Panic braking tip for newbies or everyone who needs to know.

[beyond]

Panic braking normally results in a loss of traction at the rear, or the front washing out and the panicked rider going down hard.

There's heaps of advice on this subject but let's keep it simple, as volumes can be written about this.

Get out on a straight piece of clear road without other traffic around and check how much rear braking power you have got by just using the rear brake. Use it till the rear locks up and release instantly and then start upping the speed to see the difference this makes.

Then use the front brake only and squeeze the brakes at a lower speed till the weight goes to the front keeping perfectly straight. Keep increasing the front braking force each time till you feel a slight loss of grip and release instantly. (I do mean slight loss of grip) Often just before the front tyre looses grip it will judder or chirp on the seal and this means you are at the edge of grip loss. You need to learn your grip point for panic braking.
Once you have found that point at low speed then try front braking at a higher speed keeping your bike perfectly straight ahead.

Under heavy braking when your bike is leaned or not straight you will get front wheel wash out. This can be saved by instantly releasing the brakes and then rebraking again.

Then use both brakes and repeat the process. You will find on heavy bikes a lot of weight goes to the front so rear braking is virtually a waste of time so you are far better to concentrate your effort on the front brake. If you use both and the rear starts to slide most people involuntarily release pressure on both front and back and lose precious braking distance. Remember that as your speed increases so does your braing distance and a lot more then you think.

On light bikes you can use more rear brake pressure as the weight transfer is not so great.

BUT: you must get out and practice so you know how your bike will behave and how much you can brake when the chips are really down. This one tip will save your life over and over again. Get out there and practice braking before you do anything else.

[discotex]

If you use both and the rear starts to slide most people involuntarily release pressure on both front and back and lose precious braking distance.

I think people really underestimate this. Doesn't happen to me when I'm practicing but it does when I have to panic brake for real. There's just too much going on trying not to target fixate and look for an escape route to bother with the rear brake.

On light bikes you can use more rear brake pressure as the weight transfer is not so great.

I always think it's more about the angle of the steering head and how far back the weight is. An M109R will be much better on the rear brake than an R1 for example.

Get out there and practice braking before you do anything else.

Totally. And practice in the wet too (just take it a lot easier).

[Fatt Max]

Great post mate, nice one

[jrandom]

There's just too much going on trying not to target fixate and look for an escape route to bother with the rear brake.

What he said.

So shoot us, etc.

Yeah, I know all the Authoritative Pontifical Motorcycling Writers like to witter on about how you should use both brakes, but in my experience, touching the rear brake during hard braking just makes the back end fishtail. It's useful for other things.

Go ask all the F1 and F2 racers at your favourite local meet whether they use the rear brake when they're hard on the picks, and I guarantee 50% of them will say 'nope'. And it won't just be the back half of the field, either.

[Hitcher]

Based on my experiences on sprot bikes, going for the rear brake is a largely pointless exercise anyway as, like the mirrors, they're only there for decoration and WOF compliance purposes. Clearly I've been spoilt by riding bikes with back brakes that work and have unreasonable expectations in that regard.

[rainman]

BUT: you must get out and practice so you know how your bike will behave and how much you can brake when the chips are really down. This one tip will save your life over and over again. Get out there and practice braking before you do anything else.

Yup, too true. I had some real world experience of this on my commute today when a taxi jumped out at me. I hit both brakes, scrubbed off some speed and hit the escape route around the front (only option). Did lose back traction for a fraction of a sec though, so there must have been a smidgen too much rear brake, and it could have been uglier in the wet or if I had been going a bit faster. I'm happy that I released the rears when I felt the slip, while hanging on to the fronts.

And for those who would rightly tell me I should have hazard identified him up front - I did (taxi), and slowed slightly, but picked up speed again when he stopped at the top of the drive. I assumed (silly me) he had seen me, and was waiting, rather than just pausing before blithely driving out into a busy street. Next time I'll make eye contact. And be extra careful when I haven't been riding for a few days.

Good post.

[snuffles]

or just buy a bike with ABS

[slofox]

All of the above is good advice.
I also use engine braking quite extensively under emergency stop conditions - I do this without thinking - chop down through the gears as the picks go out. I think it helps a lot. What do you think?

[90s]

On light bikes you can use more rear brake pressure as the weight transfer is not so great.

Rake angle and power of the front brake is more important a factor than weight, but as a general rule this is wrong.

Lighter bikes tend to mean the front brake works more effectively and transfer is total - i.e. rear wheel comes up. Therefore as per most sport bikes rear is useless.

Scientific braking tests have confirmed this and been referred to from this forum before, where heavier bikes (ie. cruisers) benefit more from the rear.

All the rest of the advice is good - esp. trying the brakes out. This is where you will learn whether it is worth using the back in a emergency or not. On my old bike it was not, on my current one it would still save me a meter at 50kph.

[vifferman]

Yeah, I know all the Authoritative Pontifical Motorcycling Writers like to witter on about how you should use both brakes, but in my experience, touching the rear brake during hard braking just makes the back end fishtail. It's useful for other things.

Apart from helping settle the bike before braking hard with the front, it's also useful for activating the other two pistons in the front calipers.
Or for braking hard on slippery surfaces without fear of locking up the wheels.

Based on my experiences on sprot bikes, going for the rear brake is a largely pointless exercise anyway as, like the mirrors, they're only there for decoration and WOF compliance purposes.

DCBS FTW.

[martybabe]

Good post Paul.

I'd like to throw my weight behind the practice ethic, bikes vary enormously in the way they brake. I remember many occasions as a noob, the back end coming round to meet the front due to me panicking,stomping on the brake pedal and locking the rear wheel. Traveling forwards at a 45 degree angle is not good when the maneuver is unintentional.

I favour mostly front with a little rear but on a Harley I test rode the front did absolutely nothing except make the front end dive a little,so I had to use predominantly rear, when I later owned one I found it worked best if you went real heavy on the rear before you even applied the front.

I'd go as far as to say practice hard braking on (your) bike and anytime you ride a machine your not familiar with practice emergency braking, you really need to know what the bike is going to do when the poo hits the fan.

I even practice emergency and cadence braking on suspect road surfaces, Wet,gravel,wet tar,ice and snow. Whilst you can't always predict how you're going to react in an emergency, knowing what your bike is likely to do under such circumstances is a life saver.....really.

[Hitcher]

DCBS FTW.

It's certainly very seductive. I had to relearn the Art of Braking when I moved from an ST1300 to the FJR.

[vifferman]

It's certainly very seductive. I had to relearn the Art of Braking when I moved from an ST1300 to the FJR.

It's often maligned by those who haven't taken the time to get used to it. While it does have its disadvantages (added weight, complexity, more difficult and time-consuming to bleed), it's very nice being able to stomp on the rear brake and have actual retardation of one's forward momentum, without any attendant drama.
I'd imagine the (alleged) new system on its way that combines DCBS, ABS and power assistance would be a most worthwhile safety feature, provided it doesn't lose feel or add weight.

[90s]

Traveling forwards at a 45 degree angle is not good when the maneuver is unintentional.

... but oh so cool when it is!