[ST] RE: Rear Brake

[Thomas Emberson <thomas@xxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 19 Feb 2001, Joel Ashman wrote:

> I'll second the necessity to use the rear brakes.  They provide something
> like 30%-40% of your stopping power.  And they help to keep the front from
> diving.  Heck, when I took my cycle test in Virginia, the instructor
> specifically looked to see if I was using the rear brake.  It would have
> cost against my score had I not.

It is really hard to just spit out those numbers as absolute fact.
On the 9r I've pulled the rear wheel of the ground at 100, obviously
100%-0% braking.

Biggest thing you have to remember is when you first put on the
brakes, with no weight transfer yet the braking is probably 50-50,
with that big fat rear wheel biting. But 0.2 seconds later as the
weight transfer starts it shifts to the front.

The idea that Joel was stating is that initial use of the rear
brake will tend to settle the chassis of the bike down, thus allowing
for slightly more braking.

As with anything YMMV, as BenchDawg will gladly verify I use my
rear brake, but I am also pretty good at detecting rear locking
and modulation. Of course that scared the shite out of Bill as he
saw my rear lock up and slide a bit on the east coast rally.

As far as slow speed maneuvers, the rear brake keeps the front dive
way down and control up, I can't imagine lane splitting with out
it :-)


Thom

/**********************************************************
Thomas Emberson  <Thomas@xxxxxxx>        http://get.qnx.com
QNX Software Systems Inc.
5100 Tennyson Parkway, Suite 1000, Plano, TX, 75024
V: 214-495-5665  F: 214-495-5664
**********************************************************/


     *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
      The ST/RS Mailing list is sponsored by Jack Lilley Ltd.
          http://www.TriumphNet.com/st/lilley for more info
   http://www.TriumphNet.com/st for ST, RS and Mailing List info

=-=-=-= Next Message =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=