Read an article today in a motorcycle magazine dealing with avoiding accidents. The scenario was car pulled out in front of a rider riding two up. The rider locks up rear brake and starts a skid. He then lets off the rear brake and re-applys them. Anyway what confused me is the author in the article endorsed the re-application of the rear brake.

I'm confused because I was always taught that you could re-apply for a front wheel skid but that you should keep the rear brake applied even if the rear wheel is in a skid. The theory being that releasing the rear brake when the rear tire is in a skid could cause a high side crash.

What do you think?

 

Any time I am in a panic stop situation, and I begin to lock up the rear....I immediately get off them, and right back on.....all the while clamping the fronts to a point just a c-hair before lock up. I never have locked up the fronts....unless it was in the rain....or on a low traction suraface....or both.

 

If the rear of your bike has slid to the side, release of the rear brake can indeed cause a high side action. MSF teaches to not release the rear brake, if skidding,for that reason.

The reality is, the more experienced and skillful rider you are, youwould detect a skid immediately before the bike is sliding out to the side, giving you time to release and reapply. Unfortunately, any rider in anunexpectedpanic situation may not react the same as in a controlled situation.

Whether or not you continue to brake, or release and reapply, it is critical to keep your head up and eyes forward, to keep the front of the bike going straight. In maximum braking, if the front of the bike goes sideways, you will go down. And if you swerve, it is imperative you release both brakes before the swerve.

Whenever you hear a story about someone "having to lay a bike down," it really means they f**Ked up their braking.

 

My experience with brakes.....

When in a emergency stop situation, Apply front breaks and rear breaks hard. If they are in good condition then your bike will squat very low to the ground due to the force of the pull. If which you should NEVER do you cram rear breaks only and start side ways, 1 pray fast while doing the other steps at the same time2 let off the break, 3 It will snap back straight pending your not going down all ready, 4 thank God for helping your survive your learning experience. If both breaks lock which I have never heard of except for rainy days Irelease and reapply. The release time is when it begins to slid or your going down period.

Others may have had other experiences but those are mine. So far so good. No accidents yet.

 

I agree with the above post. If your front tire goes sideways and you are not counter stearing you are down when you slide sideways.

 

I release if mine locks up, and re apply. I am down shifting and breaking. MSF does say to stay in a gear that you can have enough power in to manuever the bike to a clear area.

 

I can usually react quick enough to release the rear skidding tire before I get too out of shape. My front brakes aren't much, so it takes a lot of work to make them skid.

Scooter

 

I've locked my front wheel several times and had to jump off and back on the brakes. Since I switched to Metzlers, I've not had that problem. I've been riding many years with lots of high speed track time. The HD rear brake is much larger than most metrics, especially sportbikes and is relatively easy to lock. However, as the previous poster noted, if you get off then back on just as soon as you detect rear lockup, highsiding shouldn't be a problem. Practice makes perfect. Of course the new ABS may minimize this problem altogether.

 

I think I just read that article in the latest "American Rider " mag correct?

 

Well said.

You HAVE to be a darn good rider to detect that rear coming around in a emergency braking situation. Just a few degrees off to the side can make for an ugly highside. The MSF defines a highside as "The rider falls ahead of the bike". That'sa pretty tame explanation for what could be a violent occurance. For the most part, dirt riders can lock up the rear and release and probably not get thrown because the loose surface is more forgiving. The same could be said of a wet rainy street. But on dry clean pavement the traction is too high. I have seen riders thrown at speeds as low as 15mph. Iteach - If you lock up the rear, STAY on the rear, and keep dialing in more front brake with a progressive squeeze using all four fingers, because it's the ONLY braking system you have left. If you lock up the front, release, regain control of the front end and apply a progressive squeeze. And like the man said, Keep your Head and Eyes Up!

I explain a highside like this. A motorcycle is a two wheeled inline articulated vehicle. It has two wheels that are inline, and there is side to side back and forth movement at the handlebars. We, the rider sit on the rear part of the bike. Say you are going along at 50mph, and a deer jumps in front of you. You accidently lock up the rear. Now the front tire continues to turn at 50mph, but the rear tire is now at 0mph. Then the rear starts to slide to the right. (It usually slides to the right because most roads are crowned in the center and we ride on the right side where there is a slight downward slope. Plus we are braking with our right foot applying downward pressure on the right side of the bike. Not to say it could NOT slide to the left, but for this explanation let's stay with sliding to the right). Now the motorcycle is pointing in TWO directions at the same time. The front tire which is spinning at 50mph is facing forward, and the rear tire which is NOT spinning at all is facing off to the left as the rear end of the bike comes around to the right. We the rider are now facing off to the left. We may not notice it because it may be just a few degrees off center, but WE ARE. The more the rear slides to the right, the more degrees off center and to the left the rear wheel points. Are you with me so far? That rear wheel, which wants to be rolling, but is NOT, is now storing energy like a compressed spring. When you release the rear brake, the rear wheel suddenly goes from 0 to 50mph in a heartbeat. Since the rear wheel is pointing several degrees off to the left, the rear of the bike is suddenly propelled in that direction, to the left.....while the front of the bike is still pointing straight. So now we have two wheels, on the same bike, travelling in two different directions at the SAME TIME. What's more, the two tires could be going at different speeds. Add to all of this the sudden release of energy from now spinning rear wheel (remember the co