Hey guys,
super new to motorcycles, have about 5 minutes of riding experience. As for bicycles? Ive been riding BMX and MTB(freestyle and mountain bikes) And road bikes for over 7 years now. theres probably only been a hundred days altogether in that seven years that i didnt ride. here lies my problem though; on a bicycle, the left lever is front brake. its the lever that ALWAYS is pulled last and with extra care/caution. the right lever is always the rear brake and can be pulled with freedom.

Does anyone have any methods for creating a habit that clutch is left and front brake is right? im super sketched out on this now that i own a bike, and will begin riding once i get all my gear and license. im hoping that in the time between these things i can start to form a habit for this.

thanks in advance for replies

Spencer

 

Take the MSF

 

that is definitely in my near future. The MSF has never been an option for me, but more of a necessary action in order to be a safer rider

 

Very good answer n attitude

This is where a small dirt bike would be handy so you could mess around in the back yard n get a feel for the controls. On a street bike you front brake does 85% of the work hence its 2 huge disc vs the 1 small one on the rear. Most 'good' riders only use the rear brake on rough terrain, while doing slow maneuvers, or very softly with the front brake. On the street you dont want to lock up the brakes at all, but if you do, on the rear you ride it out til u stop to avoid highsiding. If you lock the front up you want to release it as quick as possible to avoid doing a endo or washing the front out. Throttle control is important to learn too, hence why I suggest beginners to start out on a 250 or something similar. It doesnt have the power to get away from youi like a 600 supersport does. Yea youi can kill/hurt yaself on any bike, but smaller is better to learn how to ride with and after to have a firm knowledge n skill then move up to a bigger/better bike. Normally 1 - 2 riding seasons depending on your learning curve n desire to learn n not just go fast n look cool

 

duly noted. yeah, its definitely not for anything but the love of two wheels. its like my signature on here, i keep the "tricks-n-speed" for my bicycles. im trying really hard to go about this in a responsible manner. im 20 years old and have a thirst for driving. ive owned two 3 series bmws and simply enjoy being one with the car. its not about speed for me, but more or less technique and handling ones self out in real world situations. i think the same will go here. its about control and riding knowledge. anyone can rip the throttle and go fast, but you can tell a good rider from the fools. its the restraint, flow, and overall acute awareness of the surroundings and vehicle. its fun to watch a seasoned rider. thats what im shooting for here. i just got all my gear today, so tomorrow im going to practice around the neighborhood. i think its a pretty safe environment. older croud, no through traffic, slow speeds, etc. gonna take it really slow tomorrow and just practice knowledge of controls. try to make it second nature as to where my controls are. thanks for the input guys

 

i think mentally u can prepare yourself only SO much... and that only works when u talking about paper and pencil.

so split second decision making on the road with the real deal... i think a much of riders (and the MSF) mentioned it...

it has to become like instinct.. that u don't have to THINK of pulling on the levers...

i read and saw a whole bunch of videos on how to lift a bike right up (600cc) and it seemed pretty logical. dropped by bike, and couldn't cuz my shoe couldn't grip on the surface and so another person had to help me lift it up the old fashioned way (with back)...

yes it's good to be informed and obtain as much knowledge beforehand, but only practice will teach your body what to do. so practice practice practice!

 

In response to OP's question, I grew up racing motorcycles, and then when I was older started riding/racing bicycles a lot, as well. I hated the controls differing between bicycles and motorcycles, as well. You can't easily change the fact that the front brake is on the right on your motorcycle, but it's really easy to change your bicycle cable routing so the front brake is on the right side. Now, all three of my bicycles have the front brake on the right, so everything I ride with handlebars is the same. Whether or not you want to retrain your instincts on the bicycle is sort of the question, but if you get into an emergency situation and you need to rely on instincts, it's nice to have "cross platform" consistency.

 

I was worried about that for a while before I started riding, and even after just a few times out, I made the switch from bicycle controls to motorcycle controls with no problem. I ride road bikes and mountain bikes as well.

It's also cool to test out some cornering techniques on the road bike just to see what happens. Some good road rash from that. Next time I'll wear my motorcycle gear..

 

no offense bro - but I've been an avid trail rider for decades. Logged a couple thousand miles on my roadbike last year too. Front brake on a bicycle is just like front brake on your motorcycle, or the front brakes on your automobile - fronts do ~75% of your stopping. If you're rarely using your front brake while on trail or the roadbike, you can benefit from changing that practice.

The biggest difference you have when trying to corner on your roadbike like on your motorcycle is that there is a ton more weight in the motorcycle wheels generating gyroscpoic effect, keeping you from simply falling over. Also - you get your roadbike leaned over hard in a slow corner, you can't pedal out of it due to groundstrikes like you would accelerate through a slow corner on the motorcycle.

They're similar, but completely different at the same time.

CBZilla - Glad to hear you aren't having any trouble with the left vs. right brake lever thing. I was worried about it myself when I started riding MC's as well, but quickly found that i wasn't hinking about it, just doing what needed to be done. I think my brain was simply now doing with my hands, what I have always done with my feet in a manual transmission car. As mentioned above, you could have swapped your levers - it's very common for european riders to have their bikes set up with the front brake lever on the right side. I've been curious if this is due to the popularity of motorcycles over there, but it might just be a local thing.

 

You should really not have a problem at all since your primary brake is your right hand on both a bicycle and a motorcycle. You wont even have to think about it because most rear brakes on a motorcycle now a days(at least sport bikes) are not even necessary 99% of the time.