my1000cc

Hi All,

Some times while riding bike, we tend to skid and fall due to several factors....to avoid them in future, I thought the below words of mine should help.

Braking is like a wrestling match between your braking(brakes+braking force applied) and the tyres (tyres + road grip/surface).

Scenario 1: Braking overpowers the tyre (or tyres)
The wheel skids, biker may lose balance and fall down.

Scenario 2: Tyres grip overpowers the braking force
The wheel doesnt skid, wheel continues to slow down (still its rotating), biker has lot more control but cant stop in time

Scenario 3: Tyres put up a tough fight till the end, but loses to the braking force at the last..(minor/ negligible skidding before stopping)
Locking the wheels isnt going to stop you instantly! Retardation (-ve accelration) has to happen before you stop. Rather reduce the wheel's rpm gradually and then squeeze your brakes...


Braking is to stop/ slow down the vehicle, But first understand that "YOU CANT STOP WITHOUT SLOWING DOWN!"


Not every fall is because of excessive braking force, but handling the brakes carefully and understanding that there is a small battle going on in your bike, does help you a lot.

Regards,

Anand

Noor

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vkavadia

Interesting topic...

The roads and tyres which we use for everyday commuting are hardly top class.
For optimum tyre grip on dry surfaces you need a slick tyre (with no grooves) and the correct rubber compound... But this is of course only for track use.

Since we're talking about braking, i'd like to bring engine braking into the picture too.
I read somewhere on the internet that although engine braking is good for normal braking and it can increase the life of your brakes BUT this article also said that though engine braking helps in reducing speed quickly, the engine and gearbox setup itself is resistant to very quick changes in speed.
What this means is that if you need to brake in an emergency then its best to pull in your clutch lever...

I've never noticed a big difference in emergency braking with the clutch extended or depressed.. Any opinions?

Samarth 619

As far as I know, most performance bikes today have disk brakes, and you can lock them up (most of them) on their used stock tyres.
This is very much what I suggest people who ask me for disc brake modifications. I tell them that its better to upgrade your tyres, so that you actually get some serious grip, then you can afford to brake hard, specially with disk brakes.

Someone gave me a pillion ride on a RD350, with worn out MRF Zappers installed. Heck, it was squealing (terrible sounding I tell ya!) under hard acceleration...

In both of these situations, the better alternative is to get good tyres rather than modify for power or braking!


On the flip side, bigger discs do have better braking with more power and instant feel, even on touching the lever.