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Motorcycle Braking Tips
1. Which brake is the
most effective?
The front brake is the
most effective, giving between 60 & 80% of the bike's stopping power in
hard stops, depending upon surface conditions. This is because most of the
weight of the bike and rider transfers forward onto the front wheel when
the brakes are applied. A common example of weight transfer is when you
trip on a gutter - your feet stop but momentum keeps the top of you going
and you fall flat on your face. The weight transfer that takes place under
braking on a motorcycle pushes the front wheel onto the ground and makes
it grip very well.
2. Is the front wheel likely to skid if you apply the front brake hard?
No. The front wheel is
likely to skid uncontrollably and bring you down only if you jam the front
brake on hard. If you apply the front brake in a staged (progressive)
process, the front wheel may skid but that skid is normally quite
controllable.
3. Is the rear wheel likely to skid if you apply the brakes hard?
With most of the weight
being on the front wheel, the rear wheel tends to be light under braking
and will therefore lock up and skid very easily.
4. How do you control a rear wheel skid?
Control of a rear wheel
skid is easy. Just keep your eyes up to the horizon and look where you
WANT to go (not necessarily where you are actually going) and the bike
will skid in a controllable manner with a minimum of fishtailing. Basic
and advanced braking techniques are best learned under controlled
conditions rather than when a truck pulls out on you!
5. Is braking a natural skill?
Braking, as with any
riding skill, is a learned skill, not a natural one. This means you must
practice the correct braking skills enough to make them an instinctive
reaction before you can be sure that you will do the right things in an
emergency. Overseas research has shown that, because of panic overpowering
the rider's conscious reactions, nearly a third of all riders do
absolutely nothing in an accident situation: they don't even apply the
brakes!
If, however, your high
level braking skills are so well learned that they are instinctive, you
will do it right, no matter what the situation. However, this requires you
to do a lot of high level braking skill practice, the skills will not come
with normal everyday riding.
6. Is there a special
braking technique that ensures that a rider will get the best out of a
motorcycle's brakes?
Yes. The process is
called STAGED BRAKING and it involves the rider applying the motorcycle's
brakes in a staged process. This gives the rider predictable, progressive
braking.
7. In an emergency do we concentrate on using staged braking on both
front and back brakes?
This is a controversial
subject. Some experienced riders reckon that, even in an emergency when
research has shown that panic tends to decrease your riding skills, they
can apply the back brake perfectly with no loss of braking on the front.
Well, research has shown that the average rider can only properly
concentrate on the use of one brake in an emergency so, unless you think
you're the equivalent of a top motorcycle racer, we would suggest that
you concentrate on getting the best out
of one brake. Of the front and rear brake on a motorcycle, the one to
concentrate on in an emergency is the front brake because if you get that
one wrong, lock it up and don't correct that problem then you're going to
crash..
According to the
American Motorcycle Safety Foundation, if you try to get the best out of
both brakes in an emergency, you will get the best out of neither. The MSF
says you can't concentrate FULLY on both brakes at one time. You know your
mother's old nag, "You can't concentrate on two things at one time"!
So, to get the best
braking, you have to concentrate using either the front or the back brake
and, since the front brake gives up to 80% of your braking power and
incorrect application is likely to make you fall off, it makes sense to
concentrate on the front brake.
The American Motorcycle
Safety Foundation teaches their instructors that "in an emergency braking
situation you should apply the back brake hard and let the back wheel
slide if it wants to. This way you can concentrate on what is happening up
front; there's enough to think about in the use of the front brake."
8. So how should I apply the rear brake?
Apply it and forget
about it. Let the back wheel skid if necessary. Concentrate on using
staged braking to harness the superior power of the front brake to save
your life.
9. Is Staged Braking difficult to learn?
Given practice, the
skill is not difficult to learn. The best way to learn it is to start off
with a four stage application of the front brake. Later you can increase
the number of stages to make your braking more and more progressive, if
you want to.
10.Can you explain four stages braking in practical terms?
