Tips for Braking on a Motorcycle

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Tips for braking on a motorcycle

In the Netherlands, beginning motorcycle riders are taught how to brake. In many

countries,starting motorcycle riders have to find out how to brake well themselves.

But even when you did receive lessons in braking, it is advisable to keep practising,especially

when you change bikes.

This page summarizes how to brake in different circumstances and on different motorcycle.

How do you brake in case of an emergency stop?

And how can you achieve the shortest stopping distance?

And which difference does the kind of motorcycle you ride make?

And how and when do you use the front and the rear brake?

Een Nederlandse versie van deze pagina kun je vinden op

http://www.luiemotorfiets.nl/tips/remmen/.

On this page:

Braking and grip

Weight and braking

Suspension and grip

Optimal braking

Differences between motorcycles

An emergency stop

How to practise?

Locked wheels

Braking with ABS

Braking in a corner

Braking and grip

To be able to brake, you need grip. So before reading about braking, it's good to knwo

influences grip.

What is grip?

Intuitively, everybody knows what grip is, and especially, what *little* grip is: You will alm

certainly brake very carefully on a slippery road, and rightly so.

But what is grip exactly?

Grip is friction, grip is the resistance that the tire feels with the surface of the road.

Withour friction of the air and of the road, a motorcycle wouldn't need any fuel, after rea

the desired speed. But unfortunately, because we live in an imperfect world, full of frictio

we do need fuel.

That same friction of the road surface, that same grip, is of use, because you need it to

accelerate (the tires push themselves against the surface of the road), and to decelerat

brake.

Grip and weight

The more weight on a tire, the more grip, because the rubber is, so to speak, pushed in

the surface. This i s intuitively true: more weight pushes harder.

It's easier to shove a bit of Balsa wood forward on a rough surface, than a bit of lead.

So, the more we ight, the better the braking?

So it seems as though your braking distance will be shorter as your motorcycle is heavi

trucks then would have an ultra-short braking dis tance...

So that's not how it works.

When you brake, the weight of the motorcycle works against the braking distance as we

in favor of it, because the motorcycle will tend to keep its speed, the more weight, the m

reluctance to decelerate. So you need more braking power to stop the bike.

Weight and grip

These two mechanisms compensate each other: more weight means more grip, but you

have to use that extra grip to have more braking power, which you need to stop that wei

Weight and braking

Weight distribution over two w heels

So, when braking, the advantage of more weight vanishes because of the disadvantage of having to stop that same weight.

Radi(c)al brakes on the Derbi Mulhacen

Grip or Slip?

Basics

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Sylvia

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But that compensation only applies to the total weight. With

motorcycle, the weight is distributed over two wheels, and t

distribution is not always exactly 50%.

No weight: no grip

When you look at the boy in this image, pulling a wheelie, it

clear that braking with the front brake is of no use in t hat

situation: the front wheel even doesn't have any contact wit

ground; all the weight is carried by the rear wheel.

Using the front brake would result in stopping the front whe

but a stopping front wheel does'nt brake the bike when ir c

no weight.

Tips: when you have a motorcycle which gladly pulls a whe

(wanted or unwanted), always keep your right foot near the

brake. You only have to touch the rear brake to bring the f rwheel down again.

The rear brake *does* make sense in that si tuation: when t

rear wheel tries to st op turning, it will make the motorcycle i

stop.

Locked wheel

Keep in mind that a wheel will lock easier when it carries le

weight.

This is sometimes felt as counterintuitive: when you ri de

downward, some motorcycle riders think, the front wheel

already has so much responsibility, you s houldn't fatigue it

using it to brake as well. You'd better use the rear brake.

But in reality, it is exactly the opposite!

Downward slope

If you would heavily use the rear brake while r iding a downward slope, the rear tire will soon loose all it's grip, lock, and will try to pass

front.

So always use the front brake w hil riding downward, even if it's counterintuive to you.

Suspension and grip

Contact with the road

In order to brake, you need grip, we just saw, and in order t

have grip, you need good contact between the tire and the

.

That's why springs and suspension influence to a great ext

how hard you can brake: they are responsible for the conta

between the tire and the road.

