New rider - rear brake

[Prottecttor]

Hey all !

Im a fairly new rider, done around ~1000km so im still a big newbie and learning. I had a situation on a bike with really bad tires ( i probably should not even sit on that motorcycle back then ) where any decent breaking with rear brake ended up in locking the wheel. It scared me couple of times , happily never went down but the fear is still there.
Now i am riding my NSR 125, good brand new tires, new break pads, brake discs in nearly perfect condition. The thing is i have a phobia and im scared AF to brake with rear. I've done around 400 km on this bike without using the rear brake like EVER. I have never felt any need to brake with rear however i think this might be mistake. This will probably lead to me doing mistakes on bigger bike in the future by not using the rear at all. So please tell me how should i overcome this stupid fear and when to use rear brake and use it good.

[recman]

I'll use the rear in conjunction with the front for slowing down at higher speeds but I don't use the it around town.
Don't stamp on it, be smooth.
Keep in mind that it's only the front brake assist.

[pinkyfloyd]

The only time I use rear brake when I am not teaching is.... oh wait I dont.

For a novice rider the rear brake at anything below 10mph or for slow control. Anything faster just for slowing down in a hurry as an extra brake along with the front.
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

I use the rear brake every time I come to a stop. I never halt on the front brake because even the slightest bit of grit, oil or fuel can have you over if the front tyre goes. As it happens, none of my bikes have particularly sharp "one finger" front brakes but I still don't stop on it.

As for slowing down, I often go 75-25 or 80-20 front and back - especially on the KLX and the CB500. Also, the front 6 pots on the zx9r are so shit that they probably always need a bit of help from the back brake.

As for fearing the back, I've got more fear of the front. I can recover a rear wheel skid so much easier than the front going.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Andy_Pagin]

Rear brake is for slow speed manoeuvring control, anything else apply the vast majority of braking effort to the front brake and just a little to the back.
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[Teflon-Mike]

"Infinite improbability drive now reduced to idle, infinite improbability returned to 0%, 'normality' has been resumed... therefore anything you cant deal with, is your own problem. Thank-You" (To parat-phrase Douglas Adams, but still) How YOU get over a phobia, whether its not using the back-brake of a motorbike, or evict a spider from the bath tub.. (guilty!) is your look out. What 'other' people may do is theirs... and no guarantee what works for them will work for you!

The 'Approved' advice you should have got on the topic on CBT, is to always use both brakes; in the dry, 75/25 braking effort, note EFFORT, the braking effect, not lever travel or finger/foot force, from front/back. In the wet that should shift to about 50/50% 'effort' from each brake, ALWAYS the front applied slightly before the back. THAT is the general, base line 'advice' B-U-T its your arse in the saddle Kimo-Saboi, no-one elces, and what works for them wont necessarily work for you, in any, let alone all circumstances, on any bike.

On a bigger heavier bike, you will tend to use more rear brake, because the weight means that its not so prone to lift the tail, and a wheel on the deck can 'effect' braking, one in the air cant.. hence short, light, front end weighted 'Sports bikes' will tend to lift the tail a lot more and a lot sooner and the back-brake wont be doing a heck of a lot... as long as the front tyres grip and the rider stays in balance... you have been warned!

'Sports-Bike' vogue for the last 1/4 century then has promoted the 'idea' you don't need or even shouldn't use the back brake... which is a bit of crap to my mind. IF on the public highway, you are getting the tail in the air regularly... you are probably an accident looking for a place to happen!!! Biking is hazardous enough and bikes, are balanced precariously enough, before you start, to be pushing your luck with track-tricks like that!! And it don't take a lot to over cook it, or for a tyre to loose grip on crap council tarmac, spilled diesel or whatever....

ALWAYS USE BOTH BRAKES TOGETHER, front 'slightly' before back, and modulate lever/pedal pressure for 'best' effect!.

Remember the 75/25 Dry, 40/50 wet, 'Rule' is merely a guideline.... we have no idea how heavy you are, how tall you are, how far forward you sit, how good your tyres are or how crap the surface you are riding on, SO it is something you have to work out for yourself... with practice, which is what CBT and L's is supposed to be for, not to let you wobble around as if you were a qualified rider, without taking the tests, for ever and a day!

How you get round mind fart, stage fright of not using the back brake at all, is an open question. There's an old theatre thing, to get over stage-fright, of telling a new actor to remember every-one in the audience still has to wipe their arse after they have done a crap, and to imagine them all naked.. presumably with bits of tissue hanging from their botties, but I cant think of anything similar for a phobia over using the back brake, other than to just shout at you and say "USE BOTH EFFIN BRAKES!"