To understand four stage
braking, think of a rider coming up to a set of lights. Stage One is the
force with which he applies the front brake when he sees the lights turn
orange some way ahead, in other words, lightly.
At Stage One, the rider is applying the front brake to the point where the
brake is just on and slowing the bike down very, very gently to roll to a
stop.
Stage Two is the force
the rider would use if he was a bit closer to the lights when they turned
orange, and he had to make a normal, smooth stop at the lights. So, Stage
Two is the firm pull used to bring the bike to a firm, but quiet stop. The
rider applies his front brake to Stage One (friction point) before going
on to apply to a steady force at Stage Two.
Stage Three. Our rider
has dithered about whether to stop for the orange light before deciding
he'd better. By this time, he has to stop quite hard to stop. So he
applies the front brake to friction point (Stage One), then onto a firm
pull (Stage Two) before applying pressure with a strong pull at Stage
Three.
Stage Four. The rider
very unwisely decides to run the orange only to find, just before he
reaches the lights, that they turn red. In this serious situation the
rider needs all the braking he's got. So he applies the front brake to
friction point, moves onto the firm pull of Stage Two, then to the strong
pull of Stage Three, before giving it all he's got at Stage Four.
11. If you "give it all you've got" on the front brake at Stage Four,
won't you get front wheel lockup?
Possibly but by using
the staged braking process, by the time the tire gets to the point of
locking up at Stage Four, the weight has transferred forward onto the
front wheel and any tendency of the front tire to lose grip is both easily
sensed and controlled, unlike a front wheel skid caused by a tire locking
up when the brake is jammed on hard while weight is moving around on the
bike under weight transfer.
With correct use of the
Four Stage process, controlling a front wheel skid is simply a matter of
keeping the wheel steering straight ahead as you relax pressure on the
front brake to allow the wheel to revolve again and regain grip.
12. What will happen if the front wheel locks and I don't relax some
pressure?
You'll fall off as the
wheel will eventually tuck under and the bike (and you) will fall down.
13. How good can you get at emergency braking?
In emergency stops, expert riders are capable of controlling a front wheel
skid by releasing pressure on the front brake just enough to get that
wheel turning again without actually letting the brake right off. This
requires considerable sensitivity on the brakes and the only way you will
gain this sort of sensitivity is to practice.
14. Is a bald tire a
liability when braking?
A treadless tire will
quite adequately handle braking stresses on a perfect road surface. The
trouble is that perfect road surfaces are more than rare - they're
virtually extinct. Tire tread acts like a broom, sweeping debris, dirt,
gravel and water etc off the road surface in order that the tire can grip
the road.
The tread on a sensibly
ridden motorcycle can comfortably handle most foreign matter on a road
surface - with the possible exception of oil (especially diesel oil),
thick mud, and smooth wet paint. But link a bald tire with foreign matter
on the road surface and throw in braking stresses for good measure, and
the crash will resound throughout the neighborhood.
15. How should I brake on slippery and loose surfaces.
Carefully but not
timidly. The secret to good braking on poor surfaces is observation. If
you know what's under your wheels you can tailor your braking to the
surface.
So, keep an eye on the
road surface. If you cross a slippery surface under strong braking the
front wheel may lock. This is why riders who brake late and hard for
orange or red lights often spill off - into the middle of the
intersection. The fall occurs because the rider fails to ease the front
brake as the front wheel crosses the white line that crosses the lanes at
the edge of the intersection. Then the front wheel breaks loose under
braking on the slippery surface, the rider panics and freezes,
and he and his bike head ground wards.
The basic requirements
for braking on a loose surface such as gravel are the same as those
applying to braking on a sealed surface. The difference is that you must
observe the requirements more strictly on gravel.
You must brake in plenty
of time, preferably brake while upright and in a straight line (any
braking while leaned over in gravel is extremely hazardous), use both
brakes very progressively, carefully interpret the noise from the front
and rear tire while braking to detect and counteract any wheel lock-up,
know your road surface, and take particular care when braking on
gradients, inclines, and heavy cambers.
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