Rider tossed under a simi truck!

[Charlesbusa]

I was told that is the parking brake, you know like when you're stopped for a light on a hill?  

Seriously folks, anyone have any hard numbers showing stopping distance comparison with and without rear brake?

Does anyone have a copy of their MSF book?

I remember mine had 3 diagrams with stopping distances on them. The longest was rear brakes only, then front brakes only, then front and rear brakes.

Unfortunately I have no idea where my book is... Probably threw it out. :o(

That would only be useful if the numbers were from a sport bike, HD and cruisers are much different.

 

[Leo]

The longest was rear brakes only

I beleive you are right...



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[gsferrari]

If anyone is still reading this thread:

DO NOT use the rear brake while downshifting...better get ALL your shifting done before you apply the rear brake.

If not...

With the clutch engaged, the engine is still driving the rear wheel. If you apply rear brake to slow down then you will compensate to overcome this "drive" by the engine. Once you pull the clutch in to downshift things get ugly because the engine is no longer in the picture - just rear wheel traction and your brakes. Because you have previously applied enough rear brake without locking up WITH the flywheel engaged - once the clutch is pulled - this amount of rear brake is too much for the tire to handle and it will lock up.

Note - you are not locking up because the rear wheel has lost traction with the road - it is still capable of traction at that speed - but you have over-braked the rear wheel while compensating for flywheel effect or plain old engine drive before the clutch was pulled.

I hope this is clear - and I hope nobody washes out because of the rear brake...

 

[Leo]

So, to sum it up, just let your engine do the rear traction / breaking control, and stay off the damn rear break

 

[Schism]

i'm sorry for the rider and his family. i personally use the rear brake for all stops. i adjusted the lever to allow major slack so when i panic and hit it hard, the rear wheel will not lock up as easy.

 

[Shanling]

Early on, I was taught 70% front brake and 30% rear. When riding in twisties, I only use the front. The rear brake actually scares me. I also own a HD Electraglide which is heavy and bulky in comparison. The rear is soo easy to lock on that bike that I keep my right foot away from the peddle. The Busa takes a little more effort to lock the rear in comparison. This is my 5th HD and all of them that I have owned were very easy to lock that back tire. (2 softails, 1 roadking, & 2 cruisers) Going back and forth from the HD to the Busa, there is always a transition period as the style of riding is so totally different. It seems there are many inexperienced riders that are jumping on HDs and their initial stopping reaction is to jam their right foot onto the brake peddle as if in a car. I just bought an 04 Busa and have been away from sport bikes since 1996 (went to HDs) and the heavier bikes (HDs) are easier to loose control of during an emergency braking situation. I don't want to see anyone get hurt riding and feel that the Rider Courses should be a mandate prior to getting your endorsement. I read these reports of people doing the highsides all of the time and it seems most of them are on heavier cruisers. In comparison, I feel like I have to stomp hard to lock the rear on the Busa. I have done it a couple of times on purpose just to feel it and it take a lot more effort than the HD does. Sorry for rambling but this is my first post on here.

 

[Rocketman]

I remember the culture shock when I first began riding behind some much faster riders out in the back 40.... they took me aside before we started, I told them I was a noob, and they grabbed me and shook me and said "DON'T TOUCH YOUR REAR BREAK OUT HERE! EVER! JUST DON'T!" I said, ok ok, and stayed behind them as they railed turns at 80+ leaned way over, 2 bike lengths apart, over and over again. I decided maybe those guys knew something. Now, one of them is a NESBA instructor and control rider.

Now, I listen to more experienced riders, here and elsewhere, that ride like I do.

I'm glad I read this. I just changed out my rear brakes after only 9k miles on the bike. I use my rear all the time in mild riding.

But if I come in too hot into a fast corner, I often go with the gas on, some back and front brake on and control the turn with all three. Does that sound crazy?

For some reason I can feel what the bike is doing very well that way. Again, I only this when I'm too hot into a corner or I don't feel like I've set the bike up into the corner as well as I'd have liked. Otherwise, I'm mostly front into corners.

But what I'm reading is that I need to completely forgo using the rear to eliminate a panic rear brake in tense situations.

Hmmm...

Very good food for thought.

 

[Shanling]

This one is easy to lock the rear wheel up on. Lotsa weight and a much skinnier rear tire you know!



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[Leo]

This one is easy to lock the rear wheel up on. Lotsa weight and a much skinnier rear tire you know!

WELCOME to the ORG

Nice scoot, the BUSA not the HD

You should post up a "I'm New Here" in the General Section for a much better welcome

Great input though!

 

[rc51ny]

I'm not a racer, so I generally use the brakes as taught in the MSF course. I did have a car pull in front of me the other day, and locked up the rear in stopping. First time that happened to me, and frankly shocked me that it locked (I didn't think I was pushing that hard on the rear). That taught me how useless the rear is in "panic" stopping and useful is the front!

 

[WWJD]

the few times I've applied rear break on track or street didn't do much for me. I tend to try front first and if not happy, SLOWLY apply a little back. once at the track, I had just flew passed 4 bikes - yeah dumb thing to do - on a strait that goes into a square right turn. I was flying, heavy and need to slow quickly, front wasn't cutting it and I'd already downshifted so I tried adding some rear. The bike started jittering, and I bet it looked funny from behind cuz I was ON the breaks hard and I felt both front and rear tires chattering and sort of jumping about. I gave up and tossed it right, into the turn and cut the apex very tight and then swung way wide before setting up the next turn - I looked like an idiot, or a genious... all I know is the rear did more harm than good and I considered that a some what controlled situation. It wasn't panic breaking, but adding it to assist breaking at high speed. For my style, I don't use the rear break. General day to day, usually not, but sure, I'll stop on a hill and use it to not move.

Shawn, you should ride however you are comfortable. In that situation, I would prefer to throttle up to maintian stability, and let off all the breaks. I break before the corners and roll on into, through and out of corners