A better braking technique ?

[The Gecko_imp]

You may have heard about it or not, you may think it is old hat or not.
But since reading about it, it has me wonder ... is this really something I have to learn and train after a total some 80,000 miles on m/c without accident ? I think I do.

The latest studies on best collision avoidance technique say that one technique works better for the average guy than any other, when it comes to avoid a collision. This is regardless of ABS or not, and it requires a little bit of training in order to overcome old habits:

- brake as hard as surface and tires allow - with or without ABS,
- do not release the brakes unless you feel the rear lifting off (ABS does not prevent this !)
- when you get closer and your speed is already reduced (significantly), do two things
-> keep not releasing the brakes, not even a little
-> lean away from the collision course (fixed obstacle or moving target)

This technique tested with a few hundred volunteers on the road and in simulations has provided better collision avoidance than any other technique. As you noticed, this ain't saying what to do in a lean. My guess, they had the much more dangerous left turning traffic ahead of you in mind.

Unfortunately I cannot find the link any more - but one of you may find it on youtube.

 

[mattmcuomo@yahoo.com]

Been there, don't that. I've avoided many collisions splitting lanes that way. Especially the ones that cut me off!

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Yeah, all that happens in like two seconds (with and without ABS) or less. I would add be prepared to allow for counter steering.

 

[Obleo]

Sounds good on paper but looking at a car moving at you at speed can the typical rider think that quick? Been there and grabbed to much front brake and down I went . I have replayed that accident in my head thousands of times. It has given me ptsd about riding anywhere in traffic. I ride only on back country roads because of this insecurity .

 

[misterprofessionality]

it's the kind of thing you drill until thinking isn't part of the equation. You ride enough, you know what good braking feels like, you have enough incidents with cars trying to occupy the same spatial vicinity as your organs and you start doing obstacle avoidance jukes without having to think about it.

Some advice i always give new riders: dodge manhole covers and pot holes. Manhole covers on the street aren't dangerous on their own but they're everywhere, so are potholes. if you juke out of the way of those every time you see them, it's like subconsciously drilling obstacle avoidance. after a number of years of riding like that you'll reach a point where you just dip left or right every time you see one without really thinking about it. the next time an oncoming car comes into your lane you'll do the same thing.

wax on, wax off danielsan.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Good tip on the man hole covers, Mr. P.

Around here that is a common behavior I use daily since half of them are sunken.

 

[Gone in 60]

On my way home every day, I ride down one section of an industrial road with no traffic. Sometimes I practice emergency braking, picking a tree as a point I start braking, then look back at the tree once I'm stopped to get a visual reference of how far it takes me to stop at a particular speed. Also, it's good to know the point that your non-ABS bike will start to skid so you can be aware of it in an emergency, and to learn the best modulation of front and rear brakes for a particular bike to keep both wheels rolling at their threshold of traction.

I started doing this after my first real-time emergency braking situation, probably a year into riding, when a moment of distraction had me look back up and see that traffic had stopped in front of me. In my panic, I mashed both brakes on my heavy cruiser, locking up the rear, almost high-siding, fishtailing, and eventually stopping on the shoulder wondering how I was still alive.

The CB stops pretty darn well. The Triumph, meh. But, it was on the Triumph that I had my only incursion with a car, which stopped broadside directly in front of me, cutting off any chance to swerve to avoid. All of the thought process of practicing threshold braking went out the window, and it might have become instinctual as I was able to haul it down to a speed that resulted in a bump rather than a thud. The officer who came to the scene commented that I must have been braking very effectively as there were no skidmarks yet the impact speed was minimal. It also negated the driver's claim that I was speeding, which was nice.

 

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

Good tip on the man hole covers, Mr. P.

Around here that is a common behavior I use daily since half of them are sunken.

This is what we call "dodge the possum". It's good practice for avoiding anything in the road if you see it soon enough.

 

[Gone in 60]

Coming up the street that leads to my neighborhood entrance road, there are three evenly spaced man hole covers. They're flush with the pavement, so they're not really an issue, but sometimes if there's no traffic around I'll try to run past them slaloming back and forth to get some obstacle avoidance swerve practice.

Might have helped... on Friday, I executed a beautiful swerve around a car that abruptly started to change lanes in front of me. He saw me half-way through his lane change and quickly moved back, but I had already pirouetted around. Was quite proud of myself... but wasn't running my camera, so it will only live in my memory...

 

[Cormanus]

Well done, Gone. Memory is the best place for it.