That is what the book says, that is what an examiner will expect to see.. and note brake lamp switch usually (on older bikes only!) on the back brake, and as likely to be out of adjustment on the front, the examiner will be looking at the brake light to spot what you are up to as much as hands/feet... but with a body in the way, they will, if they are watching any-thing, be looking for that right boot to move when you slow, to show you is using it..... test tip for you... yes tests, remember them, they are not something to be put off until you are old enough to doe DAS... so using CBT + L's as intended, to let you go practice before tests, not pretend for however long its the be all and end all, USE THE BACK BRAKE!!! get in the habit, and get into it now, when you are a Learner, learning how to ride!

But there are two issues here; 1/ correct braking, which as I say means actually using both of them, and 2/ your own phobia over using the bake brake, which is something you just have to get over with mind-tricks, drilling it into your psyche, until it's habit.
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[TaffyTDM]

You spelt else wrong tef.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Easy-X]

I like this analogy...

If you want to cut your speed the back brake is a scalpel and the front a machete To cut a lot you wouldn't just use a scalpel and to cut a little you wouldn't use a machete
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[redeem ouzzer]

Back brake is there to placate the MOT inspector, nothing more.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[chickenstrip]

[Teflon-Mike]

[Easy-X]

One area where cruisers differ from "real" bikes You can give the back brake a proper stamp! I only managed to lock up the back wheel once on the Keeway, wouldn't fancy doing it again Actually the Keeway wasn't too bad - the CBS meant a pot on the front was also firing - so I used the back brake a fair bit.

The Rebel's 100% faux-cruiser so I hardly use the back brake at all now. I suppose it depends how bitey your front is Recalling the dual rotors on the MT07 you really didn't want to use the front much, certainly not at low speeds.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[chris_hu_cheng]

You will get an infinite number of replies...

IMHO, on a 125cc especially you should be using rear brake.

Make it your friend, use it to stop you from rolling, left foot down, right foot up when stopped/waiting (see it wants to be your friend really).

Take the advice above about brake lights, check when your brake lights up off the bike, should be just as the rear brake starts to engage so even a light dab lets you send the message "easy tiger" to cars behind even if engine braking will scrub off the speed you need.

Make sure it is adjusted properly (bike dependent) but if there is a lot of travel I find there is more tendency to overcook it.

Practice, you slid and survived, lock the front wheel and prospects are usually much worse. Find somewhere safe and stop from slow speeds in straight line, applying more pressure on rear until it does slide a little, not so bad after all??

If you are doing a u-turn or similar what brake do you use if you need to slow a little? if front then something bad will happen sooner rather than later.

I have overcooked rear brake a couple of times (my own fault) quite alarming when starts to fishtail BUT each time I eased off and corrected and stayed upright.... So I consider the rear brake a good friend. Even on big bikes I use it a little for general slowing down and tend to switch to mostly rear for final stop, slow speed stuff.

[martin734]

I use my rear brake all of the time. When coming to a stop I will use both the brakes to bring the bike down to about 10 mph and then use the back brake to bring the bike to a gentle stop. As my bike is quite tall and heavy and I can't get both feet flat, I find it easier to bring it to a controlled stop without the front forks being loaded and compressed, especially in the wet or on an uneven surface and even more so with a pillion.
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Current bike: ST1100 "Big Red"

[RhynoCZ]

Rear brake only makes sense on motorcycles, where you put some weight above the rear wheel. Otherwise you're going to just lock the brake instead of actually slowing the machine down. This applies especially to sports motorcycles.

On naked ''classic'' bikes, I use both brakes, because I sit above the rear wheel (closer to it) and put some weight there.

From my own recollection, GPz = both brakes (all 3 brake discs had the same diameter and caliper), CB-1 = rarely both brakes, ZX7R = front brake only, MZ = both brakes, XBR = both brakes

As you can see, the only motorcycle where I have never bothered even using the rear brake was a ''Superbike''. Not that I would not try, it just locked the rear wheel, even on dry tarmac under heavy braking. Instant rear wheel lock system.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[chickenstrip]

[Teflon-Mike]

[Freddyfruitba...]

I certainly use mine - there's a good explanation for why here:
https://www.therideadvice.com/the-motorcycle-back-brake-is-there-for-a-reason-use-it/
https://youtu.be/jDGvzy038Eo

[chickenstrip]

I had a feeling it wasn't for nothing.
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[Nobby the Bastard]

I use my rear brake all the time. By the same token, you'll never find me lying in the road having grabbed a handful of front brake whilst traversing gravel whilst tryng to get to the front of the line of traffic .
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[RhynoCZ]

[Nobby the Bastard]

[RhynoCZ]

[Nobby the Bastard]