I had a really close call today.  Traffic was slowing down and I was following at a good distance I thought.  What I didn't realize is that all the cars around me were slowing down but the one in front of me had stopped with no brake lights.  What a freaking idiot.  I did the best emergency stop that I could.  I got on the front brakes to the point of almost locking them.  I actually locked the rear tire and slid for a little ways.

I was past the point of oh crap and maybe I can get her stop.  I was already trying to figure out what was going to need fixed after the crash and then by the grace of God I stopped.  I was maybe 6 inches off the stupid cager's bumper.  I looked back and there was a good black mark in the road from my rear tire.  I hit the throttle to go on and nothing happened.  Silly me forgot the clutch and the bike died in the hurried stop.  I hit the ignition and was on my own.

Other than feeling like I suffered a small heart attack from the shaky adrenaline rush its all good.  This was my first big scare and I didn't panic near as bad as I thought I might.  I am definelty on the fast track for a jacket as soon as I can find one that fits and those stainless steel brake lines are looking like a good investment.

Did you just jam the brakes on? Or did you progressively squeeze harder as the tyre loaded up and the contact patch expanded?
If the first, go do some lessons or a cornering / braking track day or similar to learn how to break.
If the second, buy stickier tyres. If you are approaching the limits of traction on your bike, braided lines and better pads won't help.

I have never had the front close to locking. With HH pads, pirelli sprt demons and progressive squeeze, the bike just stops faster and faster the harder I pull the lever. I weigh 120kg though so there is a lot of weight transfer onto the front.

James

You dont need to upgrade anything. The answer is easy...... just travel within a safe stopping distance/speed from vehicles in front?   

I think sledge is half right, i can't condone the full comments though because i loathe the 'your the following vehicle therefore it will always be all your fault' attitude. Yes in this case you must have been too close as with the level of braking skill you have you were close to not managing to stop. HOWEVER. It would f%$king help if the car driver had functioning brake lights to alert you to the fact he had put his brakes on suddenly.

It only takes a split second when you have your head turned slightly to the side to check for vehicles either side for the guy infront to stop and you have lost a couple of seconds reaction time in order to stop. Especially considering you have no clear visual sign in your peripheral vision to warn you, shaZam! hes slamming his breaks on since his brake lights dont work. Your only going to notice fully when you flick your head round when you see the car getting closer. Also i accept that if you had increased the distance infront of you in a multilane carrigeway your in danger of leaving a gap open that a car driver 'thinks' he can get in and ends up cutting you up. Its a catch 22 situation.

In time and with more experience im sure your braking will improve and your awareness will too, you will learn to know where to look and how to look whilst being vigilant of what is happening in front. its part of riding a motorcycle, being vigilant and looking out for yourself 360 degress whilst also being able to concentrate on your riding.

+1 to the other replies.
My 2c...Upgrading your skills will be far more use than changing the bike. The GS front brake is plenty powerful enough, the back is probably too powerful. When you're emergency stopping there's so little weight on the rear wheel that it's almost too easy to lock up, as you discovered.
The driver may be slack on maintaining his vehicle, or his brake light switch might have died 2 min before. Who knows? The lesson is to be alert (the country needs more lerts  ) and trust nothing and no-one!!
At least you won't have to spend $300 on a tandem skydive to check if your adrenal gland is working.

Totally understand what you guys are saying.  It is a catch 22 with following distance.  Too close and you don't have time to stop and too far away you get cut off.  I have been riding this bike for 3 years and I believe a little skill, knowledge of what the bike was going to do, and help from the man up stairs kept me from hitting the cager.  I did not slam either brake and know the proper way to emergency stop.  I progessively squeezed the front brake which is what got me stopped.  It probably was no where near locking up just felt like it in the moment.  I wasn't on the rear brake that hard I think it was just the weight shift mentioned.  Thanks for the advice and reassurance.  You definetly gotta be aware at all times.  Cagers think a bike can stop on a dime but that just isn't the case.

ya my car outbreaks my motorcycle by a TON
but i really feel like i got to squeze the CRAP out of my front brake.

i guess 14 year old pads and lines might need to go this winter

Yep skill has alot (read: most) to do with good braking, but good tyres, some high quality HH pads and stainless steel lines up front can only help (and practice getting the best out of them)

If your brakes are capable of locking the tire when using progressive pressure, upgrading your brakes won't do a thing.  If you already use high quality rubber, you'll need to go with bigger wheels and tires for more stopping power.

