riding Skills: Using the Rear Brake (Sport Rider)
- Thread starter ksanbon
- Start date
i only use the rear break when stopping and sometimes right before a curve but im gonna have to work on this!!! i like it 
thanks for the article man!!
thanks for the article man!!From the MSF course, I always use both brakes on straight line and panic situations. I even locked rear tire twice on an "almost accident" but the training I had made me keep pressing the rear brake avoiding a fall.
On tight curves if I'm too fast, I apply rear brake instead of front (before the curve) As a matter of fact, I think that front brakes should never be applied on a curve; it's better put the bike on straight line and beak hard. Alll this come to physics and weight transfer
On tight curves if I'm too fast, I apply rear brake instead of front (before the curve) As a matter of fact, I think that front brakes should never be applied on a curve; it's better put the bike on straight line and beak hard. Alll this come to physics and weight transfer
Chevyfazer
New Member
I think the best way to cure that nervousness is to find a parking lot and start slow, like maybe 10mph and lock up the rear to learn how your bike reacts to it. Keep working your way up and also see how much pressure it takes to lock it up. I've never really had that fear I guess mainly from riding dirt and locking it up on purpose sliding it around. It's just as fun to me to do on the street bike too, as long as no one is behind you and gets freaked out.
Practice!
I was on the "too much rear brake" side of the discussion because I was intimidated by the high rate of deceleration provided by the front brake. Being a slow learner, I had to slide past a couple of stop signs before I decided that it would be wise to change.
It didn't take long to find the right balance. During rides, I'd pick targets to stop at and gradually increase my use of the front brake until I was comfortable with quick stops. I still do it evey so often to just to keep the feel. I figure it's like Kevin Durant practicing jump shots all year long, except to me it's a matter of life or death.
Much better to do it now than to trying to get it right in a panic situation.
Ride safe.
I was on the "too much rear brake" side of the discussion because I was intimidated by the high rate of deceleration provided by the front brake. Being a slow learner, I had to slide past a couple of stop signs before I decided that it would be wise to change.
It didn't take long to find the right balance. During rides, I'd pick targets to stop at and gradually increase my use of the front brake until I was comfortable with quick stops. I still do it evey so often to just to keep the feel. I figure it's like Kevin Durant practicing jump shots all year long, except to me it's a matter of life or death.
Much better to do it now than to trying to get it right in a panic situation.
Ride safe.
Well 9 times out of 10 I only use the front brake. All things being equal if you are only going to use 1 the front is the way to go. That being said we will all eventually have a situation which requires a sudden stop so its better to be prepared then sorry. Any skill needs to be practiced and nothing is more true then that of riding a motorcycle. Most cagers don't think twice about the guy riding next to them, or behind them and the only defense we have is a good offense.
i remember when i took the MSRC sportbike rider course they teach some techniques using the rear brake but specifically trail braking.... If you get the chance and want to learn a little more technique thats proper i definetly suggest trying to get enrolled in one of these courses
I got into an accident before I took the safety course a few years ago, basicly I hit my front brakes hard then engaged my rear brake equally as hard. I started to fishtail and got scarred so I released everything to come out of the fish tail. I was still coming in to fast so i did the same thing again, this time I fishtailed even more but I had gotten so close to the stopped vehicle I figured it was all or nothing at this point so I just stayed with the bike until I collided. If I remember correctly which I might not because were talking really close to the moment of impact, the bike endoed and I splattered the back of a vibe like an insect. After that I took the safety course took a month or so off to get over my fear and got back at it.
Michael Wilson
New Member
I had a riding teacher at the track that would take your front brake lever off if he noticed you never use the rear brake. Just like the article said, find your balance!
redprodigy35
New Member
From what I gather -- this is a pretty advanced combo of skill.
To enter a corner hot, lean the bike over, scrub off speed with the rear brake while still maintaining or re-assessing your line... Takes quite a bit of skill. It can get real shady, real quick if you don't have a good solid relationship with your rear brake.
We can all engage the rear, but to use it to this effect requires finesse. Thankfully I think that our rear brake (like the rest of the bike) is pretty forgiving.
To enter a corner hot, lean the bike over, scrub off speed with the rear brake while still maintaining or re-assessing your line... Takes quite a bit of skill. It can get real shady, real quick if you don't have a good solid relationship with your rear brake.
We can all engage the rear, but to use it to this effect requires finesse. Thankfully I think that our rear brake (like the rest of the bike) is pretty forgiving.
As a newer rider I'm not comfortable in steep leans yet but also still haven't been riding long enough to effectively calculate appropriate speed going into corners. Sometimes I can tell I'm going in a little hot. I realize this at the beginning going into the corner, so I stay more upright and use the back brake slightly to scrub off some speed then lean through the corner at a controllable level for my skills. Seems to be working ok.
For stopping I use front then rear. MSF taught use both. Front kills the speed and rear seems to keep me stable. I also find myself using back brake to scrub off speed when approaching lights that are just going green or I'm approaching traffic that's just starting to move. I don't like just engine braking because people seem to not be paying attention enough to notice so I like my back light blinking (integrated tail light.) Anything helps.
For stopping I use front then rear. MSF taught use both. Front kills the speed and rear seems to keep me stable. I also find myself using back brake to scrub off speed when approaching lights that are just going green or I'm approaching traffic that's just starting to move. I don't like just engine braking because people seem to not be paying attention enough to notice so I like my back light blinking (integrated tail light.) Anything helps.
You're doing the right thing... We call it riding within your limit. Start slow and make your way up. The other way around is always a little more tricky and most than likely it hurt!
I've always used the rear brake, just enough not to lock it up. On wet I've used it a lot more, guess it was just the way my grandfather taught me on dirt bikes.
I didn't know you could use it to get a tighter turn. There is one nasty turn that caught me by surprise both time I took the Ortega Highway. Going west, it starts out moderate, then tightens up really fast. I had to really lean, got really close to oncoming traffic.
So according to this article, keeping steady on the gas, applying a little bit of rear brake will really let you lean in to the curve.
I didn't know you could use it to get a tighter turn. There is one nasty turn that caught me by surprise both time I took the Ortega Highway. Going west, it starts out moderate, then tightens up really fast. I had to really lean, got really close to oncoming traffic.
So according to this article, keeping steady on the gas, applying a little bit of rear brake will really let you lean in to the curve.
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Same here, I use both for complete stops. I also use a lot of engine braking since the bike does drop speed really fast when rolling off the throttle and touch the rear brake enough to let the cars behind me know I am stopping. I almost never touched the brakes in my 2002 Z28 either. The quick stopping portion of MSF was great and taught the use of both brakes.