Emergency Stops

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Amdonim · #1 Post by **Amdonim** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:03 pm

I was coming home from Houston to Alabama the other night and I was on the last leg. The last 80 miles is on 2 lane winding state highway strung between 3 towns. It was about 11 pm, but the area was lit well by a nearly full moon. I was alone, not having seen a car in about 30 minutes, so I decided it was a great place to practice emergency stops. My reasoning was that I was in the situation where I would really need to grab a fist full of brake. It was strangely exciting and somewhat scary trying to push the braking envelope without locking up. I did it several times in 10 minutes, whenever there was a long enough stretch that I didn't have to worry about getting rear ended by a car coming out of a blind turn or over a hill. Honestly, I felt just a bit more confident that I'd be able to avoid falcon punching a deer without having to run off the road.

jmillheiser · #2 Post by **jmillheiser** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:59 pm

I always find empty parking lots for that sort of stuff.

I remember the first time the back tire came off the ground when practicing emergency stops on my bandit, had a definate moment of "wtf, did I just do that"

zeligman · #3 Post by **zeligman** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:52 am

i told this story in another thread - the other day in my parking lot practice, my bike's rear tire didn't come off the bike, but my BUTT did! and I'm a BIG guy - surprised the hell outta me.

good emergency stop though - no skid, and the bike is low enougn that i just stood up, but i totally came off the seat, could see how easy it is to go over the handlebars - good reminder, a bit scary, but good!

Whitetiger018 · #4 Post by **Whitetiger018** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 2:09 pm

I have a Honda Vt1100. I was onthe hiway 4th lane a car from the on ramp came across all the lanes into mine. His rear tire was even with my front tire. My feet was up on hiway pegs. I grabbed a fist full of brake and clutch didn't have a chance to get my foot on the foot brake I was doing about 75 MPH. I did a endo not by choice bottomed my forks. I didn't lay the bike down it happened so fast didn't have a chance to panic. But I will tell you I had to change my shorts. I still ride on the hiway but I pay even more attention to whats around, than before.

sapaul · #5 Post by **sapaul** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:21 pm

When I teach, I often get guys to stomp on the rear and lock it up, just to show that you can control the bike when the back is locked, then I get them just to use the front until they feel they are close to the limit.

Why you ask. It is one of the survival techniques that kicks in on panic braking, we squeeze the front too hard and hang on,

learning to

Set up
Squeeze
squeeze harder
Release a little

at the same time as using the rear,

allows you to prevent washing the front wheel away and removes the fear of sliding on the rear.

Both brakes will always stop you quicker than one, but you can go up to 90% on the front without problems.

just hanging on hoping is a poor second to a controlled emergency stop. I know, I panic braked once and vowed I would never do it again. Found out adrenalin is colour brown

Hope my tips help

Amdonim · #6 Post by **Amdonim** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:30 am

Thanks! I've only had to emergency brake one time so far. I was riding my dad's VTX1300 to a football game. I got pushed into an exit ramp that was at a stand still. I sent the bike down the shoulder (i came so close to the last car I scraped the edge of the bars on it) and stopped there. The back tire locked, but I think that was more due to the reflectors on the shoulder. The tire bounced off the first one and locked in air. It was definitely one of more terrifying moments of my life. I like to make sure I could still pull something like that off again if I were to need it.

Flipper · #7 Post by **Flipper** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:46 am

The first time I had to do an emergency stop I slid up onto the gas tank.
I was so surprised by how far forward I slid. Although the bike stops fast, the body doesn't.
By some miracle I didn't drop the bike.
Since then, I always squeeze the tank with my legs when I practice quick stops so that never happens again.

#8 Post by **jaskc78** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:21 pm

similar to Amdonim's. truck in front of me locked up his brakes cuz some jack-o in front of him decided he wanted to turn left in about 2 yards with no signal or warning at all and both myself and the truck were waiting for the road markings to allow passing (passing zone started right after the intersection), so were both following closer than we should have been.

he stomped on his brake to avoid running over a honda civic with his dodge ram 2500 quad cab, i braked as hard as i could and started veering a little to the right when the rear tire hit a little gravel in the road and locked up. ended up i could look to my left and see his rear bumper when i came to a full stop. glad i went to the right and slightly onto the shoulder. i can't even imagine what that truck's weight shifting back and slamming down on top of the front end of a ninja 250 woulda done.