Covering the brake

Depending on how you've got your brake lever setup, you can actually get
your index finger trapped in between the grip and the lever you're
trying to pull back with the rest of your fingers.

This is not good if you need to grab a hand full of front brake.

It can be even worse if you only use the two middle fingers.

 

Eh? What? <reads thread> Oh, 30mph filtering? Yeah, 'course you can,
although p'raps 3rd or 4th might be slightly more appropriate, but
leaving it in 1st just seems plain wrong to me.

 

Lol thanks, I'll try to remember that.

 

When you're slipping through 2 lines of traffic it's nice if you can slow
the bike down without affecting steering. The pogoing effect of the front
can be tiring and generally makes things a little trickier.

 

I would have thought it would be worthwhile to go out and deliberately
trigger the ABS to see what its like, rather than wait for an actual
emergency.

 

I tried in higher gears earlier this week.

3rd is ok around 40 but anything less 2nd feels better. 4th and above
feel shite, the engine is lumpy and when you crack the throttle open
there is a definite lag.

All I can think is they've really improved the FI at very low revs
between the K1 and K3.

 

Ahh.. I see, sort of. Never had a problem with using the front brake
myself. There again I don't ride a sports bike so less of my weight is
on my wrists.

 

My commute into the centre of London is between 25% and 80% filtering
between traffic, depending on the what time I'm travelling. The turnover -
literally in some cases- of bikes is quite high. I generally see an
accident -or more often the results of an accident -about once every 2-3
weeks. Anything that ups the percentage in my favour is a good thing.

 

True for the same reasons you don't use the front brake in a U turn
also. Yes, I can see your point now. Also the filtering when going into
London may be a little different than the sort of filtering I do in
sleepy old (F)Uckfield.

 

Go out and have a play with it FFS.
Grab a handful of front at 60mph, in the wet.
You won't fall off, no *really*. [1]

[1] Don't do it under ~5 mph though.

 

ABS gets interesting when it stops working, but the warning light
doesn't come on. Locking the wheels on a fast[1] tweaked up Renault 21
Turbo at +100mph is not much fun.

I must get myself an ABS bike one day, as long as it's never _ever_ a
French bike, if there is such a thing these days.

[1]For cage values of fast.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

All the time. In fact I throw my whole body over it, somewhat like the
grenade that's just rolled into the dugout.

Actually, I use the two finger force as an indicator of how brake
performance is deteriorating between o/hauls.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

2 aspirin and call me in the morning.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Don't, most of the time. If I'm coming up to traffic, a bend, a
junction or other hazard then my fingers will creep upwards, but I find
it uncomfortable to ride with my hand properly covering the brake.

If on lanes then I'll usually be aiming not to use it anyway.

 

Grimly Curmudgeon struggled to ejaculate:

Two librium, three valium and eat plenty of boiled fish.

 

Muck wrote

It means you are using the brakes, which may slow you down enough to
bring you close to stopping speeds and that is dangerous.

 

I do too, and agree completely. Filtering in Lane 2a on the M1
through stationary (or near-stationary) traffic for example - first or
second gear (plenty of noise, engine braking), covering the back brake
and using it to bleed off speed when things get tight - and two
fingers of each hand covering the levers.

When the bike feels comfortable in third it's generally time to stop
filtering as the traffic has caught up ;-)

 

Muck wrote

I'll say.

The 64 mile return trip from here to Charring Cross adds up to 2-2 1/2
hours, depending on traffic. Comprising about 5 miles of urban feeder
roads, 20 miles of moving dual carriage way and the rest filtering. You
get very good at it very quickly or you get damaged, basically.

 

I think most people *cover* the front in town - although, as you say
later, it is better to actually *use* the rear so that the front
doesn't dive and upset the bike; I also find involuntary
stoppies/skiddies quite off-putting, especially in the wet on white
lines and catseyes.

Chattering from the rear, you mean? I find that I usually grab clutch
at the same time in that situation, so the engine just howls a little.

When covering the front I don't have my fingertips curled around the
lever, just resting flat on it. On the open road, as I roll on and
off the throttle, my fingers must slide back and forth across the top
of the lever. I suspect that I have to take a new grip on the
throttle to go WFO, however I've only been concious of that a few
times. As I snap the throttle shut my fingers automatically slide
forward and around the lever, allowing a good old squeeze.
Reciprocally, if I have to go for the brake I have to slide my mitt
forward a bit - which automatically shuts the throttle. Handy, that.

 

Pip wrote in

The last paragraph pretty much sums up the way I control the throttle &
brake. The only time my index/middle fingers are not resting on the top
of the brake lever are when giving it max beans or in winter when I curl
them around the heated grip to warm up a bit; although I'm more likely
to do this when stationary at traffic lights whilst holding the bike
using the rear brake. The GS has nice hand guards which helps keep my
extended digits warmer.