Front Brake - Do you use it? - Page 2 - SV650.org

24-02-05, 05:21 PM

If you ever have to ride across gravel (my gf has a big gravel drive

) I would only ever use the back.

Normal riding I use mainly front (modern bikes are meant to be even more front biased than the oft quoted 75:25), back just in emergencies/cornering/slowing for lights or give way lines when engine breaking isn't enough, etc.

I've read you shouldn't use the front when going down steep hills, but I have on several occassions (admittedly never really yanked it on) and it didn't even slightly "stoppie". I do tend to use the rear more downhill than I do on the flat though.

Apparently it's a v. common thing for new riders to overuse the rear/underuse the front- I know for the first few months I rode I did. I was forever locking the back up. Good thing I'm used to it now and it's not too scary when it does happen

TSM · 24-02-05, 05:22 PM

I would say that the 50-50 in bad weather changes to morelike 20-80 to the rear in current conditions being very bad and slipery.

northwind · 24-02-05, 05:29 PM

I use the rear a lot in the wet, bad surfaces, trailing in corners etc, but I don't think it's possibly to ride safely without using the front appropriately- sooner or later you'll end up hitting something you'd have stopped in time for. IIRC stopping distances with the rear only are something like twice that of using both brakes.

From posting on US based groups, it seems that their rider training recommends never to use the rear brake

Which IMHO is less dangerous than not using the front, but is still terrible advice. True, it's much harder to use the rear well than the front, since it has so little weight on it it's easier to slide, but using the front and rear well together is the fastest way of stopping

(At this point, some yank will always say "If you're using the front brake to its full extent the rear will be in the air" but I'm discounting braking techniques which will get you killed on any unreliable surface, ie a public road.)

I don't know Jonboy, I'm pretty sure you're giving away a lot of the benefit of the front in order to get just a little more use from the rear... I'm not going to try and convert you, but I'm pretty sure that an equally skilled rider using mostly the front will stop faster...

24-02-05, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leesimons

Err, you should do the majority of your braking with your front brake (unless you're a freak like Greg!

) and use the back brake for a little extra braking power and to stabilise the bike some more under braking. It should also be used to give added control when doing slow speed stuff.

Learn to use it...

What he said.

It's good for getting the back end out as well

24-02-05, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northwind

I don't know Jonboy, I'm pretty sure you're giving away a lot of the benefit of the front in order to get just a little more use from the rear... I'm not going to try and convert you, but I'm pretty sure that an equally skilled rider using mostly the front will stop faster...

Oh I see, well yes when it comes to it I use the front brake to maximum effect in order to stop sharply when the occasion arises no problem. What I'm saying is that I use the rear brake 80% of the time as I tend to brake early and prefer the old racing adage of "slow in, fast out" with regard to corners.

And with the amount of engine braking available from the SV, shifting down a couple of gears together with the back brake gives a lot of control without the front end diving and unsettling things (dreadful on standard bikes but far better once the front end has been fettled).

.

timwilky · 24-02-05, 05:53 PM

My DAS instructor was not a fan of new riders using the front brake except for emergencies. Whilst he accepted that it was the most efficient way of dumping mph, he also stated that most inexperienced learners who inadvertently grabbed big handfuls of front also dumped the bike. He therefore encouraged use of the rear for all manouvring and sub 50mph braking except of course in an emergency.

So once I got the SV it took me a little while to get use to the front brake for low speed manouvring around the cars on the drive of a morning. I couldn't use the back as I needed my feet keep the bike upright. (My drive runs down a hill, so using brake to stop from rolling away not to reduce speed)

I also became very concious of habitually using the rear whenever I touched the front. Although I seem to have now broken out of that. So now I use the rear if I need to dump speed in bends or when the roads are wet/greasy. Otherwise 90% front.

24-02-05, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leesimons

Quote:

Originally Posted by northwind

I don't know Jonboy, I'm pretty sure you're giving away a lot of the benefit of the front in order to get just a little more use from the rear... I'm not going to try and convert you, but I'm pretty sure that an equally skilled rider using mostly the front will stop faster...

There's no way you could stop anywhere near as quickly with just the back as opposed to just the front.

Of course not. This is in fact proved by looking closely at your new avatar, where you have forgotten completely about using the front brake and have locked the back fror the last 50 metres. And putting your foot down won't help either.

.

ophic · 24-02-05, 06:56 PM

Brakes? I just let go of the throttle...

24-02-05, 06:56 PM

There seems to be a lot of different views on this. Which I think is bad.
The whole idea of using the front break is so that the weight is transfered to the front of the bike. This causes the bike to dip forward. The is a lot of material that discribes how it works
Normal conditions - ~75% front / 25% back
Wet/slippery/gravel etc ~ 50% front / 50% back with sometimes going for back in the worst of the conditions.

Telling new people to biking not to use the front brake is bad. In the beginnning falling off is sometimes part of the learning. If you don't use something you will never learn to use it.

24-02-05, 07:18 PM

On my CBT the instructor actually did a very good demonstration of the differences between using front brake only, rear brake only and a combination of both, with front coming in first to get the weight to transfer to the front of the bike, when stopping from about 20mph. Using the rear brake only took the longest, using the front brake only took about half the distance to stop compared to rear brake only and a combination of both took about two thirds of the distance of the front brake only demonstration. So it is important to use both brakes and the instructor also emphasised that the conditions dictate how much front brake to use as well.

