Ride with the vanishing point

[trafford davies]

Look up a straight rd & it seems to vanish in the far distance.
Look at a curvy rd & it disappears round a bend.
Where the left & right sides of the roads APPEAR to meet is the vanishing point.
Nice optical illusion but so what!
Actually one of the most useful observations you can make as a biker is to continually study this vanishing point. If it gets near then it is time to slow down because you are fast approaching a bend. As you go round the bend you are looking for the VP to get further away as this is the point when you accelerate.
Consciously try this next time you are riding & use throttle & gear not brakes to adjust speed.

Apologies to old hands for teaching granny to suck eggs.

[blueracer]

It is always handy for the new starters 

[snoopy]

Always good to be reminded    ... my instructor was constantly on about this ,... it does make things easier you have more time to anticipate things, and take any appropriate action 

[Skippy]

Its always a good Idea to re-cap, Good point about using Gears and Throttle to reduce speed, Keep Brakes for stopping not Slowing.

Q. do they Still teach engine Braking ??     

[Bloke]

Yeah they taught me engine breaking. To quote my instructor "You have 3 brakes on a bike. Engine, Front, Rear, Use them in that order"

This btw Trafford is the best ever riding tip ever. VP and knowing how to see it allows you to take corners without needing to throttle off, you can keep positive throttle on through the bend and as the VP opens up roll on the power.

:thumbs_up

[snoopy]

Yeah they taught me engine breaking. To quote my instructor "You have 3 brakes on a bike. Engine, Front, Rear, Use them in that order"

This btw Trafford is the best ever riding tip ever. VP and knowing how to see it allows you to take corners without needing to throttle off, you can keep positive throttle on through the bend and as the VP opens up roll on the power.

:thumbs_up

shouldn't that be, engine, REAR, front, ???   

[trafford davies]

Er  ... no Snoopy.

[snoopy]

Oh ... I always thought you should not be grabbing a handfull of front brake ..because thats what dumps you ... back brake for slowing down ... and front for stopping ~? my mistake appppoolllygiiissssyyyssssss 

Of course you should be watching and anticipating ..they road, its users ect ...

[The Stig]

I'm liking these tips & advice your posting Trafford

Thank you

[Ninja Warrior]

Yeah they taught me engine breaking. To quote my instructor "You have 3 brakes on a bike. Engine, Front, Rear, Use them in that order"

This btw Trafford is the best ever riding tip ever. VP and knowing how to see it allows you to take corners without needing to throttle off, you can keep positive throttle on through the bend and as the VP opens up roll on the power.

:thumbs_up

shouldn't that be, engine, REAR, front, ???   

Your rear brake really isnt strong enough to be effective and will more than likely result in you locking your back wheel! I barely use mine. Only really use mine around town for hill starts or waiting at lights and junctions. I think of mine as like the handbrake on a car!

[Gasman]

A picture/video is worth a thousand words.:-)

This guy's videos on Youtube are pretty good.

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[snoopy]

Yeah they taught me engine breaking. To quote my instructor "You have 3 brakes on a bike. Engine, Front, Rear, Use them in that order"

This btw Trafford is the best ever riding tip ever. VP and knowing how to see it allows you to take corners without needing to throttle off, you can keep positive throttle on through the bend and as the VP opens up roll on the power.

:thumbs_up

shouldn't that be, engine, REAR, front, ???   

Your rear brake really isnt strong enough to be effective and will more than likely result in you locking your back wheel! I barely use mine. Only really use mine around town for hill starts or waiting at lights and junctions. I think of mine as like the handbrake on a car!

  I dont use it that harshly !!  just to slow then a combination of pressure on both brakes not one or the other ... hope fully I have anticipated a situation ect in time not to have to brake harshly ... unless some  pulls out in front of me then both brakes again but not agressively or, like you say you lock up the wheel/wheels 

[trafford davies]

Thanks Gasman. I wish I could post pics / videos. Must learn.

[Gasman]

Not hard.

Go to the page with the video.
Copy the link in the url textbox. (The one that starts www. and likely a pile of gobble-di-gook at the end)

Paste it into your message.

Bingo, done. :-)

That is all I did for the above video link.

Thanks Gasman. I wish I could post pics / videos. Must learn.

[Bloke]

Yeah they taught me engine breaking. To quote my instructor "You have 3 brakes on a bike. Engine, Front, Rear, Use them in that order"

This btw Trafford is the best ever riding tip ever. VP and knowing how to see it allows you to take corners without needing to throttle off, you can keep positive throttle on through the bend and as the VP opens up roll on the power.

:thumbs_up

shouldn't that be, engine, REAR, front, ???   

lol snoopy :)

Engine 1st because you've seen the corner approaching, changed into the appropriate gear and have rolled off of the throttle, also having throttle on while braking is just negating the braking manouver so throttle off before hand. :)

Front 2nd because you might need to scrub more speed off, a front brake shifts balance of the bike forward so if you use it sub 10mph you're going to be jerky and wobble. Chances are you're going to drop it as you stop.

Rear is for that last 10mph where you start shifting brake bias to the rear, its smoother and doesn't shift weight forward when you finally stop so a lot more stable.

On a pushbike I trained myself to use only the front brake for all of my braking, what you want is your front brake applied to the point where if you applied it any more the front would lock then you apply the rear to again the point where if you applied it any more the rear would lock.

On a pushbike its something like 70/30, on a motorbike I think its more like 85/15 on dry tarmac.

Learn to correctly "modulate" (tiz what they call it when using a bicycle, no idea if its the same terminology on a motorbike) the front brake and you'll stop proper sharp without dumping it or locking the front.

That said all the above was in dry weather, in wet weather I've heard that it was safer to use the rear brake to scrub speed before entering a corner, save losing the front end under braking as if the rear slides its more than likely recoverable, if the front slides, you're normally buggered, same with engine braking, use it sooner.

At least thats what I think :)