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Trail Braking

2K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  Slower and Slower 
#1 ·
I took a ride down to the beach yesterday stopped by the water and I met a young guy there . He was on a nice KTM Superduke, we were shooting the **** and the conversation got on trail braking. Now when I go in hot to a curve I always tap the front brake and this guy swore I was wrong, he read this book and that book and was taught the rear brake is the way to go. It was apparent we were going to agree to disagree. So when you guys go in hot which brake do you use to scrub off speed? Just to be clear this not about panic braking.
 
#3 ·
When I first learned to ride age 16 way back in 1957, I was taught to always get the rear brake on a fraction before the front. It has stayed with me all my life, in all situations, except for the odd panic job. I've tried using the front only but when I'm riding hot, which is most of the time, the bike is more stable with a bit of rear. My riding companion on his GSXR750 says he never uses his rear brake and he has done quite a bit of racing. So I guess it's whatever works for you.
 
#7 ·
Likely depends on a bunch of factors as to which brake to use but I've always used the rear (bike has ABS so won't lock) but with all the talk lately of front brake use I've tried it but I don't get the same effect. May still experiment.
 
#8 ·
Might be a bit of terminology difference. I've always heard of trail braking as referring to continuous braking throughout the curve to fine tune control. For more skilled riders, you can use both, or the front exclusively, depends on the conditions. For most road riding, the rear is more than sufficient.

For scrubbing speed coming into the turn, definitely the front.
 
#9 ·
I don't think it's a bad thing to use both brakes, but back alone I feel is a no no. I rode my 07 Tuono for 10 years and to be honest the back brake never worked, bad design I think cause I threw at least $500 at it never worked right . So I got use to front alone. My argument was using the front shortened the wheel base which makes it easier to make the turn and I don't like the weight of the bike on the rear tire during a turn.
 
#10 ·
trail braking - i.e. carrying brake into the corner and gradually releasing? = front always

applying brake when you've gone in "too hot"? - depends - I've used front when racing and someone stuffed me into the corner and had to avoid hitting them. I can see rear brake as an option if you have limited traction on the street or in the dirt and will tuck the front if front brake is applied.
 
#11 ·
Totally depends on the situation, how hot you are, what lean you are carrying, road surface etc. The last thing you want to do is unsettle the bike so the rear will have less effect but if you have more angle to play with you can use a bit of front.
The main thing is to not fall off and the only way you can determine that is through experience.
Hopefully you don’t gain too much experience because if you do, you really should be working on your corner entry speed and braking markers, not your trail braking[emoji38]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
I only use rear brake in combo with front when I need that extra braking power, ie, in too hot. For the guy to say use rear brake is way off base, unless he meant in conjunction with the front. Even though the rear brake is weak, when used at the same time with the front, it does add significantly more stopping power.
 
#13 ·
The concept of using rear brake before turning is derived from bikes which had a softer set of springs.
When the rear only is lightly applied the rear end slows more than the front, so springs get depressed a bit, any wear in the suspension parts get stretched to remove any slop due to the forward mass inertia, with the combined effect being the 'settled' feeling.

I use both brakes before a corner and accelerate out. I mostly never use only the front brake due to habit's learned when I began my riding journey in the 70's.
I am no Racer type who fires out to the apex of a corner, then throws his leg out like Rossi, then jam's the front only brake on hard, before laying it on it's side at a 60 degree angle to force the turn.
Old bones, Fella's.

Rob.
 
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