I've only been riding for about a year now, I've got into problems when I have to stop quickly, I slam on my rear brake pedal like I'm used to doing on my old truck, of course my rear tire locks up and scares the hell out of me. My question is, has anybody else had this problem and how did you teach yourself not to react in that manner I have no problem during normal stopping situations its just when I have to stop quickly and instinct or muscle memory takes over.

 

Try using more front brakes and ease up on the rear. Practice fast stops until you get it right.

 

Gradually apply more front and less rear as the weight shifts forward. It takes some getting used to, but the front is the more powerful stopper of the two.

 

I have been riding for many years and I still occasionally hit the rear brake harder then the front when doing a panic stop. It ticks me off when I do it, because I know better.
I don't do it that large of percentage of times,but it still happens.

This is nothing to do with riding, but since were talking about doing the wrong thing even though your suppose to know better.
It reminds me of how you can spend a lot of time practicing taking a fall on a mat, where you learn to distribute the impact, so you wont get hurt,but if you are walking along and suddenly trip, the first thing you do is try and catch yourself with your arm extended.
Tom

 

PRACTICE your panic stops! Eventually you will retrain yourself.

 

Maybe you shouldn't get yourself in situations where you hafta panic stop. I've been riding since '72, & I can count on 1 hand the # of times I locked up my rears.

Particulary bad if you have a bike with a press-fit crank.

 

Front brake yes. Watch out for gravel & other slippery crap.

 

I agree with dickey. You only have a visual window of what's happening in front of you that is at most 14 seconds long. When you are riding / driving pick out a stationary object as far ahead of you that you can see, & start counting one one thousand, two one thousand, 90% of the time you will pass that object in under 14 seconds. I can not say this enough, YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU AT ALL TIMES! That way you can avoid most of the panic stops.

 

Since no one else mentioned it, a MSF riders course sounds like it might be about due. Understand the fundamentals then practice.

 

I lock mine a little bit by accident sometimes. I find it usually goes along with wearing my big, heavy steel-toe boots with thick soles. Wearing my thinner boots, I can control what I'm doing a lot better and avoid locking it up. Dr. Marten 1460's are just about perfect for dealing with foot controls.