Practicing quick stops is the least expensive and most effective way to increase your likelihood of coming out of the same situation unscathed. 

Finally, do stainless brake lines really decrease stopping distance?  If you can modulate your brake pressure to the point of nearly locking up with rubber lines, what's the difference?

Good point Juan.  Rubber is still stock.  Rear will swap, stickier rubber, and some more practice are probably my best bets.

Yea you need a tire upgrade ... not brake upgrade. You locked the front up right ...
You fit better tires, you will get it to the point where it wont lock up, then you upgrade the pads ... however the more aggresive pads will eat up the rotor fast. You prolly should upgrade to a kat FE if you need better brakes than that.
Cool.
Buddha.

Alabama :rolleyes:

Didn't lock the front.  Slightly locked the rear Buddha.  Skwidd what's wrong with Alabama?

Locking rear tyres are easy to do because most of your weight shifts forward when braking.

For that reason you need to practice getting the balance right between your front and rear brake. ie more pressure on the front, less on the rear.

Quote from: nascarkeith on August 22, 2008, 11:05:07 AM
Good point Juan.  Rubber is still stock.  Rear will swap, stickier rubber, and some more practice are probably my best bets.

Rear wheel swap (I assume that's what you were trying to write) makes diddly difference to braking - the problem is always that most of the weight and most of the braking effort are concentrated on the front tire when braking hard.

Since were speakign of practice, I haev a question as far as wieght shift goes.  I know that during my bike courier days, shiftign my wieght back always aided me in an emergency stop situations,( i.e. cruise missle car doors clumbsy pedestrians or blind cagers), will shiftign your body wieght back durign this emergency stop as described on this thread aide you any if at all? 

Not enough to notice. With a bicycle, you are 90% of the mass, and you are inconveniently located rather high, unless it's a recumbent. With a street motorcycle, you are less than 50% of the mass unless you are phenomenally fat, and the motor puts a lot of the mass of the motorcycle down low. If you simply stay put, you'll be fine, and you won't be wasting effort and time on shifting your body around when you should be concentrating on braking.

Want the easy and cheap answer? Just leave another 20-30ft (40 when its wet) between you and the vehicle in front, then you can stop worrying about brakes, tyres, stainless-lines, weight transfer, brown-pants etc. I have been doing it for over 25 years now and can assure you this method works very effectively 

i have ss brake lines and i tell you they are night and day from stock.  if you have not had ss lines then you don't know how great it is and have no idea how much better they perform so shut up   one finger braking in the front and a toe tap on the rear with no worries about the heat.

well, some times, following distance increases can be the wrench in the system too    as your distance increases, so does the chances of a cager cuttign you off last second.  judging the speed of a smaller object is much more difficult than a larger one.  So a lot of times you have the ole biker t-boning a cager incident.  They simply didnt see you(bikes dont register to a lot of people) or they misjudged your speed and thought they had time.  either way, emergency stopping will come into play.  And hopfully they didnt wait till you were 30ft from them.  then youre f%&ked, unless you manage a sweet lane change/median jump/sidewalk skip/parking lot excursion. 
Practice makes perfect.  If you havent practiced emergency braking, or emergency swerves, you had better be on the right side with the man upstairs.  gather 6-10  objects that wont shred your tires, find a huge parkign lot, and set up the cones to mimic any emergency situations you can think of.  Then practice at halfspeed first.  Once confident aka second nature, move up to full speed.  Then yoou should be better prepared for said emergencies.  Believe me, its better than not having the slightest idea of what to do.   emergency stopping shouldnt be the only manuever in your arsenal. 
Think of this.  Emergency stop.  car behind you isnt payign attention.  what now?  GS sandwich?  not if you practice downshifting while stopping and a quick take off around said obstacle directly after stop. 
After emergency stops, ALWAYS, ALWAYS do a paranoid ,crackhead  speed,  over the shoulder check and then bouce out if you gotta.  Dont sit there at a dead stop and hope every one sees you.  Thats how people get pinned between cars and then they die when the cars are pulled apart.  Ive seen this happen.  It happened to my friends dad.  He was a squid who wouldnt practice emergency manuevers, saying, if its my time its my time.      You can take that into your own hands.  You have instincts and a brain for a fuckign reason.  Please I beg all of you who havent, for yours and your loved ones sake and the 6 who might have to carry you, practice.  Itll take 2-3 hours most. Those 2-3 hours are better than 2-3 months in ICU or death in my books.