Dive

A motorcycle with conventional springs will dive during brak

That illustrates the fact that during braking, the weight of th

motorcycle will shift to the front wheel.

The motorcycle would like to keep its speed (because of itsweight), but that's impossible because the wheels are force

turn slower. The motorcycle will then try to turn around the

wheel, so to speak.

In case of a "stoppie", it succeeds in doing so: the rear whe

lifts from the ground.

Weak front

Because of the diving, a motorcycle with weak fr ont springs

suspension, will become uncontrollable while braking hard:

springs will reach their bottom, and then the contact with th

road will disappear with every unevennness of the road ( thi

called "stamping").

So, when your springs are weared, it 's not only a matter of

comfort, but more importantly, it will become impossible to b

really hard.

It also means that with motorcycles that don't have stiff springs (many allroads for instance), you wil l have to practise a lot, to achieve

optimal braking: as hard braking as is possible with *that* suspension.

Anti-diveAnti-dive systems, like the BMW telelever, prevent the springs of having a negative influence on the behaviour while braking. Unfortun

the BMW system is about the only anti-dive sy stem that is available at this moment: most motorcycles just dive while braking.

Optimal braking

Alright, enough theory. Time for practice: how do you brake optimal.

Start with the rear brake

When you want to brake with the shortest possible braking distance, you start by using the rear brake. Of course, you don't slam it. In f

you only use the rear brake to start a process of s hifting weight from the rear to the front wheel. T his will cause the springs to get

contracted, which will decrease the chance of a lifting rear wheel, and which will stabilize the bike.

A little bit later the front

By using the rear brake fir st, there is already more weight on the front wheel when you use the front brake. Because of that, you can

squeeze the front brake harder than when you would have started braking with t he front brake.

Lay on and squeeze throughBut even then, it is not advisable to squeeze the front brake as hard as you can, at least not in the beginning. You should start gently a

then squeeze on when the weight has shifted to the front, because the grip of the front wheel will then be at its best.

To imagine what "squeeze on" means, imagine squeezing half a lemon.

Squeeze on

It is here that many motorcycle riders don't get out of their bike what it is capable of. Maybe, when you realize that at this point, the fron

wheel really has the most grip, you will be able to squeeze the handle as hard as you can.

No contact with the ground, than *no* grip as well

No contact with the road at all


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Speed

With a lot of speed, you will be able to brake really hard:

because of the high speed, shifting the weight to the f ront

take place with speed as well, and that means that you can

earlier squeezing the front brake.

When you ride fast, even sitting upright will decelerate the

considerately. On the other side, the same resistance of the

will slow down the shifting of the weight to the front, so eve

then, start using the rear brake.

No rear brake

At the moment that you can use much front brake, the oppo

is true for the rear brake: there is almost no weight on the r

wheel.

So, after touching the rear brake, let it go.

Differences between motorcycles

These tips on how t o brake optimal though, cannot tell you

much about exactly how long you should keep using the re

brake, or at which moment you can start really squeezing th

front brake: that's different for each motorcycle.

Sometimes almost no re ar brake

On a motorcycle that has a lot of w eight on the front even

without braking, you should let the rear brake go almost

immediately (it always pays to use it at the start!).

The motorcycles with that property have a short wheel bas

and their front wheel is almost directly under the steer: spo

motorcycles.

Sometimes a lot of rear brake

On other motorcycles, you should keep the rear brake work

during the whole braking maneuvre. Those are motorcycle

a long wheel base, and a front fork that sticks out to t he fro

which prevents the weight to be carr ied all by the front whe

The most extreme form are dragracers. Cruisers have the s

geometry but a bit less radical. T heir geometry has the pro

that the braking distance is longer than on sport bikes, and

that you need the rear brake during braking to get the most

of it.

Luggage

With a heavily loaded motorcycle (a pillion rider, camping g

your motorcycle will shift its weight during braking less than

are used to. In that case, you will have to use the rear brak

more that you are used to, for an optimal braking distance.

Watch out when squeezing

On a motorcycle that dives heavily, you should be carefull

squeezing the front brake: if you brake so hard that the fron

springs are pushed in to their full capacity, your front wheel

lock very easily.

