Covering the front brake... or not?

[99TLS]

Downside of covering the brake with a finger or two is when you need to stop fast and end up trapping fingers.

have never had this problem

[onearmedbandit]

have never had this problem

Neither. My lever will never touch the handlebar, nor trap any of my fingers in between.

[Ducman]

If you cover the brake just ensure you use the same number of fingers you would normally need to brake to your maximum. for example if you normally use two fingers to brake "cover" with two, if you have one finger on the brake in an emerency that is all you will be able to use to stop and you may not have the strength to stop as quickly with only one finger on the lever!

[NordieBoy]

I mean a well maintained, well bled set of brakes will get no way near the bars.

They may not have braided lines.

[NordieBoy]

have never had this problem

My favorite pair of gloves (Icon Hooligan) have quite pronounced finger protection and stop the lever before it's really started moving.

[laRIKin]

In a real panick stop, you will be surprised how hard you grab and how far the lever will move.
A lot more than normal braking, try it.

I had a car pull out on me and was crushing some of my fingers and knew I could not stop braking to get them out.
I still tapped the cars front wheel in trying to stop in time, which I did.

have never had this problem

Neither. My lever will never touch the handlebar, nor trap any of my fingers in between.

Well like I said, I have.
It was on an older bike 1988 Moto Guzzi MKIV.
Under normal braking I never did this. (crush my fingers)

But as I was riding trials again I got use to riding like this.
That is leaving two fingers on the braking lever.

A car pulled out from a side street and I had to jump hard on every thing I had and still tapped the cars wheel.
Trust me I was crushing my fingers enough for me to shake my hand after wards.

Now a more modern bike with better brakes etc, this is a problem.
And maybe it was the way the levers were set up and maybe the brakes had old fluid and needed bleeding or just my old bikes brakes.
But not all of us are riding modern state of the art bikes with state of art brakes.

[Hitcher]

I got into the habit some years ago of covering brake and clutch all the time. In addition to enhancing braking response times, covering the brake stops my hand "creeping" around the throttle and becoming too pinched on my wrist. The only disadvantage I have discovered from this practice is suboptimal heated handgrip performance in really cold weather.

[Mikkel]

Well, I don't know if this applies to other bikes but..., on my ZXR250 I have 4 settings (or is it 5?) for my brake lever position. On the closest setting I can touch it against the handlebar if I squeeze the handlebar very tightly.

If I set it on the 3rd closest setting I can squeeze the brakelever with all my strength and there's still a 1-2 cm gap. That's where I leave it at when I'm riding...

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

I had to think on this do I or do I not... Deppends on my ridding mood, and if I am in tight twisties or not, I will cover the front brake with say 2 fingers... and will use it do buttoning off or controling of speed into the twisties... of if unsure of the road layout

My profile pic shows me doing it so I guess I do... natural instint I suspose, but have another pic on a sweeper and I am not doing it...

[babyblade250rr]

I don't usually cover the brake under normal conditions, Generally when im out on the twisties in the country side i cover the front brake with a couple of fingers just incase i need to correct a line, But being careful to just feather the brake mid corner if need be as the R6 likes to stand up straight mid corner with the front brake on just a wee bit hard.

[slowpoke]

Surely the braking action depends on the situation inviolved?
The instructor was commenting on a carpark manouvering situation, during which the student would have been probably practising slow tight circuits, cornering and throttle control. In this situation it is textbook practise not to have one hand doing two finely controlled motions (braking and throttle control) when you've got a right foot available to take up the braking duties. It is also textbook practise not to use the front brake when cornering and a carpark exercise mainly involves cornering.
From my perspective I reckon the braking situation needs to be assessed before brakes are applied (gravel, oil, white lines, wet road etc). If you are covering the front brake during normal riding then chances are your first reaction is gonna be to heave on the front brake whether it's the right thing to do or not. You'll probably get away with it but I don't know that it's a good habit.