So how do you practice your braking techniques? Well, uhmmmm...it's not all that easy, especially if you are a nervous or an overly cautious rider. (One thing I have learned is that being over cautious is just as dangerous as not being cautious enough. Seriously, I've seen it, lived it and I have learned to throw over-cautiousness to the wind. Get over it...this is where the whole "trust your machine" philosophy comes into play.)
Why practice? There are lots o' good reasons.
One blaring reason is because it will make you a better iron horse jockey; not to mention that it could easily save your life. (...or the life of your bike, just in case you happen to be one of those folks who isn't into personal safety.)
Another reason is simply confidence. Lack of confidence is just as harmful as over confidence. Both will kill you. Knowing how your bike will react in emergency braking situations will give you the ability to get it right,...right when it counts the most. It will endow you with the awesome confidence to let your motorbike do what it has been bred to do without your sorry ass getting in the way. Release the full potential of your bike by knowing exactly what it can, and can't do. The only way to make it happen is experience, experimentation and practice.
Another valid reason is because you need to know exactly how you will react in a crisis. Example...have you ever watched a tactical team storm a building? These dudes have no problem kicking in a door, knowing full well that there is most likely an armed psycho waiting for them as soon as they enter that room. They can do it with just the right dose of caution and confidence to get the job done because of their extensive training and rehearsal. If they didn't constantly practice, then analyze, then correct, then practice again...all of them go home in a body bag.
You need to have this tactical mentality when it comes to your bike. You never know what is going to happen or what's coming around the bend while you pony express across the landscape. You need to be ready, and the only way to do that is rehearse, analyze, correct, and then rehearse again. Do this whenever you can grab a deserted road or parking lot. Practice the braking religion often and I PROPHESIES that when some dumbass cager, or critter, tries to cut your glory run short, that you will be able to deal with it calmly...hell, you might even avoid the whole encounter completely unscathed.
When that horrific moment calls upon you, time will slow down, and you will do exactly what you rehearsed, without even realizing that you are doing it. Once the danger has passed...you will know that all the annoying brake play time was worth it's weight in HD accessories. If you rehearsed nothing, then all I can promise is that you will simply reap what you rehearsed...which is nothing. Nothing can take everything from you, when you ignore it long enough.
How to practice?
That's the easy gig here. Just try to stop your bike as quickly as you can without locking up the wheels or dumping your bike. Ok, ok...I'm pretty certain that wasn't what you were looking for, so I'll offer up some things I have done in the name of brake lever grab-ass.
(Practice-"Slow Drag") Yup, and you thought slow drag was only a lame ass ritual biker competition; Nope. If you are not down with the details of what a "slow drag" is, then I'll fill you in on that now. A "slow drag" basically is where two or more bikes drag race. Instead of racing to the finish line for first place, the riders try to be last across the finish line. This is a race where the tortoise always wins. The rules; You can't put your feet down. If a boot heel touches the asphalt, then you are disqualified. You must stay in your lane. This lane is usually two chalk lines that are only eighteen inches apart and at least 50 feet long. If a tire goes outside of this lane, then you are disqualified. Some riders will balance their bike at almost a complete stop. If you are really good at this, you realize that brakes play a huge roll in balancing your bike, along with clutch, steering and throttle work. The longer you can keep your bike upright at a dead stop, the better you will be at this competition.
How does this help you brake better?...One word; Balance. Your goal is to work towards being able to balance your bike, at a stand still, for at least 1.5 seconds or longer. How does balance help you in braking situations? A butt-load...allow me to clarify. Pretty much every hombre knows about the gyroscopic forces that are generated as a result of your wheels rolling along on the bike. The "slow drag" practice teaches you to balance your bike, without the helping hand of those gyroscopic forces, because your wheels are not spinning. Now think about it...if you lock up your brakes...then your wheels are not spinning, right?...which mean no gyroscopic forces...which means you are balancing the bike by your lonesome; it's all you baby. In most situations where you lock up your wheels, you only have about 1.5 seconds to correct. This "slow drag" will help you achieve this.
