hey guys i had a conversation today about riding and i wanted to know.do yall use the rear brake on your scooter or not?i do here and there a guy at work said he only uses his in an emergency.what do yall do?

 

The rear brake is my primary brake. I hardly use the front brake.

 

I apply front and rear evenly, though the majority of the stopping power is in the front brake. I also use the rear brake to hold the bike at a stop on a hill, this frees the right hand for operating the throttle and prevents rolling backwards/forwards.

 

both

 

72% front 28% rear

 

I use the front much more than the rear. It is due to my sportbike upbringing.

 

I use the rear mostly. Just because "the chopper" that I rode solely for about 8 years only has a rear brake (and two feet!!)

 

In an emergency, with a good handful of front brakes ( especially with twin fronts ), I don't think there's much weight on the rear wheel, so the rear brake isn't very useful.

But I use mine way too much. It's made a funny squealy noise a couple of times.

 

This is an excellent post to discuss, and it may save your life. I replaced my Heritage Classic last week, after totalling my other bike when someone pulled out in front of me. I applied (as best as I can remember) mostly rear brake to stop the bike, and it was not enough to avoid the severe impact that destroyed my bike. The salesman that sold me my new bike, works full time as a motorcycle cop for the local sheriffs department. I told him all the details of my accident, and then he told me to come outside and he would show me a demonstration theypractice at the sheriffs training course. While I stood at one end of the parkinglot, he would ride by at 25mph (on one of the sheriffs bikes in for maintenance) and when he passed by me, he would brake using only therear brake. He repeated this demonstration using only the front brake. The stopping distance using only the front brake was HALF that of the rear brake. I know that the front brake provides 75% of braking power, but this demonstration was an eye opener. He said thatby routinely using only the front brake to stop in all yournormal riding, it will be an automatic response when you really need it. Of course a combination of front and rear brake application in emergency stops, brings a new set of problems to deal with, mainly rear wheel lockups. This technique requires a lot of practice. Like a lot of you out there, I only used my rear brakes to stop. Not anymore.

DJK

 

You aren't having fun until you have to use both front and rear brakes to slow down.The way I ride, without both ends workingat peak performance,I would not be riding the bike.Always use both ends.