You guys use your rear brake much?

This is the first bike I've owned with both linked brakes and ABS. The brakes are so good in normal street riding I don't think I've ever used the rear brake. Developing a bad habit?

 

Lotsa dudes here with several type brake systems probably including drums and in some cases no brakes. This includes proportional systems, standard hydraulic , cable and none at all.

The dude who thinks for some odd reason that ya can't lock up a rear wheel using the rear brake needs to take a break..Over use of the rear binders to the point of lockup in a turn creates a similar effect to a highside release and hookup. The real studs have vid cams rolling so they can shoot their pricy rides going ass over teakettle.. all the while earning points for taking a class in Torque 101. Even in a straight line a rear wheel lockup will get ya some sideways.

Loose stuff vs asphalt or other? The "rules" change.. Then we got the different tires and compounds ect.

Double drums and double discs on lots of bikes both stockers and racer. Bigger too. Why? the front is where ya steer. (no shit?, someone says)

 

Well if you don't need it , that'd be a waste of 2 sets of pads. :smile:

I like to use the rear brake to turn in quicker but on a combined system like this, the front comes up slightly too much when you let go of the pedal. That's a bit why I posed the question, was wondering if the others had the same style.

 

For track riding, I don't use the rear brake much, for several reasons. For one, the rider is shifting body position and weight and constantly, which makes rear brake use challenging. Plus, unless you are a level 3 expert rider, your attention is likely maxed out 100% just dealing with all the other more important tasks at hand, rear brake application get thrown at the back of the line. At my age, I'm just out there to have a good time and learn some skills I might apply to street riding. A few seconds off per lap? Meh... The only thing I was told to remember is to use the rear brake only if you run wide into the grass where front brake just about guarantees a locked up front, and the inevitable off.

Street is a different matter. For normal riding, applying rear brake before the front helps to settle the chassis, lessens the front brake dive, which improves stability by limiting the amount of rake & trail change. The VFR1200's CBS essentially does this for you. Even then, I don't ride the VFR any differently than any other bike. Frankly, in an emergency situation, I shouldn't have to try to remember what machine I'm riding. In an E-stop, F&R brake will yield the shortest stopping distance, ABS or not. Granted, the rear brake may not contribute much %-wise at max braking, but on the street, a few feet could mean the difference between a close call and you head getting crushed like a grape by an 18-wheeler.

Locking up the rear brake is no big deal, and I'd dare say all riders should get used to what it feels like and how to modulate the rear brake near the threhold of lockup. Best way to lean this is on a dirt bike. It's the same as knowing what a car start sliding on snow/ice feels like and what you need to do to recover. I'm glad I got to slip/slide around in winter up north. Down here on the Gulf Coast, most drivers have no clue what to do when their tires break traction - and just panic - even on conditions that are easily recoverable. One big rain storm and drivers wreck everywhere.

 

sorry Reg but the VFR12's front brake lever DOES NOT activate the rear brake,...the foot pedal activates two pistons in the left front caliper.

 

LOL..Slowing down from mach 1 on the famous mach 1 91 takes both brakes and I am aboot to add a drag chute. Otherwise, a rear binder is nice on a hill.

This Volfy dude hasn't quite figured out that many of those wrecks "Down South" are caused by the 2.5 mil rednecks and the other 2.5 mil Yankees that inhabit those tiny Texas burgs like Houston. During a rainstorm after a dry period, or spell as we of the great unwashed call it, the roadbeds are imbedded with pulverized oyster shell. The Texas Gulf Coast geologically is a Delta.

Other shit too like clay, that ya find down there, when mixed with water gets slicker N snot as or as the Yankees say because they gots more eddycation, is hygrophobic. Now then toss that together with a shitload of frog strangler rains, that ground up natural (and organic) water softening shell and some agin organic hydrocarbons that may be anything from leaky pans to Jo-jo frying grease to Kosher schmaltz on one a them bigass loops that go around Houston, add one a them class three rider whatever the fuck that is.. and yep all the driving or riding skill in the world ain't much help when ya loop out at 75.

Then in the winter where even with global warming and Santa being spotted in a perfed Santa suit once in awhile them high ol overpasses do freeze up with kind of a Southern version of black ice only its kinda grey.


Damn near forgetted.. The quickie way to stop using that rear brake can be found here:

Search Results for hacksaw at The Home Depot

 

Damn Ishark you beat me to it. I had a great reply ready but not everyone works in an office.

Voify, I've been in an E-brake situation and much to my surprise, the rear wheel came off the ground.
Big surprise too that I was in the right gear after the (very) narrow escape. To this day I don't understand that.
I never used the rear brake on the track but if you want to keep up with a Street Triple R in tight twisties - fat chance - you wish you had a normal rear brake so you could turn in quicker.

I did use the rear brake a lot on mini bikes for block passes but there's a lot less to think about on those.

 

I use rear one just after notice that downshifting to 1st gear and front brake is not enough!!! I have linked ones, and they are great!! Anyway using the front brake the rear one is braking about 30%, if I need more help with my right foot.

