Yes. At 30 mph you are traveling 5 inches per 1/100 of a sec. The average reaction time
from perception to muscle response is .05-.08 sec. That's means you are 2-3 feet closer
to the obstacle before you even initiate braking. If you add the time needed
to shift your fingers, you are adding an additional 20 to 30 inches of travel.
I once avoided a t-bone by 4 inches. If I hadn't been fully prepared (i.e. fingers
on the levers), I would not have been successful.

Double this at 60mph and you're looking at 4-5 feet added to the braking distance.

In my original post, I was "guesstimating" for illustrative purposes.
For this post I did the actual math, on distance traveled. The numbers quoted for
reaction times, is from a article on pysiological reaction times related to "how close is,
too close?" for a knife in a gun fight. ie your knife-wielding opponent can strike before
you can percieve and pull a trigger. (for those interested in that statistic, anyone
with initiative, within 25-30 feet, can close the distance and hit you, before you can react and pull the trigger.)

The main peril to using less than 4 fingers to brake with, is the remaining digits pose the potential
hazard of blocking the full travel of the brake lever. Modern brakes shouldn't need more than
2-3 fingers to lock the rotors, imo.

Ern

 

I use 2 on each lever personally

 

Same. It feels weird using anymore than that. Although some peoples clutch lever are so tight they can't physically use less than 4

 

I don't cover any lever while riding. I have a loose grip with my fingers sort of dangling. The reaction time thing does make sense though. But with that, I don't want to make a panic stop with only my front brake, I want to make it with my rear brake as well. If my fingers are on the front brakes and my rear foot is on the peg, I will be applying the front brake long before I am applying the rear brake. With my fingers not covering the front brake, by the time my fingers are applying pressure to the front lever, my foot should be covering the rear brake and my panic stop should be pretty equally applied front and rear. Your ability to control the bike in a panic situation is far better if the bike is somewhat ballanced and not transfering all of its weight to the front like it would with only the front brake applied.

But in all honesty, I never really thought about until now, I have just never rode with my fingers on the brake, and don't think I'll be starting anytime soon. Oh, and I'm 3 on the brake and 3 on the clutch. I like the shorty brake lever on my snowmobile, but perfer the long levers on my bike.

But as already said, you need to do what is comfortable for you. If you feel better covering the brake, then do so. I really feel this one is a personal preference, theres really not a right or wrong technique. But thats just my opinion on the matter.

 

I'm fresh out of the MSF course, so I can't give my 2 cents on real street riding. I can say, however, that the instructors were hell-bent on making sure we had all 4 fingers on the clutch at all times and NO fingers on the brake lever at any time, unless you are using it. Even when we were preparing for emergency stops around turns at 20 mph, they said not to wrap your fingers around the brake lever until the moment you need them. I'm inclined to trust their experience.

 

^^It's good to do that but I don't. I think the reason why they tell you not to cover around turns is because being a lot the peoples first time ever on a motorcycle, they will try to grab brake during a turn and wipe out. happened to this kid in my course on the test and thats an automatic fail. I don't usually "cover" my brake but I do when on a turn just in case, but with experience will come the ability to be able to judge whether or not you can brake or how much brake in a turn, haha just don't make it a habit, it's a weird feeling.

 

In the BRC this is the technique taught to new riders. I also teach the MSBC (Military Sport Bike Course) which is of course aimed at sport bike riders. Here we work on advanced techniques like upper body position and trail braking...yes, trail braking! We also stress covering the brake and clutch with at least one finger.

 

I use all 4 fingers.
I've tried using 1-3 fingers but,
it feels like my remaining fingers are gonna get in the way of fully squeezing.

 

I think that demons last comment just about sums it up. Just like to add my lill bit though. As a rider we hopefully have aquired that special sense that not all road users have. This gives us a head start. When riding we kind of turn on a radar for trouble. How we ride with this operating makes us naturally move, look, act for the second we are living and with a vision to whats gonna happen next. This tells us things like whens a good idea to be covering anything we might need in a milli sec when your typical person wouldnt even of thought of it. You know when its right. You can feel it.

 

I use 3 fingers on the clutch and 2 on the brake.

when i used to ride on the street, i would normally ride with my hands on the grips, but if i thought there was any chance i would need to brake/clutch i would cover them.

on the track i never cover them, and the clutch i only pull in slightly, for the brake i can lift the rear tire with just 2 fingers so no problem getting enough power with only 2 fingers.

-tj