Newbie questions...

[Breed777]

Hey guys.... When coming to a stop sign say in 4th gear.... whats the correct way to come to s complete stop? Do you slowly brake and then pull in the clutch and go through 3rd, 2nd, to 1st and stop or....
Do you brake and pull the cluch in (hold it in) and just go staright to 1st?


If your doing 50km around town what gear should you be in?

should you always use both brakes?

Thanks guys.... this is a big learning curve!

[Ragingrob]

Coming to a stop it's probably best to use your engine to help you brake as well, i.e. changing to 3rd let clutch out, then to 2nd clutch out, then when you're stopped at a stop sign stay in 1st gear with the clutch in ready to go.

Changing down like that means that you will slowing down greatly without only relying on your brakes.

Around town at 50k it depends entirely on your bike what gear you'll be in. I range from 1st to 5th haha! Your bike would probably be most comfortable in 4th gear if you're cruising at 50 or 3rd gear would be fine too I'd imagine. Depending on the situation, I'll sit in 4th if it's a long flat piece of road where I don't need to work the engine at all, but I'll be in 3rd or 2nd if it's hilly and there's traffic or I wanna be heard and looked at haha!

It's best practice to use both your brakes all the time. In saying that, the front brake does like 75% of your braking power, some people like me actually will use just the front brake the majority of the time anyway. Probably a bad habit to have gotten into, but my rear brake didn't used to work so hey!

[YellowDog]

Yes Ragingrob is right. You need to keep your bike under full control at all times and the best way to do this is to use the engine when slowing, all the way down to first year. If you use the back brake and a little clutch, you can easily ride under full control at a walking pace (this may piss off other road users :) Don't coast in neutral or with the clutch depressed. Use the brake when you want to stop. Under 10Khp, use the back brake only. Front brakes at very low speeds tend to stop you dead and throw you off, if you are not careful.

If you are slowing down from a great speed, the front brake does the large majority of the work. The danger of applying too much back brake at speed is that the wheel can easily lock and skid. The front wheel generally won't lock. Some say 70/30, others say 80/20. Riders I know opt for 100/0. It all depends on your bike and how comfortable you feel. It is worth finding out what the official ratio is for you test.

Good luck.

[slofox]

I go down through each gear and only use the brake to finally stop. I tend to use the front brake to stop with but that's because i am a lazy bugger and can't be bothered lifting my foot to get to the rear brake pedal...I got ticked off about this when I did an advanced riding course. You are supposed to use both brakes every time. Different story in an emergency stop. Then I use all three - gears, front brake and rear brake.

I do not like to sit stopped with the bike in gear and on the clutch. Unless I know the light or whatever is about to change I always select neutral and release the clutch lever. I go back into gear only when it is time to move again. This is a hangover from the bad old days when I had shitty old bikes with shitty old cables that snapped if you looked at them. I still don't trust cables. Had enough experiences of bikes leaping forward when the clutch cable broke to last the rest of my life....

What gear round town? I just keep the engine at a happy working speed...4000+ rpm mostly. Gives you the option of rapid acceleration if you need it or considerable engine braking if you need that.

[YellowDog]

Well said slofox! I was trying to say the same thing, but didn't do it so well.

[Bend-it]

In general with braking, the front stops you quickly, but can unsettle the bike, both in low speed manoevuring and going around corners quickly.

The rear brake stops you more gradually, but also serves to stabilise the bike. So if you find yourself taking a corner too hot but already leaning over and committed, the better option would be to throttle off gently and/or use the rear brake.

[Candle]

id get into the habit of going threw the gears as posted already 3rd clutch out 2nd clutch out 1st clutch out and use both fount and back brakes to stop, it helps with the practice of using then so when you need to emergency stop you know the steps already snit all comes 2nd nature and also if you get into the habit of stopping with your back brake on, it helps for when you have to do a hill start and besides when you put two feet down you just look like an idiot so its a good thing to get out of the habit of doing. Glad to see you asking for help it shows you do want to get better and arnt just another idiot on a bike:niceone:

[DarkLord]

I usually use rear brake a fraction before I put the front brake on.

[Damian]

hah , this question has been bugging me, but iv not got my bike to try it yet. but thanks for the answers guys.

[CookMySock]

Hey guys.... When coming to a stop sign say in 4th gear.... whats the correct way to come to s complete stop? Do you slowly brake and then pull in the clutch and go through 3rd, 2nd, to 1st and stop or....
Do you brake and pull the cluch in (hold it in) and just go staright to 1st?As you are slowing, If you change down and let the clutch out, your revvs will rise a little for each gear you go down. If the revvs rise a LOT and throw you forward in your seat, then you have gone down too many, too early. You don't have to release the clutch for each downchange - you can hold the clutch in and just change down click, click, click as you slow down, but don't go down too early too soon as mentioned above, be cause its hard on the gearbox, and if you DO let the clutch out you might lock the back wheel up and slide the back wheel and drop the bike.


