Quick stops and rear brake

[cv_rider]

I was out practicing my quick stops, per advice from Proficient Motorcycling. Author suggested "If the idea of practicing a 30mph quick stop makes you nervous, you should get a handle on that before you need to it in an emergency situation," and that applied to me. So I found a deserted road and did a number of them. I was surprised at how easy it was to skid the rear wheel, with ever very moderate pressure on the pedal. When I was really crunching on the front brake, it seemed like anything more than a modest tap on the rear wheel locked it. The book says that can happen easily with sport bikes, but I assumed that would apply to bikes with more aggressive geometries than ours. Anyone else had experience with this? I guess it will just be a matter of continuing to practice it and getting an idea of how much rear to apply. Doesn't seem that the rear is capable of very much stopping power at all, although books often claim is contributes 30%. Doesn't seem like it to me.

[CHEMIKER]

I'm not an expert at this by any means, but I will say that my rear locks about 90% of the time when I'm practicing emergency braking. I practice from 60mph and the rear locks right at the very end at about 10 to 5 mph. It doesn't feel very strange to me but it might if the tire started to skid at a higher speed.

I remember from my MSF course that you can highside after locking your rear if you're not careful. I think if the tire starts to swing to one side and you release the brake it can snap back into line with the front and buck you off. They recommend that if you lock the rear to come to a safe stop and then continue.

I hope this helps and would be interested to hear from a more experienced rider.

[DefyInertia]

When I brake hard my rear is generally in the air at peak braking. If anyone knows how to keep the rear on the ground during a panic braking street scenario, I would love to hear it. And I'm talking about getting to zero as quick as possible, NOT a brake/swerve or swerve/brake type scenario.

[bluenova]

In an emergency situation I do not use the rear brake. The benefit you get in braking distance by using the rear brake, does not out weigh the need to concentrate on having to use 2 brakes simultaneously whilst watching what is going on around you. I'd rather have a slightly longer braking distance than worry about locking the rear wheel. I only use the rear brake for control in slow maneuvers.

[Doorag]

Originally Posted by DefyInertia

When I brake hard my rear is generally in the air at peak braking. If anyone knows how to keep the rear on the ground during a panic braking street scenario, I would love to hear it. And I'm talking about getting to zero as quick as possible, NOT a brake/swerve or swerve/brake type scenario.

Slightly OT but you can see the MotoGP guys do that every race. They are braking so hard going into turns that the back wheel comes up all the time. I don't know how they manage to do that then drop right into a turn without coming off.

I would imagine the only way to try and stop it would be to get your weight back over the rear a bit, but in an emergency situation I don't know that you'd have time to load the front for max braking then lean back a bit to bring the back down. If it's managable and you are used to it I guess don't worry. It sounds like you are at the edge of your front wheel braking anyway.

[OkieDavid]

I find that it seems like the back wheel locks with very little pressure. I also find that it tends to throw the balance off to the side and tends to "slide out" a lot easier than my previous bikes. That's why it's a good idea to practice,practice,practice.....Knowing from experience that when faced with fright/emergency, you will instincively react as you have trained, this is a critical skill I think too many riders ignore. I have a lot of empty pavement/parking areas near work and take every opportunity to practice emergency breaking/obstacle avoidance. As an aside, I find the FZ to be one of the sweetest obstacle avoidance bikes I've ever riden on. No need to fight the handlebars, simply pointing your toes on the pegs is all it takes.

Be safe out there,
David

[Pete]

Quick reminder for UK riders doing/considering their test. Locking the back wheel in an emergancy stop is classed as a loss of control and therefore a fail. I know because I did it :'-(, it was my only error in the whole test and they failed me for it, on a downhill dusty road!

[Jake]

The rear definitely locks up easily. I've been making a point to not use the rear brake unless it's low speed. Takes some getting used to but the rear is wayyyy to easy to lock up.

Jake

[AlanB]

Originally Posted by cv_rider

I was out practicing my quick stops, per advice from Proficient Motorcycling. Author suggested "If the idea of practicing a 30mph quick stop makes you nervous, you should get a handle on that before you need to it in an emergency situation," and that applied to me. So I found a deserted road and did a number of them. I was surprised at how easy it was to skid the rear wheel, with ever very moderate pressure on the pedal. When I was really crunching on the front brake, it seemed like anything more than a modest tap on the rear wheel locked it.

Same thing happened to me as a result of reading the same book. Made me very glad I practiced. I am now super light on the rear and based on the feedback here may try all front.

[AlanB]

Originally Posted by DefyInertia

When I brake hard my rear is generally in the air at peak braking. If anyone knows how to keep the rear on the ground during a panic braking street scenario, I would love to hear it. And I'm talking about getting to zero as quick as possible, NOT a brake/swerve or swerve/brake type scenario.

Bicycle racers slide rearward all the way off the saddle to prevent endos in hard braking. Given the relative weights involved, not sure that would help much on an motorcycle, but might be worth a try. (You probably won't get all the way off the saddle, though )