Rear brake use?

[tigertim20]

MotoGP riders use it. Must be useful for something.

+1.

everyone has their riding style. if you're asking with relation to track use, play around using all your options, and let your times/results answer the question for you.
For the road, do what feels comfortable.

[Crasherfromwayback]

MotoGP riders use it. Must be useful for something.

I agree with this that there are diminishing returns on rear brake effectiveness as the load increases on the front wheel and that the risk of locking the rear increases along with this. I don't believe that this justifies the lack of use of the rear brake though.

I was taught at advanced road/race training to take full advantage of the rear brake, if used properly it can add more stopping power and more importantly improved corner stability!
.

+1.

everyone has their riding style. if you're asking with relation to track use, play around using all your options, and let your times/results answer the question for you.
For the road, do what feels comfortable.

SOME MotoGP riders use...some don't. Bruce Ainstey was a keen user of the rear brake...but he's never gone past me on the picks, and I never used to use it. In fact...if I may say so, I was one of the late brakers from hell.

THIS guy doesn't really use it either. Anyone see his foot on the rear brake lever? At the end of the day...do what's right for you, not what others tell you is right.

[CHOPPA]

Back brake is good for stopping the bike from wheelying out of a corner, its good for dragging it through tight slow turns on the road like u turns and roundabouts.

Stroudy uses it to lower the back of the bike before he grabs the front apparently.

I wouldnt use it when braking hard cause once your back wheel slows down to much and your bike starts sliding or 'backing in' it can take a long time before the back can regain grip and when your bike is sideways your front brakes are not doing as good of a job as possible due to weight transfer off to the side.

I would use it for trail braking on a right corner or you will take your foot off.

A thumb brake would be very handy

[Mad-V2]

I drag the rear brake through most corners on the road.
My theory is it loads the rear suspension so that if you hit some ruts mid corner the rear wheel won't skip across them as the wheel is being forced into the road.
But I've never had any training or done any courses, so I may not be the best to give out advise.

[vifferman]

... DCBS, doncha know.
However (but!) for many moons I've been in the habit of using the back brake to settle the bike, then the front brakes. Rear brake as a rudder for slow-speed turns, although I don't tend to do this on the VFR as it makes the front brake a bit too.

[Crasherfromwayback]

. Rear brake as a rudder for slow-speed turns, although I don't tend to do this on the VFR as it makes the front brake a bit too.

Don'tcha hate that? I know I certainly do.

[willytheekid]

SOME MotoGP riders use...some don't. Bruce Ainstey was a keen user of the rear brake...but he's never gone past me on the picks, and I never used to use it. In fact...if I may say so, I was one of the late brakers from hell.

THIS guy doesn't really use it either. Anyone see his foot on the rear brake lever? At the end of the day...do what's right for you, not what others tell you is right.

Nice of you to quote me on that little bit that matched your personal point of view mate
Here is the bit you seemed to have missed (And my own personal view....same as yours!...funny that)

But as Drew and others have stated, in the real world it comes down to the type of bike and the riders own style of cornering.

As an example, I had a 900 ninja that loved to have the rear brake dragged, it made a huge difference in cornering stability and stopping power...yet my VFR400 race bike hated it! (just made it twitchy and step out), so I just used engine braking and clutch control on the 400, my current bike the Guzzi is fat bitch and needs as much help stopping as possible lol so I currently use the rear brake alot.

End of the day, it comes down to your own preference and what works for and your own bikes set up ...but the physic's are there to be tested, and the results may pay off.

So ya crazy late brakin coffee burner you

[Crasherfromwayback]

Nice of you to quote me on that little bit that matched your personal point of view mate
Here is the bit you seemed to have missed (And my own personal view....same as yours!...funny that)



So ya crazy late brakin coffee burner you

Sorry mate...wasn't on purpose. I know you said that.

[Dare]

Stroudy uses it to lower the back of the bike before he grabs the front apparently.y

I use it to preload the front suspension so it doesn't dive when I grab a handful of front brake, usually just after a light turns orange. Also helps when about to turn in hard. But then I have bouncy castle suspension so it really needs it

[CHOPPA]

I use it to preload the front suspension so it doesn't dive when I grab a handful of front brake, usually just after a light turns orange. Also helps when about to turn in hard. But then I have bouncy castle suspension so it really needs it

Thats good skills, I cant do it quick enough!

When your turning in to the right does your foot not hit the ground?

[imdying]

Sure... I'm just saying that making a sweeping statement like that isn't accurate when this thread seems to be rather particular

They were only talking about good handling bikes.

[Corse1]

Too much combined with V twin and changing down when a little hot can lock back up and cause crash...how do I know......

have concentrated on more front brake now and works a treat.....

Rider training on track starts out with front brake only with some trainers. I wonder why.

rear brake can help if trying to scrub off speed after entering a cornmer but just a little. Doesn't lift the bike up like the front will.

[caspernz]

Crikey, what a diverse set of opinions! May as well add mine. For road riding, using brakes selectively to circumvent suspension problems/reactions seems a bit like joining the mile-high club, solo aviators division....

Anyhoooo, I use the rear brake selectively, such as settling the bike when running downhill at pace. Most of the time the front brake is the only one I use, yet when I need to scrub speed in a hurry I use both of them together. Practice makes sense, for you need to know for your own bike where the lockup point is for rear brake alone. Rear brake gets used lots for low speed feet up maneuvering.

In the end, whatever works for your bike and your riding style.

[sugilite:Me]

I drag mine over the rough stuff on the road. But for the most part, I don't brake much for corners at all, front or rear. It's a style I've been working on for a while now and have found it a really enjoyable challenge. Ultimate smooth when you get it right.

[SMOKEU]

So is there any advantage for an "average" rider in using the rear brake MID CORNER other than to tighten the line after too fast a corner entry or in low speed turning situations such as turning into a driveway or going round a roundabout?

I have noticed that some people say they drag their rear brake through a corner as well as applying throttle, seems a bit counter intuitive (to me anyway).

Also, isn't engine braking on a big 4 stroke sports bike enough to lock the back wheel at high revs if no slipper clutch is fitted?