which you don't even think about when you ride are your riding habits. Good or bad, your riding habits go with you, even over to different types of bikes.
For instance, most of us realise that braking while in a corner is not a good thing, but on my old Beemer which had Brembo's, you could, it did not make the bike stand up, but when I moved onto another bike I nearly killed myself a few times because I had to stop the habit as my new bike didn't respond the same way.
Imagine setting up the front & rear brakes of your car/truck, so that they could be activated independently, going to change your style of driving straight away
The truth of matter is this, you have brakes on the front & you have brakes at the rear, their designed to stop the bike & you & I use both of the buggers 100% of the time. The issue is not front or rear braking, the mystery is really down to how much pressure you apply to either & to the braking scenario, gravel, wet road & how fast you need to stop.
For instance, most of us realise that braking while in a corner is not a good thing, but on my old Beemer which had Brembo's, you could, it did not make the bike stand up, but when I moved onto another bike I nearly killed myself a few times because I had to stop the habit as my new bike didn't respond the same way.
Imagine setting up the front & rear brakes of your car/truck, so that they could be activated independently, going to change your style of driving straight away
The truth of matter is this, you have brakes on the front & you have brakes at the rear, their designed to stop the bike & you & I use both of the buggers 100% of the time. The issue is not front or rear braking, the mystery is really down to how much pressure you apply to either & to the braking scenario, gravel, wet road & how fast you need to stop.
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Ladies Lounge Moderator
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From: Clearwater, FL
When exactly would you want to use the rear brake soley? I don't understand how correctly driving on gravel or at low speeds would require soley the rear brake.
I was always taught to stop effectively, you use them both end of story.
If you're getting fancy with using one or the other you're probably in a situation that you shouldn't be in like turning. Don't plan for that.
I was always taught to stop effectively, you use them both end of story.
If you're getting fancy with using one or the other you're probably in a situation that you shouldn't be in like turning. Don't plan for that.
I'm just interested in the number of people (not just track riders) who say they never use the rear brake for ordinary stopping.
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From:
Hell sometimes i use my front brake in a turn, just a little bit though dont squeeze.
Rear brake=Drifting her in a turn,cornering to change your line, gravel,u-turns. Wheelies.
Front brake=Coming to a stop, stoppies, corner entrance, etc, etc
Both brakes= Coming to a stop, emergency situations, etc etc.
Try to brake hard with just the front, then do the rear and feel how stable it becomes. You get way less nose dive.
Rear brake=Drifting her in a turn,cornering to change your line, gravel,u-turns. Wheelies.
Front brake=Coming to a stop, stoppies, corner entrance, etc, etc
Both brakes= Coming to a stop, emergency situations, etc etc.
Try to brake hard with just the front, then do the rear and feel how stable it becomes. You get way less nose dive.