24-02-05, 05:22 PM	#12
TSM The Sick Man Mega Poster Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Peckham.SE.LDN Posts: 4,768	I would say that the 50-50 in bad weather changes to morelike 20-80 to the rear in current conditions being very bad and slipery. __________________ OTR: KTM 690 Duke R 2015 Full Akro SIDELINE: Kwak ZX636 A1P 2002, Red, R&G's, Yoshi, Double Bubble Screen GONE: Kwak ZX-7R P1, Full Akro, Undertray, Screen GONE: SV650S K2 Very Bruised & Without Fairing, Motovation Frame Sliders, R&G Ally Sprocket Toe Protector, HEL 2 Line Setup, GSXR K1 600 RWU Forks, Barnett Clutch & Springs, Penske 8981 Shock, Gilles Ti Rearsets, Steel Barends, Scottoiler, AFAM Chain & Sprockets, Twin FIAMM Horns, Skidmarx Bellypan, Full Micron Zeta Steel System, Cut down undertay. Forum Problems & Information / Site Suggestions

24-02-05, 05:29 PM	#13
northwind Moderator Mega Poster Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In the garage where I belong Posts: 17,083	I use the rear a lot in the wet, bad surfaces, trailing in corners etc, but I don't think it's possibly to ride safely without using the front appropriately- sooner or later you'll end up hitting something you'd have stopped in time for. IIRC stopping distances with the rear only are something like twice that of using both brakes. From posting on US based groups, it seems that their rider training recommends never to use the rear brake Which IMHO is less dangerous than not using the front, but is still terrible advice. True, it's much harder to use the rear well than the front, since it has so little weight on it it's easier to slide, but using the front and rear well together is the fastest way of stopping (At this point, some yank will always say "If you're using the front brake to its full extent the rear will be in the air" but I'm discounting braking techniques which will get you killed on any unreliable surface, ie a public road.) I don't know Jonboy, I'm pretty sure you're giving away a lot of the benefit of the front in order to get just a little more use from the rear... I'm not going to try and convert you, but I'm pretty sure that an equally skilled rider using mostly the front will stop faster... __________________ "We are the angry mob, we read the papers every day We like what we like, we hate what we hate But we're oh so easily swayed"

24-02-05, 05:53 PM	#16
timwilky Member Mega Poster Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Not in Yorkshire. (Thank God) Posts: 4,116	My DAS instructor was not a fan of new riders using the front brake except for emergencies. Whilst he accepted that it was the most efficient way of dumping mph, he also stated that most inexperienced learners who inadvertently grabbed big handfuls of front also dumped the bike. He therefore encouraged use of the rear for all manouvring and sub 50mph braking except of course in an emergency. So once I got the SV it took me a little while to get use to the front brake for low speed manouvring around the cars on the drive of a morning. I couldn't use the back as I needed my feet keep the bike upright. (My drive runs down a hill, so using brake to stop from rolling away not to reduce speed) I also became very concious of habitually using the rear whenever I touched the front. Although I seem to have now broken out of that. So now I use the rear if I need to dump speed in bends or when the roads are wet/greasy. Otherwise 90% front. __________________ Not Grumpy, opinionated.

24-02-05, 06:56 PM	#18
ophic Member Mega Poster Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Whyteleafe Posts: 3,395	Brakes? I just let go of the throttle... __________________ Silver SV650SK3, Fuel exhaust

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24-02-05, 05:21 PM	#11
Ceri JC Guest Posts: n/a	If you ever have to ride across gravel (my gf has a big gravel drive ) I would only ever use the back. Normal riding I use mainly front (modern bikes are meant to be even more front biased than the oft quoted 75:25), back just in emergencies/cornering/slowing for lights or give way lines when engine breaking isn't enough, etc. I've read you shouldn't use the front when going down steep hills, but I have on several occassions (admittedly never really yanked it on) and it didn't even slightly "stoppie". I do tend to use the rear more downhill than I do on the flat though. Apparently it's a v. common thing for new riders to overuse the rear/underuse the front- I know for the first few months I rode I did. I was forever locking the back up. Good thing I'm used to it now and it's not too scary when it does happen

24-02-05, 06:56 PM	#19
dclifford Guest Posts: n/a	There seems to be a lot of different views on this. Which I think is bad. The whole idea of using the front break is so that the weight is transfered to the front of the bike. This causes the bike to dip forward. The is a lot of material that discribes how it works Normal conditions - ~75% front / 25% back Wet/slippery/gravel etc ~ 50% front / 50% back with sometimes going for back in the worst of the conditions. Telling new people to biking not to use the front brake is bad. In the beginnning falling off is sometimes part of the learning. If you don't use something you will never learn to use it.

24-02-05, 07:18 PM	#20
Valman Guest Posts: n/a	On my CBT the instructor actually did a very good demonstration of the differences between using front brake only, rear brake only and a combination of both, with front coming in first to get the weight to transfer to the front of the bike, when stopping from about 20mph. Using the rear brake only took the longest, using the front brake only took about half the distance to stop compared to rear brake only and a combination of both took about two thirds of the distance of the front brake only demonstration. So it is important to use both brakes and the instructor also emphasised that the conditions dictate how much front brake to use as well.