The rear brake on my Guzzi has been weak since I put new pads on a couple weeks ago.  So yesterday I decided to bleed it and sure enough some small air bubbles worked their way out.  Today the weather was good and I went on a test drive down a nice smooth and fast two lane highway.

The brakes got a good test!  Some kid in a souped up Honda Civic pulled out and crossed an intersection in front of me.  It looked like I was going to hit him dead center on the passenger side. I got on those brakes like never before and sure enough they worked great.  The wheels locked up and were sliding and it was a fight to keep upright but I didn't let off the brakes.  Steering around was out due to oncoming traffic and I wanted to shed some energy before the collision.  I hit a car once before and it ain't no fun.

Anyway that kid had hit the gas when he saw what he had done and his engine was wailing as he scooted out of my path by inches just as I slid by.  Never was closer to slamming into a car and not doing it.  So I managed to keep the rubber side down.  (Where have I heard that before?) The bike has Metzler touring tires that are a few years old so I think I'll get something stickier before the next season.  Tomorrow I'll ride the Suzuki.

Most of my riding was done in the 1960s and, as you older riders or vintage riders know, when you wanted to stop in a hurry on those bikes you grabbed a handful of brake lever and squeezed hard.  The bike I was riding today has four piston Brembos in the front and I've read that people only use a couple fingers on the lever.  Old habits die slowly with me and I have locked the front wheel up on that thing about four times now. Controlling it with both wheels locked isn't as bad as you would think but it's not fun either.  

Interesting comment by the editor of Motorcycle Consumer News some years ago. Like a lot of us, he grew up riding crap a long time ago. Had a serious amount of restraint built into his brake reactions, knowing how easy it was to lock up a tire.
He went to a BMW bike intro where they were showcasing their new generation ABS. BMW had a pit with standing water in it and invited the journalists to ride into the water and grab the brakes with everything they had so as to experience the wonders of ABS.
What surprised this guy, was how hard he could grab the brakes WITHOUT locking up the wheels. Tires had gotten worlds better than when he was young, and he still had his outdated margin of safety.
Moral of the story-new tires are amazing.
I locked up the front wheel on my bike a few years ago at around 70 MPH. Managed to not crash, but I checked the date on the tires when I got home.
The tires were only 3 years old. What this told me is that as amazing as modern tires are, they harden pretty quickly and traction falls off dramatically.
So-make sure the bike has new, his quality  sneakers and pitch them when they get to be a few years old.
Have a bike on the bench now with 11 year old tires. had to give the owner the 'tough love' speech. And they had 14 PSI of air in them!

Tires were definitely the problem that led to skid mentioned in the original post, they are 9 years old so this winter I'll get some new rubber on that bike.  I keep good tires on the S40 because that is my usual ride.