On motorcycles with a long suspension travel, you should b

aware of the fact that it will take longer before the front whe

has enough weight, which means that it will take longer bef

you can squeeze really hard.

There is a great risk of locking the front when squeezing to

soon.

The same applies for motorcycles that need the rear brake

during the whole braking maneuvre: they don't get enough

wieght on the front to really use the front brake to its maxim

In sport bikes, the opposite is true: you should watch out fo

rear wheel lifting from the ground. That is easy to control, b

loosen you grip on the brake handle a bit.

When your rear wheel lifts, you know for sure that until that

point, you were braking to the maximum.

An emergency stop

Kneeling near the front brake

Many different motorcycles

You will have to brake differently with lots of luggage


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In theory

In theory, you should, of course, brake optimal in an emerg

situation: in that case, you have the s hortest possible braki

distance, and tha's exactly what is needed.

But in practice, that's hard to achieve at a moment where p

comes around the corner.

The danger is that you, next to squeeze the front brake (wh

is perfect if you do it like squeezing a lemon, and not all in

once), also will slam the rear brake, and hold on t o it, which

not ok.

Pull the clutch and use the front brake

For a real emergency stop, you can better leave the rear br

for what it is, and only use the front brake. On top of that, y

pull the clutch.

Why no rear brake?

It is very difficult not to slam the rear brake in an emergenc

situation, and especially to let the rear brake go in time. If y

muscles get tense in such a situation, the tendency is t o pu

the rear brake hard with your foot.

That will result in a locked rear wheel. If you are lucky, it wil

slide from left to right and back, and if you are less lucky, th

rear wheel will move passed the front wheel.

In an emergency situation, you don't want t hat.

That's the reason for the advice not to touch the rear brake

an emergency stop.

As a bonus, the bike will stay upright, because the rear wheel will keep turning. A turning wheel has resistance t o move sideways.

Why pull the clutch?

You would think that it is not wise to pull the clutch, because you would profit from the engine brake.

The engine is capable of braking the motorcycle a bit when you stay off the throttle, but i t also resists *more* deceleration. And becaus

you should brake much harder than the engine brake, you pull the clutch.

How to practise?

New motorcycle

In the first place: when you just bought a new motorcycle (fi

or secondhand), it is very important that you practise brakin

with it, even if you ride motorcycles for twenty years or long

The distribution of weight, and the process of shifting weig

while braking, is different with each motorcycle, and it's

important that you can feel the differences.

With or without the rear brake?

While practising, there is a dilemma:

If you want to achieve optimal braking, you should use the

brake.

But if you want to make sure that an emergency brake bec

an automatism, you shouldn't touch the rear brake while

practising.

A compromise could be to practise optimal braking from tim

time on a vacant parking lot, and to brake in tr affic in the

manner of an emergency brake, pulling the clutch and stayi

off the rear brake.

Practice on a parking lot will teach you to feel what's happe

with your bike, while your behaviour on the road will teach

muscles how to behave in an emergency brake, so to spea

Take care at traffic lights

When you practise your braking skills on the road, don't try

hard at a red traffic li ght: the tarmac there is often dirty, with

spoiled diesel and such, so it could turn out in a real

emergency...

Locked wheels

Less grip

The tire can have contact with the road in two ways: turnin

sliding.

A sliding wheel has kinetic friction, while a turing wheel has

dynamic or rolling friction. A sliding tire (with kinetic friction)

doesn't have any stablility with respect to direction: it will sli

very easily sideways. A turning wheel on the other hand, wi

rolling friction, will keep its direction.

A locked rear wheel, therefore, will sweep sideways, or eve

passed your front wheel, which will result in going down.

A good explanation about friction and locking and sli ding ca

found on this page about on friction and automobile tires.

Not really an e mergency stop, but there is a brake light...

Adjust your brake handle for an easy grip!

Locked wheels: y ou will go down easily (sketch by Ernst Anepool)


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Practice

To get an idea about how a locked wheel feels, you could

practise it once, in a c ontrolled situation.

A locked rear wheel

You can lock the rear wheel on purpose by, on an egal surf

(no parking lot with cobblestones), slam the rear brake. You

should stay off the front brake at the same time.

