Quote:
Originally Posted by Linuss
The SUV quickly went off in to the median and I hit both front and rear brakes. My rear started wobbling and all that was going through my head was "Oh crap, I'm going to highside and the car behind me will run me over".
Luckily, I stuck with what I was taught and stayed on the rear brake till I was stopped, and I avoided running in to the semi in front.
Moral of the story? Use both. You'll stop in a shorter distance.
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I have a different take on that moral. If you locked the rear wheel, it was doing nothing to help you stop shorter. Keeping it locked allowed you to more easily control the bike's attitude as you were slowing. But it did nothing to shorten the distance. The best guess is that it's unlikely you were braking at maximum capability of the front, only because it takes a certain amount of necessary concentration to manage the sliding rear wheel while continuing to manage optimal brake pressure on the front.
Quickest stop is using as much front as the road surface, tires, and brake components allow, and if the rear is still on the ground, then enough rear to add a bit of slowing, without bringing it to lockup.