Actually, the technique is exactly the same whether the motor has ABS or not. The only change comes when too much brake is applied. On an ABS motor, you continue pressure on the lever or pedal, and let the ABS work. On a non-ABS motor, you have to deal with a locked wheel appropriately.

As far as "forget downshifting" goes, that's not entirely accurate. In an emergency braking situation, every limb has something to do. The right hand needs to be squeezing, then progressing on the front brake lever. The right foot needs to be applying the rear brake. Meanwhile, the left hand needs to be pulling the clutch lever. The left foot, needs to be working the shift lever. The thing is not to be using compression braking, the clutch stays pulled. However, it's critical to keep the gear appropriate to the speed. It does you precious little good to get stopped before an obstacle if you end up in a traffic lane, in fifth or sixth gear, and needing to clear out of the next vehicle's way.

Proper braking requires a thorough understanding of what you're trying to accomplish, followed by a a lot of initial practice in a controlled environment. Then, it's a skill that must be maintained. At the start of each riding season, a true practice session in a parking lot; and then at least every two weeks a couple of stops from 35 MPH or so, using good combination braking will keep you sharp, so that when the need arises you will default to proper technique.

If you'd like to learn more, feel free to e-mail me at:

motorlessons@hotmail.com

I'll send you back a PDF of a booklet I've written, that covers braking, and other subjects in much more detail. It's free. I don't sell it, or anything else.

Harris
Denver. CO

www.youtube.com/conedown

 

The front brake does most of the stopping so practice squeezing it as hard as you can, but dont just grab it, thats when lockups occur.
Weight transfer onto the front end in a panic stop will give you a lot less rear braking efficiency than normal, so if you are going to use it just push as hard as you are used to doing but dont even think about pushing it harder because it wont help.

Often in these situations, its normal to fixate on what is in front of you.If you find this happening, you arent concentrating on squeezing the front brake and you will just end up ploughing into whatever you have fixated on.

Hope this helps.

 

Remember, 70-80% of your braking (either car or bike) comes from the FRONT BRAKE!!!!
We are so cautious when transitioning from our kid bike to motorized bike (dirt, or street). Mostly because either you, or a friend did a header over the handle bars.

In short, take the course, practice solo, keep distance and look 360 degrees @ intersections and watch the rear view @ stops.

You need to get to the point where you don't even think, yet re-act, to whatever comes your way (front brake, downshift, play the rear brake and sometimes even GOOSE IT and go around to avoid).

I've been riding over 25 yars (street), two major wrecks (squeezed off road twice) and one hell of a ditch ride and "slid" into from rear with a "bump". Saved my *** on many occasions with LOUD PIPES, pull the clutch in and give a couple "WRAPS", not whimpy Harley Horns. I even nearly shot an un-attentive Asian woman, on a cell phone, in a mini van, into a ditch before she could take me out.

Bottom line, get comfortable, be safe and aware before you ever put someone on the back.... Good Luck!

 

thanks for all the info. I feel it's better to practice and at least try to be a little prepared.

Short story:
A year ago or so when I took the basic class in order to get my license endorsement after not riding for years I had an incident.

Riding home from the class, which I took on a sportster, on the day we had practiced braking I almost baught it. A guy was parked on the side of the road in a pickup. Just as I approached him doing about 40mph he pulled out right in front of me to do a U turn! I slammed on the brakes and to this day don't know how I stopped or didn't drop the bike. It was right then and there I completely revised my approach to riding.

 

This advice is as good as it gets! One thing I'll add is that, for me, simply "covering" the rear brake is enough. The forward momentum of my body tends to apply plenty of rear brake as long as my foot is covering the pedal.

Hey Harris, did you ever make it out to Lakewood for the motor competition?

