First ride....

[Greyerbeard]

My method, at first, was to have faith in the front brake and keep my left fingers wrapped around the grip, and not on the brake lever. Front brake is all you need - 'most' of the time! Do you have ABS?

[wightegi]

I always use both brakes and at low speed only use the rear , a lot of low speed tumbles could be attributed to using the front brake and stopping the bike dead .

[iansoady]

That's true but when you're used to feathering the clutch with the left hand and using left/right foot (delete as appropriate) getting to grips, as it were, with a had operated rear brake takes some effort.

After a very successful hip replacement earlier in the year I'm planning to get out on the X-max after the New Year.......

[chinnorbiker]

“My method, at first, was to have faith in the front brake and keep my left fingers wrapped around the grip, and not on the brake lever. Front brake is all you need - 'most' of the time! Do you have ABS?”

———————————

Thanks again. I’ll try that.

It’s a Honda Forza 350 so yes, it does have ABS, and I don’t object to using the front (rhs) brake most of the time…….

Problem is that I am used to feathering the clutch and using right foot for low speed riding so it will take some re-training of my subconscious mind to stop previous behaviour.

Good job I’m not touring two-up in the Alps next week - could be “interesting” on hairpin bends.

[Data]

Having ridden conventional bikes for 50+ years with gears / brakes on both sides and shift patterns patterns, I've always used the "both hands" rule for any emergency - leave the feet alone (rear brake doesn't do a lot on a "normal" bike and gears can be left alone) and pulled the clutch right in while progressively applying the front brake. However of course this results in a lurid slide with a left hand bar controlled rear brake.....

Time for some unlearning although "emergency" situations are thankfully rare.

Ian, it's much safer to use both brakes in an emergency, as per the training manual. I used to teach advanced (IAM) and basic motorcycling skills from 1978 to 1990, part time. I had a dept of transport licence to do so. It was a bit different in those days of course but the same riding principles applied. The rear brake keeps the bike in line and provides valuable extra stopping power. In fact it can knock off several metres of stopping distance at any speed. Not trying to teach you to suck eggs of course but the secret is not to skid and if the bike you are riding doesn't have abs you must practice a few times, but it works well. If your bike has abs that's a bonus and means you can just pull on both brakes as much as you like. You won't come off but you will stop 'bloody' quickly as I found out when a deer ran out directly in front at virtually point blank range. That was indeed nearly an A&E moment or even a Funeral dept situation. I was doing 65mph at the time. ABS managed to allow me to swerve and brake hard at the same time without losing traction. Tyres howled a bit but I avoided hitting the deer by about 2". I was on my Burgman 400 with abs. And I'm not joking, it happened. In 52 years of biking that's the nearest I've come to meeting my maker. I could so nearly have gone under the front of the oncoming car but hitting the deer wasn't an option either as it would have totalled me and the bike. It's like hitting a brick wall when you are doing 65.

[MrGrumpy]

In 52 years of biking that's the nearest I've come to meeting my maker. I could so nearly have gone under the front of the oncoming car but hitting the deer wasn't an option either as it would have totalled me and the bike. It's like hitting a brick wall when you are doing 65.

Yeah, one of my former colleague's dad wrote off his brand new Jag when a deer ran out in front of it! Not sure what happened to the deer, but I suspect it wasn't good for it either!

[iansoady]

I do agree with eveything you say Data, however I'm talking about those very rare occasions when an automatic response kicks in. My x-max does not have ABS although after over 55 years of riding I've never hit anything because of not having it! As the brakes on my Norton are nowhere near current standards I also am used to exercising my anticipation and prediction skills! I can't actually remember the last time I needed to use the brakes either on a bike or the car in anything other than normal slowing down mode. Fortunately there aren't too many deer in sunny Redditch - although I did see a stag on the road a few weeks ago.

[MrGrumpy]

Deer are almost everywhere! A long time ago on a summer morning in my then house in the middle of Reading's southern suburbs, I heard a strange noise in the garden and was rather surprised to find a great big deer eating my apple tree! No idea how it got there.....

[Red Dog]

Deer are almost everywhere! A long time ago on a summer morning in my then house in the middle of Reading's southern suburbs, I heard a strange noise in the garden and was rather surprised to find a great big deer eating my apple tree! No idea how it got there.....

It probably grew from a pip.

[Data]

I do agree with eveything you say Data, however I'm talking about those very rare occasions when an automatic response kicks in. My x-max does not have ABS although after over 55 years of riding I've never hit anything because of not having it! As the brakes on my Norton are nowhere near current standards I also am used to exercising my anticipation and prediction skills! I can't actually remember the last time I needed to use the brakes either on a bike or the car in anything other than normal slowing down mode. Fortunately there aren't too many deer in sunny Redditch - although I did see a stag on the road a few weeks ago.

Oh yes Ian, understood. You're an advanced rider. I too don't think I've ever had a situation where doing an emergency stop or emergency avoidance has ever been quite so breathtaking as the deer incident either. Really shook me at the time. Other drivers stopped to check I was alright. Nice of them to do so. But the abs meant the bike stayed upright. It proved it's worth. Haven't needed abs since. It begs the question; was I meant to die that day? If so, him upstairs didn't reckon on abs!