Do you use your rear brakes and when?

[b.miller123]

Originally Posted by alex.s

why are you using brakes mid corner at all?

Originally Posted by alex.s

staying on gas and using rear brake eliminates chain lash. letting throttle off without rear brake loosens the pull on the rear wheel from the chain, which can give slack on the chain for a moment until the bike slows to the engine speed at which point the chain loses its slack and gives a bit of a pull. known as chain lash.

You just answered your own question.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by b.miller123

You just answered your own question.

my point was you should not be slowing down in a corner. what tool you use to slow down is pointless.

[csmith12]

Here is the real scoop/non scientific dirt on hitting the brakes in a turn.

Once leaned over, any braking (front or rear) or rolling off the gas will send weight to the front of the bike, compressing the forks. The additional weight will also effect the tire as well, spreading the contact patch. The wider contact patch with increased drag will countersteer the bike, sending it wide in the corner.

It is possible for the rider to fight the countersteer by holding the bars steady to keep it from running wide. It's subtle but experienced riders do it all the time and novice riders do it without even knowing it. What are the costs of fighting it? More suspension action, ridged feel to the front, the bike can become unstable/twitchy and most of all, traction is reduced.

I know this because, I have been bitten by the pavement because of not knowing it.

[b.miller123]

This is a good read for everyone curious about using the rear:

Now for the subtleties. Say you find yourself in a sweeping turn with a bit too much speed, or the corner tightens up slightly. Chopping the throttle and using the front brake will load up the front end, possibly overpowering tire traction and causing a crash. But in this situation, holding the throttle steady and applying a small amount of rear brake can scrub off just enough speed and actually help to tighten your line. The rear brake is much better at modulating your speed than the throttle and/or front brake; with the clutch out and the throttle steady, you'll find that you've got a surprising amount of control with the pedal alone. This is especially effective on a downhill turn, where keeping even slight maintenance throttle will have the bike accelerating. The rear brake will easily keep this in check while letting you stay on the throttle to avoid overloading the front tire.

As an added bonus, the above technique can minimize the effects of an abrupt throttle response or excessive engine braking. If you're not modulating your speed with the throttle, you won't have to worry as much about either characteristic, letting you concentrate more on corner speed or what's coming up around the turn. One thing to mind in all this: rolling on an excessive amount of throttle but keeping the brake on will quickly wear the pads out, and give you a surprise when you do let the brake off and your bike leaps forward.

Read more: http://www.sportrider.com/riding_tip...#ixzz2U3WjRiIs

Originally Posted by alex.s

my point was you should not be slowing down in a corner. what tool you use to slow down is pointless.

If I was superman and never scared the crap out of myself by entering a corner too hot, or never had a rider in front of me chop his throttle right at the apex, then yeah I wouldn't need to slow down in a corner.

There very much is a point to what tool you use. Chopping the throttle or grabbing the front brake while leaned over are very abrupt inputs that will have your line going wider and the bike standing up. Using the rear brake will not have as much of an effect, and can in fact tighten up a line mid corner.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by b.miller123

If I was superman and never scared the crap out of myself by entering a corner too hot, or never had a rider in front of me chop his throttle right at the apex, then yeah I wouldn't need to slow down in a corner.

There very much is a point to what tool you use. Chopping the throttle or grabbing the front brake while leaned over are very abrupt inputs that will have your line going wider and the bike standing up. Using the rear brake will not have as much of an effect, and can in fact tighten up a line mid corner.

watch this rider get held up and pick it up to brake. there is no way he would have been able to brake enough without picking it up to do what he did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...QNP08vvA#t=37s

if you are slowing the bike because of a hazard, picking up and braking will drop the most speed the quickest, afterward you can put the bike back down. keeping the bike down and braking takes your traction into a dangerous zone. doing that in an attempt to avoid a hazard is asking for mistakes.

if you aren't slowing down because of a hazard, but instead because you took the turn incorrectly... this is a mistake. so when i say, you shouldn't be slowing down in a corner, this is what i mean. mistakes happen sure. but if you follow the rest of the riding logic... leave a buffer zone for traction, don't overrun your eye sight; then you should have room to simply add lean angle to complete the turn. if you are going so fast that you are in a turn too deep, at full lean angle, and are heading to the side then you are riding over your limits. on a track, this happens often but the results are that you simply go off track. on the street you hit a tree. so if you are riding over your limits on the street, suddenly encounter a hazard in the middle of the road and you have no buffer on either side, then guess what... using brakes isn't going to help either because its already too late.