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Exiting the freeway

ilikesmybike

New member
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Location
east bay
Moto(s)
sold it
OK, I hope this is an easy one. If you are exiting the freeway and it's a slight curve (downhill) and the traffic signal is red, how do you brake safely while turning the exit curve and not slide the rear tire? I haven't done much freeway riding and I've always been lucky enough that when I do exit, the traffic light is green so I can keep going. But when I have to stop (which I'm sure it will happen eventually) and I'm in a lean, won't I lose traction and slide if I try to apply the brake while in the turn? It seems the curve is too steep/fast for me to straighten up and brake intermitantly. Advice please..thanks
 
if its a slight curve i would still use both front and rear. The front will make the bike stand up but if its a slight curve then just you shouldn't even notice.
 
ilikesmybike said:
But when I have to stop (which I'm sure it will happen eventually) and I'm in a lean, won't I lose traction and slide if I try to apply the brake while in the turn?

in a word, no. so long as it's a relatively clean surface, you can brake while leaned over, just not hard. if it is or might be slick....slow down before you enter the turn.

the front brake will tend to stand the bike up somewhat, use that to your advantage then come to a smooth controlled stop upright with the bars square.

shouldn't this be in the training section?
 
Re: Re: Exiting the freeway

squid vicious said:
in a word, no. so long as it's a relatively clean surface, you can brake while leaned over, just not hard. if it is or might be slick....slow down before you enter the turn.

the front brake will tend to stand the bike up somewhat, use that to your advantage then come to a smooth controlled stop upright with the bars square.

shouldn't this be in the training section?

Yeah, :laughing You gotta crash first before we answer questions here! Just kidding, but I agree with Squid Vicious and the other posters, you should be able to use the front brake alone or in addition to the back, even down hill and in a turn under normal street conditions.

These are just guesses, but you may be exiting at too fast a speed if you're not able to stop in time for the light ahead. You may also be using the brake like an on/off switch instead of gradually and smoothly applying just enough brake pressure to get the bike to stop smoothly.
 
What these guys said--just don't grab a big clumsy handful of lever while you're leaned over and you should be fine to brake in a turn.

The more you're leaned, the less traction you have, and the more gentle you should be on the brakes.

As I understand it, the MSF teaches students not to use ANY brake in a turn because newbies are generally not capable of being gentle on the brakes.

Once out of that that ham-handed beginning stage, however, one should be able to apply a little brake in a turn without exploding into a huge fireball of death.
 
Moved to the Training Forum.
 
I'm not an experienced rider, but I would say just get as much of your braking done before the turn as possible, then downshift/loosen up on the throttle and gently apply the rear brake as you come around, then straighten up the bike once you get close to the light.
 
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It sounds like this is a regular exit for you that you take often.

What is going to help you is experience. In order to be able to recognize when the bike can handle more brake or not, you are going to have to be able to remember how the bike feels in different scenarios. I would try different drills on a familiar "clover leaf" turn. You must remember road conditions change with temperature, oil, water, etc.

Make sure traffic is light or nonexistent. You want the road conditions to be clear and clean. You are starting the drills at a slower speed and finishing the drills with a normal speed.

Enter the turn with the throttle closed and then twist the throttle open a little after you initiate/enter the turn. Then try again

This time increase your speed a little bit so your throttle needs to be opened a little when you are further into the turn, then try again.

Once you get the hang of having the throttle closed and not using any brake a few times, using the rear brake only, try dragging your rear brake ever so slightly for just a little while, before and into the turn, turn the throttle back on nice and easy while releasing the rear brake. Use the speed you had in the first drill then increase your speed a little when you feel comfortable.

Ideally you should be using the front brake, but this is a drill without traffic around. You are trying to understand the feeling. So at first you are practicing throttle control with no brakes, then just the rear brake. Next you can do the front brake.

Enter the turn with a normal amount of speed. Use the front brake like you normally would to initiate / enter the turn. When adjusting your speed for the turn, make sure you are nice and straight/upright. Ease off the brake but not all the way, carrying a little speed as you begin to lean. The idea here is to have the bike leaned over while still having a little bit of pressure on the front brake. When you are trying to get the “right” speed for the drill, do not reapply the brake. You should be doing all your slowing down before the turn like normal. You are going to just hold the brake a little longer and a little lighter, correcting yourself with the throttle. Remember, you can do this drill because you already know how to “catch” yourself with the throttle from the first drill.