If your speed was enough, your rear wheel will "fishtail": it s

to the left and to the r ight, behind you.

Lock the front wheel

To lock your front wheel, you should ride with less speed:

From a standstill, with the front brake squeezed, open the

throttle, gently. You will then ride with a locked front wheel.

Unwanted locked wheel

So, what should you do in case of an unexpected locked w

Both with the rear and front brake, it is a matter of letting t h

brake go, a *little*.

Braking with ABS

Different way of braking?

Some people believe that you should brake differently whe

your motorcycle has ABS: just slam the front and rear brak

and the ABS performs the braking.

What is true is that you won't lock the wheels, but your bra

distance will be much longer than needed.

Why not?

When you slam the rear brake, the rear wheel will lock, alm

immediately. So the ABS will take over immediately as well,

braking and letting go the rear brake at a high frequency.

Therefore, it takes longer before the weight of the bike has

shidted to the front wheel, than when you w ould brake care

The front brake will not perform as it should as well: you

squeeze the front brake at a moment when the weight

distribution is far from optimal. So the front wheel will lock a

well, and, the same as with the rear brake, the front brake

come in and let go alternately.

All in all, you will loose many costly meters braking distance

Different ABS systems

In most ABS systems, the ABS engages before a wheel lo

Understandably, because the ABS is always slightly later th

real-time: the values of the sensor should be checked and

analysed, and the controller has to take action.

According to the tests, the ABS system of Ductati seems to

almost perfect. In other systems, it may engage (long) befo

wheel locks.

Reactions on stoppies

Most ABS systems prevent the rear wheel from lifting. T her

two kinds of control:

A limit to deceleration

In this case, deceleration (the degree of braking) is simply

below a certain value. You can never brake harder than tha

value, and with that value, the rear wheel will not lift.

Front brake reacts to rear wheel lock

In this case, the ABS system will react at a locked rear whe

when you use the rear brake, and the rear wheel lifts, the w

will lock instantly. If the ABS system detects a locked rear

wheel, it will react by loosening the *front* brake.

That system can take you by surprise, for instance when ri

a downward slope: when riding a downward slope, the rear

wheel locks easily (there is almost no weight on it), and the

will let go of the f ront brake. You will notice the fact that

suddenly, for a hairy moment, you don't have any brake at

Another situation where this can happen is on bumpy roads

rear wheel may loose contact for a short time, and will lock

when you use the rear brake.

It is difficult to get detailed information about these kinds of

control.

As far as it's known, BMW uses the latter method, except fo

F-models. Honda and Yamaha use the first method, and Du

has no method at all: a Ducati with ABS can lift its rear whe

Practise!

What it all boils down to, is that you should practise, also w hen you your motorcycle has ABS.

When you can shutdown the ABS, also practise without ABS!

loose surface: easily locked wheels

A BMW R1200GS with ABS

No ABS, and no chance on a stoppie either


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Braking in a corner

Adjust the speed

From time to time, you will misjudge a corner. The corner is

tighter than it seemed, or it has a decreasing radius, or the

surface of the road doesn't seem thrustworthy.

In that case, the best way to adjust your speed is to keep th

throttle the same, and touch the rear brake slightly.

When you do that, the bike will not try to get upright. Instea

will even turn in a bit more, and that's exactly what you nee

(To help the bike a bit more, push it with your k nee into the

direction that it should go.)

Really brake

But sometimes it is necessary to really brake hard, while in

corner, You meet a combine, for instance, halfway the corn

a cow.

The front brake

Really brake hard in a corner is possible. You should use th

front brake.

You will almost never ride to the limit on the road, so there i

room to brake, and even to brake rather hard, without goin

down.

Pull the clutch

When you wouldn't pull the clutch, and squeeze the front br

in a corner, your bike would get upright, and steer out of th

corner. That is not always what you want.

That's why you need to pull the clutch, and you should acti

push the bike into the corner, with your outside knee.

PractiseYou should practise braking in a corner as well, from time to time. You will get experienced with what is possible, and you will automatic

do what's necessary when it's needed.

Sometimes y ou should be able to brake in a corner...


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Tips for Braking on a Motorcycle