[Dagger]

On my drive to work there’s a stretch of road that runs through a canyon.. Speed limit is 45mph but traffic usually flows at about 50.. As I reached the light at the end of the canyon it turned red with about 25 yards for me to stop.. Well.. I panicked a bit and hit my rear brake a bit too hard and my back end started to slide out from under me.. After I let the brake go the tire slid left and right a bit as I went right through the red light.. Luckily the cross traffic saw me sliding and waited to see if I was going to eat it or not.. As I got to the far side of the intersection the front brake finally started to grip and the back end righted itself under me and I was able to continue on.. Hands shaking slightly… I’m not sure if on top of hitting my rear brake too hard if there may have been some oil at the stoplight as well.. But either way.. Was scary as hell when I realized I was going thru the intersection whether I wanted to or not.. Thank God everything went ok.. Good thing I start my MSF class tonight.. lol..

Dagger

I just want to make it out of this life alive…

[Sangria7]

Close call. MSF will definitely improve your skills. Glad that you made it through it. Be safe.

[Budd]

In a situation like that, you probably hit the rear brake too hard. I am guessing that you use the rear brake quite a bit and don’t use the front brake that much. I say that because you were across the intersection before you got the front to engage. I use my front brake more than my back brake. I don’t mean in percentages, I mean situationally. The front brake is my primary break and I only use the back when slowing down in a hurry or stopping.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Dagger]

I actually have been using my front brake primarily for stopping which has been a new thing to me as opposed to my dirt bike training… I think what happened is that in the situation my dirt bike intuition kicked in and I hit the back brake instead.. It was the first time I’ve had to stop so quickly on a street bike.. Oh well.. As long as it something I can walk away with unscathed at least I have learned a valuable lesson.. Plus now I know I need to practice my high speed stops more…

Dagger

I just want to make it out of this life alive…

[Budd]

You will get plenty of practice on those this weekend. I would have to say, the high speed stop section is the most beneficial of the MSF.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[RobM]

About 20 years ago, I did something similar when a lady pulled out from my right. Thought I could transfer my dirt bike training as a teenager to a street bike in college. Missed her by a fraction of inch when I let up off the back brake and the backend came around and swung in front of her bumper. Gave up the bike after that…Too scary. Now after taking the MSF course and reading up on some good books to get back into riding, I learned that the front brake is your friend. Like other posters I have tried to focus on just using the front brake during normal riding so that when an emergency happens, my reflex is to use the front brake.

[megaspaz]

Um… i wouldn’t characterize the MSF emergency stops as high speed.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Jim]

Glad you didn’t high side, they say if you lock up the rear break not to let off it, can high side wreck if you do, a pretty dangerous crash.

[Budd]

oh yeah, I was told to slow down, a lot.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Dagger]

In my MSF class last night.. They actually said letting off the back break once it’s locked can cause you to go high side.. They suggested just staying on the break until the bike comes to a stop…

I just want to make it out of this life alive…

[Author]

Posts