Practicing Emergency Braking
I've started this in a new thread as this post was not really related to my smooth riding thread.
Most people know that on road bikes, the front brake/s are used a lot more heavily than the rear brake. This is because the weight greatly moves on to the front tyre and off the rear wheel during the braking process.
With modern bikes brakes being so good, one usually finds the single biggest limit is the amount of grip that is available, rather in any limitation in the brakes themselves. The trickiest thing if course is the grip is as variable as the road surface type/conditions you encounter riding NZ roads.
Hardware.
I adjust my brake lever lowish so I can easily flick my fingers out over the lever - being quick on the draw can literally save your life. If you have to rotate your wrists up to get your fingers on the brake lever, your wasting precious nano seconds and weakening your stance, don't forget when braking hard, your dealing with very real and all powerful G-forces.
Make sure your brake fluid is at the correct level. If you subscribe to the smooth style, you could consider running the HH soft compound race grade compound brake pads. They will still last plenty long, and the difference between race and street can be vast, not only in stopping power, but the just as important factor - feel.
When out riding, I drape one finger over the brake lever at all times, sometimes even two if I'm feeling particularly twitchy at events happening around me.
Braking Technique
When faced with emergency braking, reach for the brake lever and smoothly and progressively squeeze it (progressively squeezing the brake lever helps your forks/bike settle giving better grip), while simultaneously brace yourself against the bars with your elbows bent out (your bent arms effectively become part of the suspension process giving more grip). Get on the balls of your feet (even just the left foot if right your foot is on braking duty).
If you have the style of bike where you can clamp the tank between your knees, do it!
As your front tyre reaches it grip limit, the "texture" you feel through the bars will suddenly change from the usual organic slightly buzzy feel to deadly silky smooth as your front tyre locks and starts to skid. As soon as you feel that change, reduce pressure on the brake lever, regain traction and still brake hard, but not quite as hard as before. Try not to completely release your front brake either, as that will pop your forks up an you will have to go over the whole suspension settling part again. In this scenario the rear brake should only be used very sparingly to act a as stabilizer. (some bikes such as cruisers can usually handle a fair bit more rear brake than a sports/naked/sports tourer blah blah)
If your a newbie and your thinking "Hell, thats a lot of stuff to remember and do!" Well, I'm not going to sugar coat it for you, yes, there is a lot to learn in this area. It comes down to practice, which just means more time on the bike, so it's hardly a hardship eh.
Exercises I've used to speed up the learning process:
Practice emergency stops in very quiet areas of road from speeds ranging 50, 70 and 100 kph.
Select different surface types to practise on, i.e fine stone chip, coarse stone chip, hotmix, patchy/slick road (with MUCH caution) and practise wet road stops too.
Practice braking on each new bike you buy.
Start a run from a standing start, look over your shoulder for traffic before you start every single run.
Get up to speed pick a marker, then putting all the above into action, going into the stance and applying the brakes etc. take note of where you stopped, and if the road is long enough, repeat the process. Turn around, and do the same back to where you started. When repeating the process again, use the same braking markers and keep taking note of where you stop in order to monitor your progress into becoming a demon braker!
Once you have had a chance to practice and are feeling more comfortable with the process, I highly recomend you practice flicking a glance in your mirrors, it can be the guy behind you that cannot brake as hard as you that takes you out. I've had near escapes on both bikes and cars by modulating the braking velocity to ward off assaults from the front and rear! Within the realms of emergency braking, once maximum braking is reached, A well practiced rider "usually" has a window of opportunity to glance at the mirror.
ATTITUDE as in never say die!
Every bit as important as good hardware and well practiced braking technique, is attitude. It can be the difference between making it, and checking out off planet Earth permanently.
I know of scenarios where basically, the rider has got into a situation and they thought ARGGGG I"M CRASHING!. Talk about a self fulfilling prophecy. Never, ever give up and always have a "crashing is not an option" attitude at all times.
In a life threatening scenario, having a never say die attitude, combined with being open to all possibilities, can honestly inspire God like riding abilities, if only for the 2 seconds it takes to save ones own life!
Wet Braking:
Barring slick tar and the like, most surfaces offer a lot more braking friction than many would realize. in most cases you can easily brake at least 75% as hard as in the dry, and often more.
Do watch out for surface water, it's deadly as it can hydroplane your front wheel (the wheel locks and "floats" across the wet road).
When the road is turning from dry to wet, particularly on hot mix, beware of when the water droplets start joining up - it suddenly becomes VERY SLIPPERY. If your tyre slides (even a bit) it creates a domino effect of droplets joining together effectively taking your tyres away from under you, and it can happen a blink of an eye.
The key to it all is simply practice. Once you are confident you have it nailed, your guarded confidence will up that grin factor even more
Feel free to ask any clarifying questions you may have on the above, or add in your experiences with emergency braking.
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... everything but gravel as we do not like gravel .. 
Karma ... Justice catches up eventually !! 
Originally Posted by sugilite
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