 

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah. Brake how you want and feel comfortable with. I don't care how anyone else brakes or how "proper or improper" using/not using the rear brake is. I use both in different ways in different situations. Sometimes I find it necessary to use more rear or more front. Been riding this way for 15 years and haven't wrecked yet.

 

I use the rear brake more than my friends who dont have linked brakes.. for me it is a smoother slow than the front as there is no dip when applying them. I just had my 12k check up and the mechanic reported my brakes were fine, a little more wear on the front than the back ones.

I remember when I had my 01 cbr11xx, it also had linked brakes and I loved it, hitting the front applied 50% rear pressure and hitting back applied 25% front pressure.. or something like that. I assumed on my vfr1200 it was the same applied pressure when hitting brakes but I will have to double check.

apply the brakes as you see fit and are comfy...

 

Man Billy I am offended as a self-proclaimed Red Neck I live in the south and I tend to agree that "Most" not all people who live in the south have not ever experienced any kind of loss of traction that is controlled. They lose traction in the rain and then proceed to slam the brakes like that will help. The thing that I have going for me is that I have lived in all kinds of weather climates and the only one I would prefer over the gulf coast is the SoCal area. While I was living in the great white north and riding bikes like 7 months out of the year due to snow on the ground the other 5. I learned to whip a cage in the winter like a pro. My personal favorite was to haul ass in the empty Wally-World parking lot and yank the E-brake and watch the world whirl by like a teacup ride at Disney. Doing so taught me that you have to turn the will with the spin and accelerate. That seems like a simple principle but until you have done it a few times it just feels backwards.:tongue:

 

The rear brake is handy for sitting up straight and holding the bike still at stoplights. It also helps to make big rear slides while downshifting into turns to impress your friends. Otherwise it has no use!

 

LOL... for an E-Stop, you're not supposed to pull a stoppie... that's stuntin'

Seriously though, applying the rear brake just before the front will help to minimize the rate at which the front end dives. That helps to keep the bike from rotating forward and keep the rear end down. Still... at max threshold braking, with almost all the weight transferred to the front, there is very little weight on the rear tire, so the rider has to ease off the rear brake as he increase pressure on the front brake and the front end dives. Granted, with ABS, you can keep the pressure ON, but as I said earlier, I personally don't want to make that a habit, as I cannot guarantee I'm always on an ABS bike. The last time I locked up the rear brake was a few months ago, I was riding the SV1000S to work one foggy spring morning. It was the same commuter route so I let me guard down. Well, one stop sign came up a bit faster than I anticipated, so I had to grab a handful of front brake. I squeeze the rear brake too, of course, and with the damp pavement, the rear chirped and let loose. I let off the pressure on the brake pedal and the rear wheel regain traction. Not much drama but it was a pucker moment. So I took it much easier the rest of the commute. :wink:

You are right about the STR. Those things are a hoot both street and track. I thought about getting the new '13 STR, but the Ohlins and Brembo monoblocks on the Speedie R was too enticing. I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of my GSXR track bunny and just run the Speedie instead.

 

et tu? LOL.

We used to do the same thing on our campus parking lot wee hours in the morning after a fresh snow storm, till the campus police come tell us to beat it. Only things we had to watch out for are those lamp posts. One can come up quick and bite ya, if you didn't watch yourself. We started by pulling handbrakes, until we figured out FWD VWs have a lot more weight up front and flung better. So we started going backward and yanking the steering wheel hard! That and night skiing after classes are the only things I miss about living up North. The rest... not so much.:tongue:

 

doin' donuts at midnite in the fresh snow in the High School parking lot in mom's Chevy station wagon...now THAT was Drivers Ed !!! did anyone do what we called "hooky-bobbing"...3 or 4 guys hanging on the rear bumper of a VW Bug in the fresh snow, crouched and skiing on your boots !!!! 30 mph got pretty hairy !!!

 

If ya tried that Wally move in the one near my place in Ogeron, you'd take out about 97 cars and as many people of Walmart who walk right down the middle of the parking lanes, rain, shine, snow, hail, fog, smog and global warming.

Gotta consider that the carpetbaggers are taking over Texas..Dudes like Volfy are prime examples.

 

Kinda figured ol Volfy was still wet behind the ears.

 

Forgot to mention that was on the VFR on a dry highway and the ABS did not kick in. In hindsight and hindsight only, the same technique for pulling a stoppie caused the wheel to come loose but it was completely unintentional and the split-second I saw a gap, I let go and flew through that. Everyone else collided, including vans and trucks.
My heart only started racing seconds after the incident.

I have to agree with Ocard to some extent: the rear brake is enough to slow you down to full stop if you're riding legal speeds, with a bit of force on the pedal applied.
I never use it while filtering, not even in pouring rain. Just a habit I guess.
And Jamie, certainly not for keeping the bike still at the lights. My left foot sits on the peg and my right one on the ground. Stems from riding bikes a little too high for the vertically challenged. :smile: