Tips For Braking

Brakes are the most important thing in our motorcycle. If you want to drive safely, without any road accidents, you need to learn proper braking techniques. We often hear such opinions from fellow riders: “I don’t use the front brake, it is too dangerous on my bike” Or “I never use the rear brake, it is completely useless” and so on. It’s clear, that most riders don’t know how to use brakes properly, so I decided to deliver some useful info about this important aspect.

Do you know which brake is the most important on any motorcycle? If you answered the front brake, you are right. Front brakes provide you with most stopping power (60-80%). If you still don’t believe, you should see these numbers: Official tests revealed that using both brakes on a standard motorcycle will stop you with mean deceleration of .776 G (gravitational constant). And just the front brake delivers almost as much stopping force – .711 G!

But when rear brakes are used exclusively, deceleration is significantly lower – only .425 G. Bikes with the linked braking systems (LBS) were tested too. Usually, on such motorcycles both brakes apply when you press the foot pedal. Actually results were lower when using foot pedal or the front brake control only (but brakes are linked together). So even with LBS, using both brakes gave better result (.740 G compared to .583 G or .440G). And the point is – you should always use all brake controls simultaneously, not just the front brake.

The rear brake is important too. Even on a sportbike, which usually transfers all weight in the front, after couple of seconds, rear brake use is still needed. You will use that before all weight is transferred (after that rear brakes will be partially inefficient), and those few moments will decelerate motorcycle greatly. On the cruisers and other heavy bikes rear brake is even more important, because the rear part of the motorcycle will be continuously stable through all braking process, and that’s why rear brakes will not lose power just after 1-2 seconds, like on the sportbike.

In addition, rear brake applies stabilizing effect, and holds your rear wheel in the back, without sliding sideways, or hopping around.

Useful tip: when braking, don’t downshift, just pull in the clutch. Studies showed that downshifting while braking actually adds few additional meters to your normal stopping distance. So just pull in the clutch and brake.

Of course this area needs a lot of practice, you can’t become “braking expert” overnight. And the thing is – you need to practice braking from the high speeds (like highway speeds, 90+km/h), not from 25km/h, when you are training in a parking lot. The problem is that braking from the low speeds may seem easy, you just push the brakes hard and that’s all. But in real situation, braking from over 100km/h can be disastrous if you push the brakes to the limit – over-braking will cause loss of control, and you will crash (usually this happens, if the front wheel locks).

Also, ABS is very good thing. Even when compared to usual braking systems on clean, dry pavement (in such conditions ABS doesn’t really have advantage) ABS is able to deliver more stopping power, deceleration is harder almost on 0.1 G. Also ABS eliminates the risk of wheel lock-up and stops are relatively safe. Unfortunately this feature is equipped only on expensive bikes, so beginners will probably don’t have this ABS on their bikes. However, if you are able to get bike with ABS, get it – you will not regret.

Tips for Braking

 i)When going downwards, use the front brake. Many riders think that you need to apply brake to “less stressed” rear wheel in this situation. But it is wrong, it may lock up (loose grip and pass the front). Remember – if the wheel carries less weight in any particular moment, it will lock up easier than the wheel with more weight on it.

  ii)Check your front suspension frequently. If you have weak suspension and worn out springs, you braking power will decrease and you will not be able to brake really hard or you will lose control. So front suspension in bad condition is dangerous thing. However, if you have a BMW motorcycle with anti-dive systems you will not experience such problems. Unfortunately, this system is only installed on BMW motorcycles at the moment.

  iii)While you are driving with a heavily loaded motorcycle, or a passenger, make sure you don’t push front brakes too quickly and too strong – wheel will lock immediately if the front springs will be pushed to the limit. You will have to use the rear brake more, and for longer distance.

Finally, how should you brake? The best sequence for this procedure is:

1. Close the throttle and use the rear brake.
2. Straighten the motorcycle if needed, and adjust your posture and hand position.
3. Use the front brake and declutch. Don’t squeeze brakes too firmly. Rear brakes shouldn’t be applied at this moment.
4. Adjust the brake pressure.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      This whole process usually takes 3 seconds to stop from 100km/h, and it’s really quick. So in order to do everything right you just need to practice this important aspect, no way around. Mastering braking is very important thing, so make sure you will spend as much time as needed