Rear brake, why is it there?

[8541Hawk]

The whole point of this tread is to get people thinking so looks like it is working good....
Carry on

[mik_str]

to answer your question, because without it, cruiser guys (ie. Hardley crowd) would have no means to stop their chrome-covered land yachts......

[Ckennedy]

It certainly has me thinking. I have just realised that I have not touched my back brake for ages and from what you have written it could be one of the areas as to why I screw up and panic when I go to hot round a corner and I grab the front brakes. I should deffently try to get the back brake in future. I shall be going out tomorrow so I shall be giving this a good work out. Thanks for the eye opener

[Miztaziggy]

I never realised back brake would tighten a turn, so I went and tried it. Didn't really have much of an effect really though, just slowed me down without making the bike straighten up like it does with the front brake

[lloydie]

well i gave these tip a go on the way home .
i do like the way the bike feels more settled on entering the bend .
using the rear brake to tighten the line when lent right over (knee down ) is going to take some practice i did lock it up once or twice .

[8541Hawk]

That is why I did say it does take some practice to master..... kind of like how you needed to learn your front brakes.

So what rear pads are you running lloyde?

[geoff996]

I'm a believer in the rear brake trailing into corner and wet weather riding i rather lose the back than the front.

[VTRDark]

i rather lose the back than the front.

I know exactly what you mean. The back can go where it likes as it can be controlled to a degree. When the front goes it's a heart murmuring moment.

(:-})

[lloydie]

That is why I did say it does take some practice to master..... kind of like how you needed to learn your front brakes.

So what rear pads are you running lloyde?

standard gg pads i think no wait hh i have gg in my other caliper ,i will get them swapped over tomorrow .

[thumperslaw]

Wheelies

[Hairy biker]

I use mine a lot as well,pretty much same as cybercarl does

[mattycoops43]

I pretty much use a bit of rear brake every time I use the front brake, bike is more settled. I never touch the front brake in the middle of a bend, but the back brake can definitely be useful.

[bazza696]

Increase the feel of the rear brake by fitting an SP piston, the standard one is plain, the SP is the same diameter but Teflon coated.

[Pete.L]

A little something that you can try also is to apply the rear brake when going in a straight line. You will feel the rear of the bike squat a little bit. This squatting effect will allow you to apply the front brake harder and obviously, stop faster in and emergency situation.
Simply put, it stops the rear suspension from extending as fast as it would without a bit of rear brake. This, in turn, stops the bike from trying to do a stoppie as it will require greater weight transfer to lift the back end off the floor. It also takes up a bit of travel in the forks and preloads the front end which as well, as squeezing the tire into the tarmac as previously mentioned, will help reduce the momentum of the weight transfer onto the front fork and reduce the chance of them bottoming out so again you get increased brake efficiency.,
So, if you are in the habit of not using the rear brake don't be afraid try a couple of of these techniques, it might be a good habit to get into

Pete.l

[Anotherbikerbabe]

I actually use my rear brake a heck of a lot as I mostly ride in heavy town traffic. As long as I'm not racing around and am just cruising slowly through traffic I like to use my rear brake to slow down to a stop at lights. I will start gradually slowing from a distance, sometimes sitting upright and stretching my back, and if I'm lucky by the time I get to the lights they are changing and I don't need to stop. It's also cheaper to replace the one set of pads rather than overuse the fronts. I save them for when I really need some heavy braking or when I'm literally coming to a stop. I also use the rear on the bends, a little dab here and there. Very rarely will I use the front in a bend.

Me too, exactly the same..A lot in filtering foot hovers over back brake, slow into bends on sharper bends and as pete described and back off again but it does give far more stability on a tighter turn for me but I'm a big girls blouse so what do I know!! lol..

(:-})