The main reason for slipping while cornering is due to loss of speed, it can either be brought about by dropping the throttle or by braking.

And no matter which wheel skids the outcome is the same the bike will momentarily loose traction, but what you do next determines how things will end up, normally when people skid, 2 survival instincts act at the same time i.e un-necessarily braking and gripping the handle too tight.

A bike is designed to correct itself no matter what happen's, people normally think its the duty of the rider to do the same but its not. And for that to happen you should NEVER while riding a bike, grip the handle too tight, the handles are NOT made to hold onto the bike, they are just made for maneuvering the bike, the real methode to hold on to a bike is by using you'r knees. Now the un-necessary braking part, once the skid is initiated the bike need's a chance to correct itself if you keep the brakes jammed then there's no way the bike will be able to do it, so the millisecond you feel the bike's lost traction let go of the brakes and only the brakes, NOT the throttle.

A near miss

hey guys am a regular reader of this thread and i generally prefer to read few points of this thread before i start my long rides. This incident happen while i was coming home from my 1st solo long distance Ride to Mt.Abu .

The drama happend on NH8 somewhere between Varodra and Surat . Here is what happend to me and how i managed to escape.

I was doing good speed (120-125) on my C250R as the road was almost empty and smooth and dead straight . i have made a habit of checking mirrors after every 7-9secs and when i did that i found a VW Vento was closing in very fast so i gave indicator and changed lane . The vento just zipped passed me and i too decided to take a full advantage of him and started to follow him while keeping gap of 4-5 trucks(am not good with maths sorry ) between me and him and i too started doing 130+ constantly.

Soon after following his path for almost 10-20kms i saw 3-4 truck Driving in middle lane ( we were on right lane) the Vento driver didnt slow down and he just overtook them with same speed and i too thought that i can do the same but my other mind (or my instinct) was telling me to slow down so i droped my speed to 115-120kmph .

While i was about to overtake the 4th truck the 3rd Trucker jumped into my lane without any Indicator or even checking his mirrors i was still doing close to 120 and now i had only a distance of few meters ( or a length of a Truck) to slow down . I squeezed the front break lever as hard as i could do .....also at the same time managing the rear break . I was almost at the bumper of the truck who was in my lane and when barely 1 or 2 feet before the impact i managed to control my bike and when i looked @ speedo it was showing 35kmph @ 2nd gear ...

phhewwww ! was alive and the best part was that i was not panicked or surprised ....everything happened as if i was trained to do such stuff. I moved on to that truck driver had a FRIENDLY chat with him and moved on. After this i never crossed the mark of 90kmph on last 400kms.

A Big Thumps Up..! to all the masters and experts here who gave their valuable time to write these articles and educate novice biker like me . Than you all ...aagar aap ne ye sab nahi likha hota toh shayad aaj mai Hospital mai hota..:P and yeah sorry for my poor English writing skills

Thank god for yourself being safe, and keep in mind the bigger the bike the better the brake's. If I were in your position with my ZMA, I would surely be with god right now.

But the important thing here is that you've learnt your lesson. Having been a adrenalin junkie myself, I've topped out my ride till the point of engine stalling and that too on traffic filled roads. But now I rarely take my bike beyond 3kRPM(50Kmph). Cause ultimately remember, its the capability of the rider that matters, not the bike.

Thnk you ashwin . I might be going little Off topic but i don't agree with you for "Bigger the bike....Brake's" i think an R15 or RTR will handle such situation more effectively than Cbr its just my personal observation .

By big, I wasnt actually referring to the size of the bike, I said so with the cost factor in mind.

My 90K ZMA Brakes like CRAP.

My Friends 1.10L R15 Brakes like Especially since we normally underestimate it.

My Friends 1.5L CBR Brakes even better than the R15 and surprisingly doesnt slip not even abit, guess the tyres are responsible for this.

My Friends Mechanic's 3.10L N250R, The bike brakes like nothing I've ever seen before, and best of all you'll have to keep an eye on the speedo to know how good the brakes are, cause the feelings somehow neutral, we wont get that forward thrust like we get while braking in the R15/CBR250R.

Braking techniques?

Hey guys,
I just had a few questions about braking method that you use. What I do is that while slowing the bike down, I pull in the clutch, and coast to a stop, and then change gears. I do not use engine braking at all; even whenever I'm riding,and have to slow down and speed up again, I pull in the clutch for the period that I'm slowing down(RC 390). Is that a correct way to brake?
The reason I do this is that the bike feels a lot smoother when the clutch is pulled in, after doing that for so long, using engine braking feels really harsh and rough.
Any suggestions? Is what I'm doing a correct method or am I damaging the bike in some way? What do you guys do?

Thanks!

Re: Braking techniques?

