To the man in the white Nissan Sentra...

[COLDSTONE1298]

good to hear you made it out unscathed.....when it happens it happens fast...lots of people swear by the front brake,me,I favor the rear brake...I was behind a car when the up coming lite turned yellow,she sped up to beat it and so did I then she decided she was gonna stop instead...caught me off gaurd,I grabbed the front brake and right away went into a full endo,let that go and applyed the back brake a little tighter and instantly went into a full on skid,let that go and back to the endo....did this a few times all the while she was watching me and kept moving up (thank god) so i didnt hit her.finally stopped behind her at the lite and she gives me a "im sorry" wave...she actually came into my lane right before the lite coming up so she knew she f'd me..I sat there cool as could be,little did anyone know my heart was pumping faster then ever,my grip on the handles could have crushed concrete and I was seating like a pig...but i bet it looked like i ment to do it

If you're doing stopies, or draggin the rear tire, you're on the respective brake too hard. You can stop the fastest by having both tires on the ground, and using a combination of the front and rear brake. You say "some people swear by the front brake" that's true, to a point. They swear by using MORE front than rear, but not front ONLY. It's just like a car, the front brakes of a bike are 70% of your braking power. The other 30% is what the rear is for. If you go too hard on the front, the rear is worthless and you're only getting 70% of your potential stopping power. If you use only the rear, you're only getting 30% of your braking potential. However, if you use the front and rear together without lifting or dragging the rear tire, you're getting 100% of your braking potential. What you should do is go out to some random parking lot at night and practice some panic stops until it's 2nd nature.

First off, Thank God Your still with us Hayabusa fury

. Second, I too always swore by the front brake only and bought into the "rear brake will get you killed" doctrine. Until I read "sport Riding Techniques" by Nick lenastch (racer, writer and also author of "The Pace"). Made very clear using either front or rear brakes wrong is what gets you killed and the rear brake is not something to fear when used right. Explained how lap times dropped for him and many other racers as well as techniques for using the rear brake to scrub off speed a bit in mid curve. Don't ever think STOP or GRAB when it comes to the brakes but train yourself to think "Squeeze". Wether gradual or quick you want to be smooth with the brakes as possible (ESPECIALLY in mid curve).

One technique mentioned that helps keep the rear more stable in straightline emergency braking is getting on the rear brake just a millisecond before squeezing on the front brakes. This helps alot in keeping the weight transfer from abruptly going to the front and overloading the front and making the rear end light.

Another thing Nick pointed out is how well so many riders out there can accelerate their bikes to their best potential....but don't know diddly about stopping them quickly. They practice drag racing up to 140mph but never practice emergency braking from those speeds. Mentions a test he was doing with a magazine with some various street riders on how quickly their individual bikes could stop and it all started out with someone grabbing too much front and dumping it. That was just the start. Besides the engine, the brakes are probably the most powerful tool we have on our sportbikes. Practice using them as well as you "practice" with the engines power and it will pay off.

 

[SANDFLEA85]

good to hear you made it out unscathed.....when it happens it happens fast...lots of people swear by the front brake,me,I favor the rear brake...I was behind a car when the up coming lite turned yellow,she sped up to beat it and so did I then she decided she was gonna stop instead...caught me off gaurd,I grabbed the front brake and right away went into a full endo,let that go and applyed the back brake a little tighter and instantly went into a full on skid,let that go and back to the endo....did this a few times all the while she was watching me and kept moving up (thank god) so i didnt hit her.finally stopped behind her at the lite and she gives me a "im sorry" wave...she actually came into my lane right before the lite coming up so she knew she f'd me..I sat there cool as could be,little did anyone know my heart was pumping faster then ever,my grip on the handles could have crushed concrete and I was seating like a pig...but i bet it looked like i ment to do it

If you're doing stopies, or draggin the rear tire, you're on the respective brake too hard.  You can stop the fastest by having both tires on the ground, and using a combination of the front and rear brake.  You say "some people swear by the front brake" that's true, to a point.  They swear by using MORE front than rear, but not front ONLY.  It's just like a car, the front brakes of a bike are 70% of your braking power.  The other 30% is what the rear is for.  If you go too hard on the front, the rear is worthless and you're only getting 70% of your potential stopping power.  If you use only the rear, you're only getting 30% of your braking potential.  However, if you use the front and rear together without lifting or dragging the rear tire, you're getting 100% of your braking potential.  What you should do is go out to some random parking lot at night and practice some panic stops until it's 2nd nature.