If your doing 50km around town what gear should you be in?It doesn't really matter. Most 250's will happily hum along at 50km/hr in top gear. It sounds rather daft riding around with the engine revving its nuts off, so change up in my opinion. Inline four engines excepted. ;)


should you always use both brakes?It doesn't matter that much, UNTIL IT RAINS, when using both brakes greatly increases your stopping abliity, so you should be in the habit of always using both brakes. But on hot dry sticky tarseal the rear brake doesn't contribute a lot.

Steve

[discotex]

So if you find yourself taking a corner too hot but already leaning over and committed, the better option would be to throttle off gently and/or use the rear brake.

Ummm no.

The better options are:

a) Don't find yourself in a corner too hot in the first place

or

b) Trust your tyres and lean more - if you have enough grip to brake you definitely have enough grip to turn more. If you don't have enough grip to turn then braking using either brake will fuck you up.

[Jonno.]

Do you guys actually go in to first while moving or clutch in, first gear, brake, stop. Does it matter?

[Harvd]

should you always use both brakes?

i went for a 100km ride today and when i got back i was taking a look at my grubby rear wheel and brushed my hand against the rear disk and instictivly pulled my hand away, then i realised it didnt hurt and touched it and it was cool. i thought about it and realised i hadnt used it the whole ride... Probably one of my bad habits from racing.

i dont really like the back brake because of how easy it is to lock with the limited feel of whats hapning back there throught my boots and feet.

[QUOTE]Do you guys actually go in to first while moving or clutch in, first gear, brake, stop. Does it matter? [QUOTE]

On my fxr i used to never use first unless i was pulling away from a complete stop. as it was such low gearing and the engine braking i so wicked on the bike it was basically unuseable from braking over 30k/h without locking the back wheel.

[CookMySock]

Do you guys actually go in to first while moving or clutch in, first gear, brake, stop. Does it matter?Yes, and yes, but you should be moving very slowly before going into first - walking speed only. Its much easier to find first gear while the bike is moving forwards, and some bikes are really hard to get into first while they are completely stopped. On larger bikes, theres no way you can pull away from dead slow in second gear, coz they shake themselves to bits unless you slip the clutch - not recommended.

I let the revvs drop to about 2,000rpm then click down a gear, let the revvs drop to 2,000rpm then down another, and then into first when nearly stopped. Sometimes I blap it down the gears for fun (ok, mostly I blap it down the gears for fun) but not into first (count them down) - its too hard on it, and theres little or no point.

Steve

[Cr1MiNaL]

Hey guys.... When coming to a stop sign say in 4th gear.... whats the correct way to come to s complete stop? Do you slowly brake and then pull in the clutch and go through 3rd, 2nd, to 1st and stop or....
Do you brake and pull the cluch in (hold it in) and just go staright to 1st?


If your doing 50km around town what gear should you be in?

should you always use both brakes?

Thanks guys.... this is a big learning curve!

Breed777 the answer to your question (the important one anyway) is relative - relative to speed, weather conditions and most importantly, your personal skill level.

1. Ideally (of you have enough time) like others have suggested, use your engine to help you stop, it stabilizes the bike whilst deceleration and you won't find yourself chugging down four gears when you want to move again. Some 250's have 'clunky' gear boxes which means if you don't rock the bike backwards and forwards you won't find first at all; and you might have to start off in second instead.

However, if you need to stop urgently, don't worry about shifting down gears, there will not be enough time and engine braking is not the best way to stop in such a situation. In this situation use your front brake only, do not jab it in fright, use it calmly and progressively. Get to know how good your front brake is by practicing 'emergency braking' in a parking lot. You will need to know how fast your bike can stop before the rear lifts or front gives way. I do this with every new bike I get, because when you need it you want to be sure of what it's capable of. Your life may depend on it. 95% of your stopping power is in your front brake (if you run 4 pot callipers and descent size twin discs).

People's views on the use of the back brake might vary: but I have put a lot of time, and practice into researching my view and it works very well for me.

The only time I will use my back brake is :

1. Slow cornering, makes your line tighter when you are maneuvering lock - to - lock. Or in traffic.

2. When you have enough time to think. Rear + front is actually (marginally) better than front alone. The rear brake is a tricky bastard though so you need to practice practice practice. It is also the fun brake, which when you get better can be used to induce skids and drifts and catch wheelies among other things.

3. Sport riding - when you are running wide and/or want to tighten your line for whatever reason. Watch the Moto-Gp riders and in particular Danni Pederosa and Gary McCoy, they are artistic users of the rear brake.

I would leave the latter half of the second and the entire third points out for now, but knowledge is power, and you have just been empowered my young padowan.

I have also disconnected my brake switch from my rear brake which gives me the ability to slow down, should I need to without being conspicuous :innocent: Also if I use my rear brake alone my brake light goes off which is my version of 'stealth' mode! Very handy dandy stuff if you catch my drift.

Dude, if you have any serious questions just PM me and I'll help ya work it out.

Cheers

YR64L.

[davebullet]

Another bit of related advice....

On the 2 bikes I've ridden (Suzuki and Honda - the Suzuki having the better gearbox), you may find changing down the bike won't engage gear. Especially at lights (going into first). The best solution I've found is to maintain pressure on the gear leaver whilst changing gear and slowly release the clutch till you hear the clunk as the next gear down engages, then pull the clutch back in. This can also work for a tricky neutral selection.