In the wet, minimise risk of locking wheels and skidding; apply front and back brakes equally, 50:50 each, gradually and smoothly.
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3 replies on “Tip: Wet weather, 50:50 brakes”
I generally slow down using engine braking as I find it often makes for a more steady stop in all but the most adverse conditions, but it’s something I’d dabble with yourself rather than take my word for it 😉
Yeah, I do that quite a bit actually. Though when I was doing my DAS the instructor said its still worth just touching the back brake at the same time, so you’ve got a brake light lit to warn those behind. Also, I find dropping from 2nd to 1st on the Fazer can give almost too much braking and jolt a little, but that could just be me not easing clutch/matching revs very well… 🙂
“Gradually” is the key thing. As you apply the front brake, the front end will load up and transfer force downwards, increasing pressure between tyre and road, meaning increasingly more braking pressure can be applied. If you load up the front end smoothly, you can eventually apply a huge amount of pressure, even in the wet. Brake suddenly, and the front wheel will stop turning before sufficient traction exists to also stop the rest of the bike, and bad things will happen 🙂
The same principle doesn’t apply so readily to the back tyre (though it does still apply a bit), so over the course of coming to a complete stop, you would expect to increase front braking more than back. Start with 50/50, but then (particularly if an emergency requires quick stopping) expect to progressively increase front braking. That would be my advice.