I always use both brakes..ALWAYS. but in this situation I was accelerating thinking i was beating the yellow,when i car pulled into my lane and decided she was stopping at the yellow...so picture cruising along at 40-50mph then accelerating to 80-90mph quickly to get through the lite and then haveing to stop within 20-30' as you reached 90mph...easier said then done, i "APPLIED" both front and rear and wasnt getting what i needed to stop in time so I applied more and at this point the endo happened and im pretty sure the rear was locked up too because as soon as i let off the front i went back down into a full skid and then re"APPLIED" the front thus going back to an endo and then back down skidding to a stop but still upright...40' isnt alot of room to stop from 80 or 90mph (i know thats my fault i was at that speed but it was just to accelerate through te intersection(which btw isnt heavily traveld) I practice all that "panic stopping" 2 yrs ago when i got the bike and its also taught at the MSF class.....glad I did practice it,otherwise I would have been in her backseat.

oh,and i'd much rather low side then high side if I had to choose,so im going hard on my back brake if I have to choose...I already High sided a yr ago (wasnt fun!!)

 

[Zoinks!]

good to hear you made it out unscathed.....when it happens it happens fast...lots of people swear by the front brake,me,I favor the rear brake...I was behind a car when the up coming lite turned yellow,she sped up to beat it and so did I then she decided she was gonna stop instead...caught me off gaurd,I grabbed the front brake and right away went into a full endo,let that go and applyed the back brake a little tighter and instantly went into a full on skid,let that go and back to the endo....did this a few times all the while she was watching me and kept moving up (thank god) so i didnt hit her.finally stopped behind her at the lite and she gives me a "im sorry" wave...she actually came into my lane right before the lite coming up so she knew she f'd me..I sat there cool as could be,little did anyone know my heart was pumping faster then ever,my grip on the handles could have crushed concrete and I was seating like a pig...but i bet it looked like i ment to do it

If you're doing stopies, or draggin the rear tire, you're on the respective brake too hard.  You can stop the fastest by having both tires on the ground, and using a combination of the front and rear brake.  You say "some people swear by the front brake" that's true, to a point.  They swear by using MORE front than rear, but not front ONLY.  It's just like a car, the front brakes of a bike are 70% of your braking power.  The other 30% is what the rear is for.  If you go too hard on the front, the rear is worthless and you're only getting 70% of your potential stopping power.  If you use only the rear, you're only getting 30% of your braking potential.  However, if you use the front and rear together without lifting or dragging the rear tire, you're getting 100% of your braking potential.  What you should do is go out to some random parking lot at night and practice some panic stops until it's 2nd nature.

I always use both brakes..ALWAYS. but in this situation I was accelerating thinking i was beating the yellow,when i car pulled into my lane and decided she was stopping at the yellow...so picture cruising along at 40-50mph then accelerating to 80-90mph quickly to get through the lite and then haveing to stop within 20-30' as you reached 90mph...easier said then done, i "APPLIED" both front and rear and wasnt getting what i needed to stop in time so I applied more and at this point the endo happened and im pretty sure the rear was locked up too because as soon as i let off the front i went back down into a full skid and then re"APPLIED" the front thus going back to an endo and then back down skidding to a stop but still upright...40' isnt alot of room to stop from 80 or 90mph (i know thats my fault i was at that speed but it was just to accelerate through te intersection(which btw isnt heavily traveld) I practice all that "panic stopping" 2 yrs ago when i got the bike and its also taught at the MSF class.....glad I did practice it,otherwise I would have been in her backseat.

oh,and i'd much rather low side then high side if I had to choose,so im going hard on my back brake if I have to choose...I already High sided a yr ago (wasnt fun!!)

