Ever seen a guy on a sportbike slam on the front brake so hard the rear wheel lifts off of the ground ?

The rear brake isn't needed if you can transfer all the weight to the front with the front brake.

Learn to hammer the front brake (assuming you're going straight on dry, clean pavement) and keep control. Practice.

The front brake is your friend. It can save your life.

 

Sort of. What they actually teach is that 70% of your stopping power comes from your front brake, and 30% comes from the rear, if you apply them equally, due to physics and weight transfer. They teach you to use both equally so you will do so in a panic stop. They teach in a panic stop, you need to apply both brakes as hard as you can, so they are just short of locking up.

Right?

 

I use my front brake on gravel, sand, whatever.

I've said this here before - the front brake is NOT an on/off switch. You can apply varying amounts of pressure to the lever, to vary the amount of braking applied to the front wheel. It works equally as well on any type of surface.

The only place you have a problem would be on ice. In that case, applying either brake, or changing your throttle will likely cause you to go down.

 

Always use both, learn to adjust to the situation. I rode a DR650 that had single disk front and rear and learned to do panic stops without skidding. On my 08 SG, I find my self skidding the rear tire breifly. My SG has dual disc on front and man it grabs!. My wifes bike is an 07 Heritage with single disc on front and skidding is not a problem. Practice panic stops with your bike, it will be excellent practice and may save your bacon.

 

MidnitEvil ,you are correct. I just finished the MSF course last weekend and they was teaching to use both brakes equal. And that the front brakes have 70% of the bikes stopping power. They also teaching to never use your front brakes while turning and to straighten the bike up first ,then apply both brakes.

 

This is the only way to use the brakes.The more aggressive one rides,the more important it becomes to learn how to use the brakes properly and instinctivly.Panic stops are no time to learn.It's a very easy habit to develope,once learned you will laugh at ABS equipped vehicles.

 

Learn to ride with your forefingers on the front brake lever. It cuts down stopping distance and time depending on your speed and that can make the difference between stopping and being hit. I know, a couple of months ago I stopped 2 feet from broad siding a jackass that decided to do a U turn in front of me and then stopped his car in my lane when he couldn't complete the turn. It takes a while to get used to but once you get the hang of it, you reactions are instant. That 1 second it takes to get your fingers on the lever can really make a difference in an emergency.

 

I'm probably a 90/10 guy too. The rear brake has its place (gravel, ultra slow speed stuff) but I almost never touch it until I'm nearly stopped, at that point I'll transition from front to rear.

 

In MSF they teach to apply both brakes at the same time.

In normal riding conditions, I do this, but I apply more pressure to the front and just enough to the rear to keep the bike straight and upright.

It's not hard to overdo the rear brake, even on a dry road.

In non-normal conditions (wet, ice, gravel), just brake earlier, if you can. Or get ABS installed. My friend has ABS on his GS--incredible. (he can switch it off for off-road, though)

 

Go find an empty parking lot or a deserted county road somewhere and practice. Get a feel for what the bike will do if you apply a lot of brake. I think you'll find that the rear tire is VERY easy to lock up and the front probably takes more pressure than you'd think.

I tend to use the 70/30 (front bias) rule under most riding but full on "I need to stop this thing NOW" kinda stops is more like 90/10. When you do a hard stop you unload the rear tire making it lock up very easily whereas the front tire gets a lot of weight transferred onto it making it much harder to lock and thus allowing it to apply MUCH more braking force.

One more thing, if you find yourself in a situation where the rear is locked and it's sliding to the side: KEEP IT LOCKED and steer through it. Letting off can cause the bike to snap back in line violently enough to throw you clean off of it.