Braking performance

[2fast]

This may be of interest to some. I went to a Riders Conference last weekend put on by www.comprehensivesafety.org which had seminars on various subjects of interest to MC riders. One of them was on braking. A LOT of techno info was given but the most interesting thing I was able to absorb was about weight shift. Mainly, that to achieve optimum braking performance, you must first brake carefully with both brakes to transfer the weight to the front tire. If this is done too quickly, a skid may occur which is a total loss of traction. However, as more weight transfers to the front wheel (which automatically begins to unload the rear wheel), the more pressure can be applied to the front brake with ever increasing effectiveness. All of this is much more effective if the bike is straight up of course. One of the other points made was that you should really have no fear of doing an unintended stoppie. That really takes intentional effort and is very unlikely to happen. Of course, there was a lot more to this presentation. If you have anything like this in your area I would recommend it. Admission was very cheap and the information was top notch. I've been riding for 35 years and there is always more to learn!

[Jerry]

This is the same technique and theory behind the linked braking system Yamaha used on the '82 XJ and a few other bikes.

Proportioning valve on the rear M/C puts initial brake pressure on rear caliper, then increases the proportion of pressure to the front left caliper the harder you step on the brake pedal. Chart of the pressure curve is in the service manual, I think...saw it somewhere.....

Rear/front proportions also worked into the BMW R1150 RS ABS system, probably others. The BMW system links all brakes, so makes no difference if you apply foot brake or handlebar brake, max braking to all calipers either way. The Beemer system uses wheel sensors rather than the proportioning valve of the XJ, so is active rather than fixed.

[webbcraft2150]

A stoppie on a XS11?, thats a scary thought!!!

[2fast]

I agree! The point was that a lot of riders are afraid to use the full potential of the front brake because they think they are going to go over the bars. Not only is that extremely unlikely, being afraid to clamp down on the front (done gradually) may result in running into something that could have been avoided.