Ahhh! It makes more sense now! I didn't realize you were going that fast and had that amount of room to stop. From the first post, I was picturing city street, accelerated to maybe 40 or 50, (not starting at 40-50) and then slammed on brakes. Still, either way, congrats on keepin it up and out of her back seat. But the reasoning for what happened makes a bit more sense now that I have the whole story.

 

[SANDFLEA85]

good to hear you made it out unscathed.....when it happens it happens fast...lots of people swear by the front brake,me,I favor the rear brake...I was behind a car when the up coming lite turned yellow,she sped up to beat it and so did I then she decided she was gonna stop instead...caught me off gaurd,I grabbed the front brake and right away went into a full endo,let that go and applyed the back brake a little tighter and instantly went into a full on skid,let that go and back to the endo....did this a few times all the while she was watching me and kept moving up (thank god) so i didnt hit her.finally stopped behind her at the lite and she gives me a "im sorry" wave...she actually came into my lane right before the lite coming up so she knew she f'd me..I sat there cool as could be,little did anyone know my heart was pumping faster then ever,my grip on the handles could have crushed concrete and I was seating like a pig...but i bet it looked like i ment to do it

If you're doing stopies, or draggin the rear tire, you're on the respective brake too hard.  You can stop the fastest by having both tires on the ground, and using a combination of the front and rear brake.  You say "some people swear by the front brake" that's true, to a point.  They swear by using MORE front than rear, but not front ONLY.  It's just like a car, the front brakes of a bike are 70% of your braking power.  The other 30% is what the rear is for.  If you go too hard on the front, the rear is worthless and you're only getting 70% of your potential stopping power.  If you use only the rear, you're only getting 30% of your braking potential.  However, if you use the front and rear together without lifting or dragging the rear tire, you're getting 100% of your braking potential.  What you should do is go out to some random parking lot at night and practice some panic stops until it's 2nd nature.

I always use both brakes..ALWAYS. but in this situation I was accelerating thinking i was beating the yellow,when i car pulled into my lane and decided she was stopping at the yellow...so picture cruising along at 40-50mph then accelerating to 80-90mph quickly to get through the lite and then haveing to stop within 20-30' as you reached 90mph...easier said then done, i "APPLIED" both front and rear and wasnt getting what i needed to stop in time so I applied more and at this point the endo happened and im pretty sure the rear was locked up too because as soon as i let off the front i went back down into a full skid and then re"APPLIED" the front thus going back to an endo and then back down skidding to a stop but still upright...40' isnt alot of room to stop from 80 or 90mph (i know thats my fault i was at that speed but it was just to accelerate through te intersection(which btw isnt heavily traveld) I practice all that "panic stopping" 2 yrs ago when i got the bike and its also taught at the MSF class.....glad I did practice it,otherwise I would have been in her backseat.

oh,and i'd much rather low side then high side if I had to choose,so im going hard on my back brake if I have to choose...I already High sided a yr ago (wasnt fun!!)

Ahhh!  It makes more sense now!  I didn't realize you were going that fast and had that amount of room to stop.  From the first post, I was picturing city street, accelerated to maybe 40 or 50, (not starting at 40-50) and then slammed on brakes.  Still, either way, congrats on keepin it up and out of her back seat.  But the reasoning for what happened makes a bit more sense now that I have the whole story.

needless to say the rest of the ride home that day was at 25mph

and I think everyone should practice panic stops from time to time,not saying I did it the best way but Im sure if I never practiced i would have crashed,there isnt enough time to think,only react....I hope to never have to "react" again but its inevitable im sure

 

[Hayabusa Fury]

Thanks for the tips, stories and support. I am glad there is a group like this to vent and release too. Picking up pointers on riding better/safer is a huge bonus. Three cheers for the .oRg!!

 

[Zoinks!]

Thanks for the tips, stories and support. I am glad there is a group like this to vent and release too. Picking up pointers on riding better/safer is a huge bonus. Three cheers for the .oRg!!

 

 

+. . Alot. Lol.