After practicing these drills in order and over a few days, you should then be able to try applying the front brake mid turn. The thing you should be remembering is your sense of speed when you were practicing the other drills. What is going to feel different is the fact that your bike will want to stand up as the braking becomes stronger. You also have to remember to allow the bike to stand up by not forcing it, not pushing or pulling on the bar. Fighting the bike’s natural tendency to stand up will diminish the amount of available traction in the front tire. As the bike slows, you need to gradually apply more brake. Increasing the brake pressure, relative to the bike slowing down, is going to offer you the “stable” feeling. If you are not feeling the bike gradually standing up, you are not applying enough brake. The other option is to “catch” yourself by turning the throttle back on. If you are done slowing down or you no longer need to stop mid turn, you need to make the bike stable again with the throttle.

The last step would be to use the rear brake. The rear brake should be initiated before the front and while the bike is in an upright position. The action of shutting or chopping the throttle causes the rear wheel to slow down due to compression. Judging the amount of available traction the rear tire has while leaned over can be very difficult, especially when combing the use of the rear brake with closing the throttle. This is a good reason to wait until the last possible moment to pull in the clutch before a stop. It is not impossible to use the rear brake, just important to understand and have the experience to recognize the many factors which determine the available traction.

Good luck and I hope this makes sense.
 
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Quite a bit to take in....I will definitely give your advice a try. Thanks for taking what obviously must have been a bit of time to think and type up for me. I appreciate it.
 
Jesus Mario...........................I tried to print this and my printer crashed :twofinger



Wrong Way said:
It sounds like this is a regular exit for you that you take often.

What is going to help you is experience. In order to be able to recognize when the bike can handle more brake or not, you are going to have to be able to remember how the bike feels in different scenarios. I would try different drills on a familiar "clover leaf" turn. You must remember road conditions change with temperature, oil, water, etc.

Make sure traffic is light or nonexistent. You want the road conditions to be clear and clean. You are starting the drills at a slower speed and finishing the drills with a normal speed.

Enter the turn with the throttle closed and then twist the throttle open a little after you initiate/enter the turn. Then try again

This time increase your speed a little bit so your throttle needs to be opened a little when you are further into the turn, then try again.

Once you get the hang of having the throttle closed and not using any brake a few times, using the rear brake only, try dragging your rear brake ever so slightly for just a little while, before and into the turn, turn the throttle back on nice and easy while releasing the rear brake. Use the speed you had in the first drill then increase your speed a little when you feel comfortable.

Ideally you should be using the front brake, but this is a drill without traffic around. You are trying to understand the feeling. So at first you are practicing throttle control with no brakes, then just the rear brake. Next you can do the front brake.

Enter the turn with a normal amount of speed. Use the front brake like you normally would to initiate / enter the turn. When adjusting your speed for the turn, make sure you are nice and straight/upright. Ease off the brake but not all the way, carrying a little speed as you begin to lean. The idea here is to have the bike leaned over while still having a little bit of pressure on the front brake. When you are trying to get the “right” speed for the drill, do not reapply the brake. You should be doing all your slowing down before the turn like normal. You are going to just hold the brake a little longer and a little lighter, correcting yourself with the throttle. Remember, you can do this drill because you already know how to “catch” yourself with the throttle from the first drill.

After practicing these drills in order and over a few days, you should then be able to try applying the front brake mid turn. The thing you should be remembering is your sense of speed when you were practicing the other drills. What is going to feel different is the fact that your bike will want to stand up as the braking becomes stronger. You also have to remember to allow the bike to stand up by not forcing it, not pushing or pulling on the bar. Fighting the bike’s natural tendency to stand up will diminish the amount of available traction in the front tire. As the bike slows, you need to gradually apply more brake. Increasing the brake pressure, relative to the bike slowing down, is going to offer you the “stable” feeling. If you are not feeling the bike gradually standing up, you are not applying enough brake. The other option is to “catch” yourself by turning the throttle back on. If you are done slowing down or you no longer need to stop mid turn, you need to make the bike stable again with the throttle.

The last step would be to use the rear brake. The rear brake should be initiated before the front and while the bike is in an upright position. The action of shutting or chopping the throttle causes the rear wheel to slow down due to compression. Judging the amount of available traction the rear tire has while leaned over can be very difficult, especially when combing the use of the rear brake with closing the throttle. This is a good reason to wait until the last possible moment to pull in the clutch before a stop. It is not impossible to use the rear brake, just important to understand and have the experience to recognize the many factors which determine the available traction.

Good luck and I hope this makes sense.
 
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