Here in the advanced riding part of the site, we haven't had a thread about braking techniques for a long time.
Rather than revive a thread that's been dormant for 7-10 years, I'll start this new one.
QUESTION: If you find yourself going too fast into a curve, and you're ALREADY in the curve, and there's no room or time to straighten up the bike and do heavy braking with both brakes while going mostly straight forward, what can you do to slow down in this curve?
PARAMETERS of the QUESTION: Assume the goal is to just slow down, not stop. The road is not blocked, nobody is pulling out in front of you. You're just too fast, either because you entered the turn with too much speed OR you didn't realize it was a decreasing radius turn that gets "tighter" as you move through it.
Let's assume also that even if AN EXPERT might be able to make it through the curve without any braking, just by leaning really hard and counting on the adhesion of the tires to the pavement, you can't or won't do that, and you are sure that some braking is necessary.
SO.... do you brake with both brakes? Equal pressure to both? A 60/40 or 70/30 split on the amount of force you apply, the degree to which you move each brake lever through its range of motion? What about the time component? Do you brake hard all at once, or start with light pressure and increase over time? Keep in mind that you are already in a turn, at a speed you perceive as too fast, and if you don't do something you'll be out of your lane (or maybe off the road) in seconds.
Rather than revive a thread that's been dormant for 7-10 years, I'll start this new one.
QUESTION: If you find yourself going too fast into a curve, and you're ALREADY in the curve, and there's no room or time to straighten up the bike and do heavy braking with both brakes while going mostly straight forward, what can you do to slow down in this curve?
PARAMETERS of the QUESTION: Assume the goal is to just slow down, not stop. The road is not blocked, nobody is pulling out in front of you. You're just too fast, either because you entered the turn with too much speed OR you didn't realize it was a decreasing radius turn that gets "tighter" as you move through it.
Let's assume also that even if AN EXPERT might be able to make it through the curve without any braking, just by leaning really hard and counting on the adhesion of the tires to the pavement, you can't or won't do that, and you are sure that some braking is necessary.
SO.... do you brake with both brakes? Equal pressure to both? A 60/40 or 70/30 split on the amount of force you apply, the degree to which you move each brake lever through its range of motion? What about the time component? Do you brake hard all at once, or start with light pressure and increase over time? Keep in mind that you are already in a turn, at a speed you perceive as too fast, and if you don't do something you'll be out of your lane (or maybe off the road) in seconds.
