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Monday, March 22, 2010

Part 199 - Using The Rear Brake... (",)

RSS Rear Brake

Using The Rear Brake

Riding Skills Series

RSS Rear Brake

RSS Rear Brake
While talented racers such as Troy Corser can use the rear brake to really set the bike up for a turn, mere mortals like the rest of us are better off keeping the wheels in line and focusing on using both brakes to set entry speed.
Photo by Gold & Goose
Perhaps the control that is most often misused on a motorcycle, the rear brake can be utilized in a variety of situations to surprisingly good effect. Ask any group how much they use the rear binder, and you'll get the whole spectrum of answers; from old-school riders that use only the rear brake, to some that won't touch it no matter what. Proper use for everyday riding lies somewhere in between those two extremes. But for a control that has very little effect on actually stopping the motorcycle, the rear brake can be used in subtle (and maybe surprising) ways to your advantage.
RSS Rear Brake

RSS Rear Brake
While making a U-turn, slipping the clutch and keeping the revs a bit high will keep your bike stable. Modulate your speed more by using the rear brake than by either the throttle or clutch.
To master these subtleties it's first important that you are intimately familiar with your rear brake and how strong-or weak-it is, and how much its power is affected by weight transfer. First be sure that everything is in working order and correctly adjusted. The brake pedal should be a few millimeters clear of your foot when you are sitting in a comfortable position on the bike, so that your foot is not in danger of resting on it but it is easy to reach. In a clean, dry open space such as a deserted parking lot, practice coming to a stop using only the rear brake-lightly at first, then with more effort. If the brake locks at any time, keep it locked until you're at a complete stop. Releasing the brake when you are in a skid and the wheels are out of line will put you on the ground faster than you can say "oops". Experiment with both the clutch pulled in and the clutch released, and notice how the dynamics change: With the clutch out and the engine pulling the rear wheel along, you should have a lot more control over the brake and it will be much less prone to locking. Note too how the rear end of your bike squats when you apply the rear brake. The geometry of the swingarm serves to pull the back of the bike down under braking-something you can use to your advantage.
RSS Rear Brake

RSS Rear Brake
In a sweeping turn, the rear brake can modulate corner speed to a much finer degree than using the front brake or closing and opening the throttle.
Now for the subtleties. Say you find yourself in a sweeping turn with a bit too much speed, or the corner tightens up slightly. Chopping the throttle and using the front brake will load up the front end, possibly overpowering tire traction and causing a crash. But in this situation, holding the throttle steady and applying a small amount of rear brake can scrub off just enough speed and actually help to tighten your line. The rear brake is much better at modulating your speed than the throttle and/or front brake; with the clutch out and the throttle steady, you'll find that you've got a surprising amount of control with the pedal alone. This is especially effective on a downhill turn, where keeping even slight maintenance throttle will have the bike accelerating. The rear brake will easily keep this in check while letting you stay on the throttle to avoid overloading the front tire.


RSS Rear Brake

RSS Rear Brake
Using the rear brake even slightly in a hard stop will help settle the chassis and add stability.
In general, the less traction that is available the more rear brake you can-and should-use. On a slippery surface the front brake will lock well before much weight can transfer to the front tire; ergo, there is plenty of weight left on the rear tire for traction and you should use that to your advantage. Again, use care as the rear wheel-just like the front-will lock earlier on wet pavement than on dry, and overall you'll still have less braking power available.

Part 198 - One Rule That Will Keep You Alive On City Streets... (",)

One Rule That Will Keep You Alive
On City Streets

Of all the things that we learn being out on the streets with our bikes, one stands out as the all time life-saver in my book.

  • If you can avoid it, never enter an intersection without another vehicle on your right side.
(It should be noted that this advice assumes you ride in a country where people drive on the right side of the road.)

If you have to slow down in order to let a vehicle catch up with you on the right side, or if you have to increase speed a little so that you catch up with another vehicle, having one on your right side is as safe as it gets for entering an intersection.

Obviously this also means that if you are stopped at a traffic light and it turns green, you enter the intersection when the vehicle on your right does - no jack rabbit jumps if you want to live.

Too tame? Could be, but this rider likes it that way. In fact, I'd rather that the vehicle on my right was a bus or even an 18-wheeler.

By the way, it is safer that the vehicle be on your right than on the left. The closer you can be to the center of the intersection when you go through it, the more air there is (on average) between you and somebody that comes at you from either side. This is just another way of saying that if you have to enter the intersection by yourself, do it in the left most lane.

Source --> http://www.msgroup.org/

Monday, March 15, 2010

Part 197 - Tire Pressure... (",)

Tire Pressure
More temperature sensitive than you might think


As we are now into the colder months of the year I thought it appropriate to post a reminder about tire pressures and the effect of temperature on same.

Stamped on the outside of many of your tires is a recommended tire pressure range. (At least an upper limit.) For longest tire life it is my recommendation that you strive to keep them at the higher limit of those recommendations (regardless of what your motorcycle owner's manual might say to the contrary.) Further, this pressure should be determined while the tires are cold - meaning, have not been used for a couple of hours.

Time and outside temperature effect the pressure within your tires. It is NORMAL for a tire to lose about 1 pound per square inch (psi) per month. Outside temperatures affect your tire pressure far more profoundly, however. A tire's pressure can change by 1 psi for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit of temperature change. As temperature goes, so goes pressure.

For example, if a tire is found to have 38 psi on an 80-degree mid-summer day, it could lose enough air to have an inflation pressure of 26 psi on a 20-degree day six months later. This represents a loss of 6 psi over six months and an additional loss of 6 psi due to the 60 degree temperature reduction.

At 26 psi, your tire is severely under inflated and dangerous!

There is nothing wrong with your tire if it behaves like this, of course. What is being illustrated here is that you MUST check your tire pressure on a regular basis (about once a week is reasonable) and to be particularly aware of it on cold days.

Source --> http://www.msgroup.org/

Monday, March 1, 2010

Part 196 - Excessive Tire Wear A list of causes... (",)

Excessive Tire Wear
A list of causes

Excessive tire wear, and/or cupping, is a problem that most motorcyclists experience over time. Too often this is simply the result of failing to maintain proper tire pressure. However, this is far from a complete answer.

Cupping is a phenomena that is absolutely normal! Excessive cupping or excessive wear on one side of the tire as compared to the other is not.

There are at least seven causes of cupping and/or uneven wear in the front tire other than tire air pressure:

  • Most roads are banked away from the center. Thus, if you ride vertical, the side of your tire closest to the center of the road wears more.


  • Your tires 'scuff' when you force a speed change with them. The rear tire scuffs when you accelerate and when you brake (and every time you ride in a direction other than straight ahead.) Thus, it tends to have even 'cupping' as compared to the front tire (which scuffs when you brake but not when you accelerate.)


  • While alignment is not usually a problem with motorcycles - it can be.


  • Carrying an unevenly divided load (all your tools, jumper cable, etc.) in one saddlebag can result in your riding the bike other than vertical most of the time.


  • Setting your TRAC (anti-dive) unequally can easily cause uneven tire wear.


  • If one of your front shocks is defective you will experience uneven tire wear.


  • Excessive use of the front brake will result in excessive cupping.

Source --> http://www.msgroup.org/

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