Ceri JC

My POV entirely. 2 finger braking and riding on toes are stylistic, not an inherent part of safe riding. Both have + and - points and I don't think there's a "right answer" with regard to which one you should do. I suspect the argument about 4 finger braking is probably a hangover from the days when brakes were less good and you really needed to pull hard on them to get the brakes on hard. If you're ridding modern machinery and need more than 2 fingers, you're either weedy or need to bleed your brakes IMO. Similarly, if the lever comes right back to the bar and traps the other two fingers, you need to bleed your brakes, or you're suffering from brake fade (which IAM style riding, you shouldn't be). Personally, the added safety benefits of being able to maintain throttle control whilst braking outweigh any negative aspects. I don't do 2 finger braking to emulate my racetrack heroes (I don't have any; I don't give 2 hoots about racing), I do it because it improves my machine control.

Similarly, I find riding toes on the pegs more comfortable on the SV when going reasonably briskly, so it reduces fatigue, not to mention the improvements in feedback from the pegs letting you know what the bike is doing. I ride covering the back brake when in 30s, but not out on NSLs. Besides, on the SV throttleing off is enough to commence the shift of weight to the front of the bike before you start braking properly and this takes long enough that I can move my toes a couple of inches.

I passed my IAM test in spite of doing both these (despite trying to change my habits, just till I'd past the test, they are already too deeply ingrained in my riding style and I see little reason to change them, until someone can give me a proper reason to), although he did mention both of them. Now I've passed, I don't make any effort to "undo" what I see as a perfectly safe riding style.