 

Basic Riders Course at MSF taught me to apply 70% Front and 30% Rear. Since the inertia is forward travelling, the main stopping force needs to be applied mainly to the front. They had us use all limbs too. Meaning - left hand clutch, right hand brake, left leg downshift and right leg brake. If in a rear wheel slide, maintain it, but in a front wheel slide, ease off and reapply. Also straighten out if possible befor your stop.

 

I was riding the GF's new (to us) bike home in the rain a few months ago. I was going a little too fast and I applied the brakes on the downslope of an overpasss. Since a sporty is way to small on me, I over applied the rear break and my rear started to slide side to side. I clutched and let go of all the brakes and straightened out, but still had a hard time stopping. I ended up OK about 10 feet into the intersection. Fortunately, everyone else was paying attention since it was raining.

Why is clutching and releasing all brakes a bad thing when your rear wheel is sliding? What could have happened?

 

No I didn't I'm sorry to say. How'd you do? Are you coming to Instructor school in Parker? 3 weeks on asphalt in the hottest part of summer. Should be great fun.

Harris
Denver, CO

www.youtube.com/conedown

 

+1 motorlesson

I am an MSF Basic, Experienced (BRC2) and Advanced RiderCoach. The quick-stop is a requirement to pass. This is something every good rider should practice.

Practice in a school or parking lot going about 18 MPH (the best speed to pass the skill test). Cut a tennis ball in half and set it out in front of you about 15 car parking places. This should allow you enough time to get your speed settled and the bike level. Apply 70% front/30% rear on your braking.

Non-ABS:
- If you lose traction in the front tire, let off and reapply. You need the front wheel.
- If you lose traction in the rear tire, maintain the skid. Releasing the brake will force the wheel to attempt to realign and can cause an unrecoverable wobble or high-side.

ABS: Apply both brakes and hold them. NEVER release and reapply with ABS.

You need to be clutch in and 1st gear when you are stopped. This is important because the person behind you may not emergency stop and you may need to move one way or another. Every obstacle is no always in your path of travel.

Additional note: It takes HALF the time to swerve than to emergency stop. Always be looking ahead for potential hazards and ways to escape or avoid the accident. Something else to practice!

 

The concern is that as the rear wheel slides, the rear end of the motor starts to come around to one side or the other, thus the motor is out of line. If the brake is then released, the wheel instantly comes back into line as soon as the wheel starts rolling. If the rear and is more than about 7 degrees out of line, this return is so harsh that the machine cannot be controlled.

This concern is the reason that MSF teaches that if the rear wheel locks, to simply continue pressure on the brake, and let the skid continue.

In police training, we teach that a rear wheel lock is handled by a reduction in pressure on the pedal until rolling traction is re-gained. Learning this requires enough practice to first recognize the rear wheel lock very early, and then properly execute the technique.

The reason for the difference is that the basic technique (keeping the rear locked once it is) is a "lesser risk" answer. By keeping the skid you're lessening the risk of a high-side type crash, but accomplishing this by increasing the risk of a low-side. Unfortunately, if this occurs at high speed, as the motor low-sides, most riders finally end up releasing pressure on the pedal as they start to come off, and the high-side happens anyway; since by that time the machine is nearly sideways to the direction of travel.

Here is a video of my friend David, braking from 40 MPH. You'll see that on the first of the three runs he gets little bit of locked rear wheel. However, he handles it exactly right and reduces pedal pressure to the point of regaining rolling traction. There is no sideways movement of the rear of the motor, and he still completes the exercise with no difficulty.

http://youtu.be/Bke4iKKx5-I

The best answer is practice to the point that braking skills improve, and thus a locked wheel skid is far less likely.

Finally, I want to point out that the above is talking about a locked REAR wheel only. A locked FRONT wheel requires the rider to RELEASE IMMEDIATELY AND RE-APPLY PROPERLY. Again, you must gain proficiency in recognizing that a lock wheel has occurred, and then reacting properly to it. This can only be done by training combined with practice.

Harris
Denver, CO

www.youtube.com/conedown