Let's say you have locked up your brakes. You now have 1.5 seconds to correct; If it's a front wheel lockup, then you have 1.5 secs to release before you are flat on your ass. If it's a rear brake lockup you have 1.5 seconds to get the rear tire back to trailing the front wheel, then release, or, leave the rear locked and tail slide to a stop. (ALERT! ALERT! Never release a locked rear wheel unless it is directly trailing the front wheel! Good balance will help you get that static rear wheel back behind the front. If you release the rear brake, in a rear tail slide before it is properly trailing the front wheel, then you will be telling all your bros about your recent tank slappin' experience...well, if you are still alive to tell the tale that is. If a locked rear wheel gets too far out, then it's a far better option to just stay in the slide with the locked rear wheel, as you steer into the same direction of the slide, until you come to a stop...or hit something.)
I once again put this to the test just before I wrote this deal. It's been raining here so I hit the wet roads. I managed to get the front wheel to lock up at 25 mph. (I don't recommend you try this until you can hit the 1.5 second balance trick down consistently.) I could balance the bike with the front wheel locked for almost a full second and a half...and only because I can balance my bike fairly well. The ability to instinctively balance the bike kicked in and I rode the front skid for a good distance. Right about the time I felt that the wheel was going to slide out from under my ass, I simply released the brake lever and all was golden again. (My poor tires...pfffttt, but it was a for a good cause.) Then I locked the rear at the same speed. The rear is much easier than the front to handle. It was fairly easy to keep the rear trailing behind the front wheel, simply by balancing the bike, and SLIGHTLY steering into the direction at which the rear end was trying to slide out. Once the rear wheel was trailing directly behind the front, I just release the rear brake...and all was good again.
See how this can help you out on your braking, as well as your balance? Kick ass!
(Ok, I lied...I need to continue this....so that means I'll be turning this into a foursome....or a pentasome series....whatever that is. I could blah blah blah all day long if you let me...but, you are all busy folks so I'll let you off for now. Have a good one.)
RAM mounts
1 hour ago
2 comments:
I hear what you say about 'stop your bike as quickly as you can without locking up the wheels'. This is what they used to call 'threshold braking' and it was a technique developed before ABS came along. Basically it amounts to applying the maximum amount of brake that allows the wheels to continue rolling. The other thing I keep in mind is something the riding instructor said: if you lock up the back wheel, stay with it- cuz if you release the brake the back tire will suddenly have all kinds of traction and the bike will flip you over the high side. I sure don't need that. I have had 2 emergency braking situations this year. The first was on the ride back from Sturgis when I came up on the bike in front of me too fast and had to stomp on the brakes. The rear tire skidded briefly but I brought the bike back to center and released the brake, and was able to continue riding. No harm no foul. The second was when a car pulled in front of me from a driveway and again, I just mashed the brakes hard. The back tire again locked up but I stayed with it until the bike was centered and I came to a stop. A few days later I rode by there again and saw my skid mark about 10 feet before the driveway.
Anyway thatnks for writing a good piece on brakes. Let The Good Times Roll.
There is an exception to the back tire lockup slide. I got it from years and lots of seat time in the dirt. I had no idea it would help me survive more than one crash on the street, one just a few short weeks ago in the mountains when learned habit kicked in without my really thinking about it.
Long story short, were riding a curvy curvy road when you have to keep your eyes peeled mostly on looking through the curve and not watching close whats directly in front of you. Everyone is checking up, I come around the bend and check up behind Billy who has stopped as the edge of the road is banked wrong and pitches him over to my side of the road. I lock up my rear brake only while in the curve keeping off the front brake as the bike begins to slide with the back trying to come around. I instinctivly can feel the rear about to stop sliding and catch. It is at this point I release the brake, bike straightens out then I grab both brakes and stop safely. Billy see's the whole thing and was worried what he was going to tell my wife had I crashed.
Its weird how all those years of riding are stored in the memory and you can act without thinking about it at all.
One thing riders must remember though is to practice both with travel gear loaded on bike as well if you travel, and unloaded because gear adds a whole different aspect. Grab a dirt bike and try it out by easing into it a little at a time until you can do it at speed. You'll learn where the pitching over point is. But just know that the front brake is off limits in a slide like this as it needs to be free to turn and roll until you get straight.
Confused yet? Try it on a bicycle first and work your way up if need be.
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