I thought I'd share my experiences from yesterday with you all, hopefully it'll come in handy one day and help keep us safer as riders.
My buddy and I were out abusing our bikes yesterday in Northern Va out in the Great Falls area, with my buddy riding on his Buell Firebolt XB12R and me on my E. I have never ridden so hard in my short riding existence, trying to keep up or lead. I was definitely riding his bike, not mine... I was driving above my skill level. There were a few close calls when I hit gravel or came in too hot in a corner that really scared me, so we decided to go to a huge empty parking lot and practice panic stops after our (then calmer) ride. I almost ran a stop sign that day and that really scared me. My rear locked up pretty bad... :nono:
I guess I'd describe a panic stop as suddenly realizing you have to stop without any warning, in as short a distance as possible while avoiding all obstacles. I can't say that everyone should do this, but my buddy's reasoning was if you really ever HAVE to do it, its good to know your friction points, and its good to learn and test them in a controlled environment like an empty parking lot. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed. I of course, didn't want to break my bike or hurt myself, but then I thought of how much worse it could be on a road with Ford Excursions blasting by me. It made sense to me to really push my bike's safety features to the max and find flaws so I could fix them and have a safer bike and be a safer and more experienced rider.
I started by geting up to about 25-30 in the lot and just jamming both of my brakes. My rear tire skidded the entire way and my front locked up and skidded/shuttered as well. It was scary, but I felt the point where I lost friction with the street. I then realized that braking in a panic stop must be 90-100% front brake, since your weight is over your front wheel, and your rear wheel is pulling up... the rear is basically useless, so I focused on the front brake from then on.
After that, I practiced a few passes going the same speed, but feathering my braking into right before the loss of traction instead of just mashing it, and I got much better results. I could slow the bike to a stop with minimal endo-ing after a few runs, but I was in control. Pretty impressive for a little single-sided brake system. :laugh: The only problem I ran into was my handlebars got twisted in their mounts from my body weight's sudden shift onto them. This was a safety hazard that I hadn't been aware of, but now was. I also had to adjust and tighten my controls, as they shifted under extreme braking too.
We also did a drill where one rider would swerve at about 15-20 through the parking lot, doing tight turns and keeping moving at a decent pace. The other rider would honk his horn, and at that point the driving rider would have to do a panic stop, mid turn, or wherever he happened to be. This gave us a better feel for what to anticipate in turns, and how to stop while in one if needed. I learned that in a turn, always have an exit or braking strategy.
The parking lot conditions were perfect for this practice, since there were sandy areas, some loose gravel, and all that dangerous stuff to drive on and get a feel for.
Once again, I'll only say that I found this useful, not that everyone should go out and do it. I think there definately is potential for crashing or laying your bike down, so be sure to wear gear if you do it. I think it was great though because now I know what my limits of adhesion feel like. Not just what I think they will be like -- HUGE difference. I think that if or when I really have to use my brakes to their 100% potential, I'll have a better chance of keeping control and avoiding a painful accident.
Just something to think about. Ride safe guys.
Zack
Good advice.
The panic stop in a turn is something taught in the MSF course.
It is mostly front brake, but the back brake helps too. You just have to learn where its limits are.
Parking lot practice is the best way to learn. :thumb:
BeSafe
Love the parking lot stuff. Good job on testing your limits and also for finding yours AND the bikes limits combined. :thumb:
You mentioned the rear being negligable in a panic situation, and I must disagree. If you're applying so much front brake that the rear seems useless, you need much more practice. It does a great job of 'sticking' the bike to the road once you learn to load the suspension. Failing to find the 'sweet spot' of the rear brake is a very bad idea, imho. With proper tire preasure(s), suspension setup and rider skill the rear will result is shorter stops, with more control.
Next time you're out fiddling try it. You CAN finese the rear to provide ALOT of stopping force. Try panic stopping with just the rear, then try the rear + 1/2 of your front's potential. Thinking of loading while using them helps to.
Hey, while you're at it, give some itty bitty circles a try to. They're a GREAT way to gain slow speed skills. Just don't forget the ground hurts like a bastich going slow too :)
:thumb:
I find it hard to use the rear praticing emergency braking, it locks up really easily once the weight has transferred to the front wheel. I find it to be a bit much to manage finessing the front brake while also trying to let up on the rear as weight transfers. I think you really have to get them down one at a time so I'm focusing on mastering the front brake for now. Of course I find it hard to figure out how much to put on the front, I don't want to lock the wheel up but I have no idea how hard I can brake before that happens. I find that if I squeeze on the brake lever over a second or so to let the weight transfer, I can really clamp down on the front brake, almost as hard as I can squeeze and it doesn't lock up. But that's at around 20-30 mph so by the time you start clamping down you're already slowed down quite a bit from squeezing. I should probably practice faster too but so far I'm a bit scared to try that... It's really quite impressive how fast you can slow down when you squeeze instead of grab on the front brakes, you really reduce the risk of locking the front up. Now the only question I have is how hard can I really squeeze that lever once the weight is transferred, without locking up the front...
Yeah, I think I'll be doing another parking lot day... it was really helpful. As for the rear brakes, I'll try what you suggested ohgood. Oh, we did the tiny circles game too, lots of fun! I can almost do a figure 8 lock to lock now, not quite though.
debtman7, I'll be the first to say trying to break your traction by only using your front brake is very scary. It is a feeling of less control then when your rear locks up. However, it is a feeling that I will remember, so hopefully I will avoid it when I have to by learning the bike's limits. I think the hardest part of that drill was overcoming my rational side telling me to stop it because I was going to crash. Luckily I didn't have any issues. Just be sure to clutch in so you don't stall out and crash like a friend of mine did. :oops:
dangit man, you're making sense! :thumb:
and I just noticed (with my glasses on now) that you're a roadie too.
two wheels > four O0
enjoy the skills, slow is so much cooler than squidly :icon_mrgreen:
Try pulling the front brake smoothly until the weight tranfers to the front, then you can really rip the brake with much less chance of locking up :thumb: