Learning and coming off

[SportKaKenny]

Hey Guys

Just had my first full day lesson as part of the DAS course. Riding Sukidas, 125cc. I came off 3 times and am now totally confused by the brakes ( the rear was nearly non functional, the front was locky and it was very wet). Are things going to get clearer?

[TPS]

SportKaKenny said:

Hey Guys
I came off 3 times and am now totally confused by the brakes Are things going to get clearer?

Hopefully or it may start to hurt.
Being serious though its all part of the learning curve,some will fall off some wont.

Check this link for a bit of info

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-Safety/brak...

Hope it all goes well for you in the end with the test.

[Howitzer]

I came off after I passed my test, while learning I had one wobble moment but apart from that it went brilliantly.

You are just getting your wobbly bit out the way quickly and painlessly.

Keep at it, the enjoyment is well worth it!

Dave!

[Aubrey]

It sounds like your instructor is not explaining things properly to you if you've come off 3 times in the first day!

Falling off is naturally part of learning and finding your limits, I've been off, but that was due to hitting a big patch of diesel! :rollseyes:

Good luck though and stick with it, at least you can learn how to 'crash' properly, just watch motogp, they're experts at it!

[black-k1]

Aubrey said:

It sounds like your instructor is not explaining things properly to you if you've come off 3 times in the first day!

It does sound like your instructor may not be explaining things very well. Falling off once is bad luck, but 3 times ….

I would expect that you problem is that you are grabbing at the brakes, especially the front while not totally upright, rather than applying them progressively. Practice squeezing the brake lever gently and progressively, taking over a second to get from the first point of the brakes just starting to work through to your actual required braking force. This will need you to brake a little earlier to ensure that you have plenty of time to get all of your braking done.

Once you are happy with this approach you can start to apply the brakes a little quicker while still being progressive.

[SportKaKenny]

black-k1 said:

Aubrey said:

It sounds like your instructor is not explaining things properly to you if you've come off 3 times in the first day!

It does sound like your instructor may not be explaining things very well. Falling off once is bad luck, but 3 times ….

I would expect that you problem is that you are grabbing at the brakes, especially the front while not totally upright, rather than applying them progressively. Practice squeezing the brake lever gently and progressively, taking over a second to get from the first point of the brakes just starting to work through to your actual required braking force. This will need you to brake a little earlier to ensure that you have plenty of time to get all of your braking done.

Once you are happy with this approach you can start to apply the brakes a little quicker while still being progressive.

I think that is exactly what I was doing. I'm going to have a practise on a very locky pushbike, that may help. Thamks mate.

I'm back on the course tomorrow and would really like to make some progress instead of coming off a number of times.

ETA: I can only grab at the front, as the rear only seems to engage at the very end of the pedal travel, and even then it seems to be pretty feeble.

Edited by SportKaKenny on Thursday 29th May 10:29

[N Dentressangle]

black-k1 said:

Aubrey said:

It sounds like your instructor is not explaining things properly to you if you've come off 3 times in the first day!

It does sound like your instructor may not be explaining things very well. Falling off once is bad luck, but 3 times ….

I would expect that you problem is that you are grabbing at the brakes, especially the front while not totally upright, rather than applying them progressively. Practice squeezing the brake lever gently and progressively, taking over a second to get from the first point of the brakes just starting to work through to your actual required braking force. This will need you to brake a little earlier to ensure that you have plenty of time to get all of your braking done.

Once you are happy with this approach you can start to apply the brakes a little quicker while still being progressive.

+1 Good advice. You might find that the front brake is a little "sharp", but that's something you get used to. The kind of pressure you need is a bit like arm wrestling - a gradual, sustained build up, rather than a quick snatch of force.

FWIW, I found the back brakes on most bikes I trained on were not adjusted anything like properly, and it was very uncomfortable getting my ankle to an angle where they'd bite at all. I came to the conclusion that training schools do this deliberately to stop learners skidding the back wheel all the time, and adjusted my pedal to the right height. If you have no back brake, you're probably trying to use the front in slow speed maneuvres, which will definitely pitch you off. Is that what's happening, perhaps?

Remember, front brake is to slow you from speed, back brake is for control of the bike at speeds of up to jogging pace. You'll probably barely use the back brake to stop from speed at all.

[black-k1]

N Dentressangle said:

Remember, front brake is to slow you from speed, back brake is for control of the bike at speeds of up to jogging pace. You'll probably barely use the back brake to stop from speed at all.

Sorry, but I don't agree with that comment. The back brake should always be used although, in the dry, most of the braking effort will come from the front brake.

[N Dentressangle]

I did say barely.

It's very easy to lock the rear wheel up as an inexperienced rider - you're much more of an expert, and probably a long way away from when you trained, but for me it's recent history. Most learners do apply too much rear rather than too little, and try to brake in the same way they would in a car - by pressing hard with their foot. So, on balance, I'd probably advise a pretty gentle touch from speed.

Interesting Youtube vid here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3d6iu-1WFxw&feat...

showing the way the back wheel actually lifts and jumps under hard braking on an ABS equipped bike, which shows why it's so easy to skid and lock it on a bike with no ABS.

This one's good too, especially for the handy stabilisers:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zv3Sacl7JQ