Gary_in_NJ
Serious Thumper
Offline
LS650 Cafe Racer
Posts: 2625
Amongst the Twisty Roads
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Not sure how I want to reply to this. I'll just start typing and see where it goes...
In order for a bike to achieve 100% of available breaking force, both the front and rear brake need to be deployed. But when is 100% breaking required? Not too often. In fact most run-of-the-mill stops only require 10-30% of available breaking and most "holy crap" stops only require 60-80% of available braking force. As luck would have it, the front brake can supply about 80% of available braking.
Think of it this way, you're 100 feet from a stop light/sign, and you apply the front brake only, you easily come to rest at the desired point - right on the line. Same situation, only this time you decide to apply both brakes. You still stop in the same intended location - right on the line. The rear brake added no value.
But what about a panic stop? We'll get to that, but let's first discuss the potential pit falls of the rear brake AS IT RELATES TO THE LS650 / S40.
There are two types of brakes used on motorcycles, disc and drum. Drum brakes disappeared as front brakes in the 1970's but saw continued use as rear brakes into the 80's. Only budget bikes carried on with rear drum brakes into the 1990's. Drum brakes have many limitations. From a performance perspective drum brakes fade quickly, provide inconstant performance (especially in the wet) and are prone to lock-up when heated quickly (like a panic situation).
In a nut shell, that is why I often recommend on this forum that a rear brake not be used; the rear brake in a high stress environment can lead to more problems. In a straight line with maximum effort being applied to the front brake, locking up the rear brake can cause the the rear of the bike to slide to to the left or right and potentially induce a loss of control. In a turn, locking up the rear brake can result in a high-side get-off.
In my opinion, in a situation where maximum braking is required the best brake technique is to apply maximum braking force to the front brake and then add rear brake as needed, modulating force to keep the rear tire from locking up.
Back to the original post by oldNslow. On the dirt, especially on a track, I will often use the rear brake to "back into" a turn. The technique is too apply to front brake to achieve the desired turn speed, and then transition to the rear brake to begin a side. Once the rear begins to rotate/slide out it's time to apply throttle to power out of the turn. This exact technique is used in supermoto.
In my opinion this technique is fraught with danger on public roads. If you are riding where you NEED to back into a turn, you are riding in an unsafe manor. Now, there are times when I may WANT to back into a turn, but usually it would be done at a slow speed where recovery from a high-side is all but assured. I probably haven't done this on the street in 20 years because I realized it quickly destroys tires. With that said, my DRZ Street Tracker is begging me to back it in from time to time. We'll see...I hate replacing tires.
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