Go through this thread from start to finish, you will have answers to all your questions. If after reading through, you need clarifications with anything, ask away

Re: Braking

Hi All,

Thanks for great inputs and enlightening me that front brakes actually matter while braking (PS: I was misinformed that applying front brakes are dangerous as it might throw the rider. Probably the advice was referring to the effect of applying the front brake completely without giving it a gentle push initially).

I have few queries and would appreciate if someone could clear them.

• From all the braking techniques discussed I infer that a rear drum + front disc is more than adequate to brake properly. Then why do people insist on having rear disc brakes on performance bikes?

• Regarding engine braking, so far my understanding is progressively shift down while slowing down and make sure that clutch is not always pulled in. My question is during a sudden brake where we have to stop within a few meters, holding and releasing the clutch very often will lead to engine knocking right ? Should we do it in such a way that engine does not knock (Like do not shift to 1 st gear when slowing down to 40kmph) ?

PS: Once again, thanks for this thread. I will try to refer this as frequently as possible. I will soon buy my first bike and was worried about rear drum + front disc combo due to my previous misunderstanding on front brakes. Now I can confidently go with rear drum + front disc combo, as I now realize that front brakes are the ones that matters.

Also, I came across this good braking video which covers important points discussed in this thread.

Re: Braking

Hmmm ... I don't think Drums are better than discs. But here's the thought process ... and maybe that's what was being referred to.

We as habit are always told to use the rear. We tend to use a certain amount of pressure to brake to stop. Now if you'd apply the same amount to discs you'd lock up your rear and ... you know. Discs are more sensitive and need a certain level of precision. At the same time a disc can lock more easier than a drum (IMO - I have theories in my crazy head) ....

I prefer the disk/disk setup because uneven stopping forces and the weight distribution will cause lateral forces to come into play. Try pushing you phone from one of the longer corners to understand.

As for the engine halting question .... when you use engine braking, the idea is also to progressively shift downwards to match the speed. Again this is a synced activity because if you shift without matching speed then your rear will spin out and you can lose balance.

Its more complicated said than done. When put on paper, braking is doing 100 things at the same time. In reality, as with any skill, you will only get it overtime living through them over and over .... like Tom Cruise in 'Edge of tomorrow' movie.

You are William Cage and your bike is that Rita girl ... There is a lot about riding you can learn from that movie with just this co-relation *me going crazy again*

Re: Braking


Hey TenHut. Very skilled and practical advice.

I am riding on a cycle for 4 years in Hyderabad and in all weathers (hot, rainy, winters etc etc) and in all parts of city. I have always used front brake. Rear brake has been used 10% of the time and that too in conjunction with front brake. And it has been the safe-safe journey for me always, never skid a single time on my cycle with slowly-press and keep-it-pressed reflex, never grab the front-brake, never hop onto it in panic (been in such situation once). One thing which always surprised me was response from mechanics when I told them I always use front-brake:

1. Your handle will break because Indian cycles are not designed for front-braking. (it never broke)
2. No one uses front brake. Always use rear-brake, this is what you should always use (classic response).
3. You will fall over the handle (classic response 2)

I always wondered whether same applied for bikes too and I came across your post . I learned the importance of front-braking and dangers of rear-braking while hanging on Cycling Forum.

Re: Braking

Tap the brake slightly and then brake fully will help reduce skidding. In a panic situation, it might be tougher to do it. As someone mentioned earlier, practicing it to make it a muscle memory, you can use it in panic situations too. But it will be difficult for majority of people. I ride an Activa as everyone knows how worse it can skid. I use 50% of the brake and release the brake to avoid wheel lock-up and then apply it fully.

Re: Braking

Indeed a good technique for the non-geared bike, else the best way is to drop gears to slow down and still have control over the bike.
For a non-geared bike, I also believe having a proportional split in the rear and the front brake is also very important. (60-40)

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I also believe having a proportional split in the rear and the front brake is very important too (60-40).
But I recently had a discussing with a friend who is quite an avid motorcyclists and rides on the track and mentioned that they stress more on using the front brakes than the rear brakes (Basically do not follow the 60-40 braking ration). Is this true and if yes can anyone help me to understand this?

Re: Braking

Tapping the brake, then letting off and then re-braking is pretty much pointless. You aren't accomplishing anything, and are wasting time that could be used to slow you down. Rather than tapping once, then re-applying, learn to smoothly apply the brakes from the start. Use only two or three fingers on the brake lever, ease into the brake, squeeze harder once you start to slow, then ease off at the end. Brakes essentially convert your kinetic energy (forward motion) into heat, and they convert it at a constant rate. As you slow down, that rate becomes a larger percentage of the remaining energy, so if you don't ease off at the end there will come a point where the amount of energy the brake removes becomes 50% of what's left, then 100%, and you stop abruptly. So when applying pressure on the lever, think of a bell curve where the vertical axis is the amount of pressure on the lever, and the horizontal is time.


