Do you use your Back brake?

I try and use the back brake everytime I ride the bike so I know it is working if I need to use it!

Under heavy braking I also use the back brake as I think it balances out the bike and shifts some of the weight off the front, this could all be in my head though !!

I use the back brake more when its wet, or cold

I use it when riding slow (under 15 mph)

Other than that, theres no point, the front brakes do a fine enough job

Matt

I haven't touched my back brake since I sold my SV.. I find it harder to get my foot on it with the CBR so as a consequence I stopped using it. Maybe I should try and get into the habit of using it again and see if my riding improves..

use both all the time, when the front starts to dip then ease on the rear and it starts to sit back up while stopping you a bit quicker

also, below 10mph I never use the front as I find it kinda destabilizes the bike

when filtering, I find it best to use the rear also as me right foot is doing nothing else anyway and I can keep better control of the throttle

Originally Posted by nick_1871

I haven't touched my back brake since I sold my SV.. I find it harder to get my foot on it with the CBR so as a consequence I stopped using it. Maybe I should try and get into the habit of using it again and see if my riding improves..

You can't use it because your foot is at a right angle...which constanly confuses me as i think you're signalling something

Tried using today and felt much smoother! Doesn't jerk around so much in traffic.. Now I don't use the front!

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Berlin

If you are overcooking it into a corner and use the back brake in anger, the chances are that if you aren't vertical, it's going to slide out. And if you are very hard on the front brake, even a little back brake is enough to lock the back up because all of the weight is on the front tyre, or more importatly off the rear tyre.

Yep, but if you use the rear brake all the time then you become very unlikely to lock it up when you use it... I think most people who cause themselves bother with the rear are those who don't use it enough for it to become reflexive. If you use it in everyday riding then it soon becomes second nature and you're more likely to use it effectively when you need it.

Course, it doesn't do a huge amount in terms of braking once the weight's on the front, but every little helps... People tend to throw daft racing parallels into these threads, but what works on the track doesn't always make much sense on the road- you have much more unpredictable grip levels etc, so trying to use 100% of the front grip on every stop raises the risk levels a lot...

i use it all the time when in traffic, occasionally i wont and i'll use the front only, normally above walking pace tho.

on my scoot and can get it well sideways on the back brake

Sometimes I use just the front, sometimes I don’t - sometimes I use the back and front, sometimes I don’t - sometimes I use just the back, sometimes I don’t!!

It all depends on the positions of the stars or summin with me I am afraid!!!

I don’t have any hard and fast rules for certain situations or anything … who the hell actually put cognitive thought into which brake to use?!!?

I use my rear brake to slow down, and the front to stop. *shrug* If I can see I'm going to slow down to lights its all rear brake, no front at all until 10-15 mph then a touch on the front to stop. If I'm braking (more) sharply its both.