Proportional brake systems are a come-and-go fad on bikes. They are helpful for less experienced riders, particularly those who have a habit of using only the pedal rather than the lever on the handlebars. They are also useful on large, heavy sport-touring and full touring bikes that weigh so much that the rear wheel never really unweights.

However, your rider friend is correct that a split system where the front brake can be used exclusively is far more effective. On a motorcycle, the front brake provides at least 70% of the braking capacity of the bike, and that goes up depending on how hard you're braking. It can reach 100% in emergency stops, as the rear wheel lifts completely off the ground. Many riders are scared of the front brake, because they have heard false stories about how using the front brake can cause the bike to flip. It is important to point out that this is unlikely even for superbikes that have huge twin rotors on the front. Bikes with smaller brakes can still lift the rear wheel, and on the typical tiny Indian bike, with a good front brake you can probably pull off a respectable "Stoppie", but unless you freeze during the stoppie and forget to lean back it's unlikely your bike will fall over much less flip.

The best way to understand your bike's braking capabilities is to go out and do some practice. Find a long empty stretch of road, or a clean, well-paved parking lot with no obstructions, and experiment. Start with normal stops from moderate speeds. As you get comfortable, try doing harder braking. Once you get a better feel for how the bike brakes, step up the speed a little, and try for shortened braking distances. As an example, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner course requires that you be able to stop from about 50km/h in less than 30 feet in order to pass the course. Also remember that your bike's tires do not have the amount of road contact that a car's tires do. You cannot safely turn and brake at the same time, so it might be useful to throw in some swerves, where you pretend that something has suddenly obstructed your path, and you need to both avoid the obstacle and come to a stop.

Re: Braking

This was an amazing explanation. Thank you so much for your time and effort for this. I have in fact forwarded this message of your in my group too. It's true that most of us are just scared to use the front brakes as we have heard these stories of how the bikes can flip. I have been trying this often, especially during short rides in the Ghats. While I am much able to control the bike with the brake (front), I also use the gears to control the bike.

So typically before I enter the corner I slow down, while on a straight patch and the lean for the corner, to avoid over-shooting at the corner, however at times I am unable to judge the depth of the corner which requires me to brake while I have already in it, which is when I need brakes to correct myself.
The only thing that makes my confidence go down is feeling that the bike might slip if I apply the brakes inappropriately during the turn. But I understand that only practise will help me better my cornering skills. Thank you once again for the detailed explanation.

Re: Braking


The braking and cornering sequence is one of the core skills in motorcycling. As noted, you really shouldn't brake while cornering. This is because the tire contact patch is so small on a motorcycle, and when cornering you're using virtually all of the available friction to corner. Additionally, braking while cornering can do funny things to the handling even if you are able to maintain traction; some bikes "stand up" while braking in a corner, while others "fall in". For all practical purposes, you should (as you observed) do all of your braking before you enter the corner; ideally you should actually accelerate gently through the corner, and you should endeavor to make the corner as sharp as possible. Unlike when driving a car, where it's better to round off the corner so you can maintain speed, on a bike you should try to sharpen the corner, so you can get turned and back upright as soon as possible and get back on the throttle. You want to spend as little time leaned over as possible.

The sequence is:

1. Brake as you approach the corner while downshifting to the gear you want to be in as you go through the corner, and scan the corner to make sure there's nothing like sand/gravel/oil that could cause you to go down; let off the brake just before initiating your turn
2. At this point countersteer firmly (look this up to make sure you understand it; it will seem counterintuitive at first) to start the turn, and turn your head and eyes so you're looking at where you want to be once you're done cornering. You've already determined that the pavement is clean, so you don't need to be looking at the road now, and can focus on where you're going to be. Gently roll into the throttle just a bit, so you're very slightly accelerating. This will provide additional stability.
3. The countersteer will push the bike over, and you will carve through the corner. Don't be afraid to lean the bike; unless your tires are really worn the bike will maintain traction even when the footpeg is dragging on the pavement (just be careful not to drag the peg too much, you can lift the rear wheel and that will just ruin your day).
4. As you complete the corner and start to stand the bike up, roll on the throttle, increasing as the bike becomes more and more vertical until you're back at speed and traveling straight again.

Turning your head and looking at your exit while cornering rather than fixating on the road right in front of you will help you to not feel like you overshot the corner. Your bike can actually corner at a higher speed than you think, but if you are only looking right in front of you, you'll feel like you're going too fast, and you'll freak out and not be able to force yourself to make the turn. By doing a quick scan of the corner before you hit it, you can ensure that the pavement is clean, and can focus your attention on your exit. It takes some practice, and you have to trust your bike; it's a weird feeling at first but you'll get used to it.