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[RioGlide]

I apply front & rear with equal stopping pressure on "normal" stops - that is, less input to the front & more to the rear.  Very stable for typical stoplights, lots of extra front brake left over in case an immediate halt is needed.

In curves, I apply evenly until entering a turn.  Front brake off, trail brake the rear through the apex, power applied to the throttle through the turn, accelerating away.  Right toe "covers" the pedal until heading straight in case of a surprise.  Grabbing the front mid-turn can yield unpredictable results.

I also "cover" the rear pedal in any situation which appears a little uncertain - usually two fingers on the front brake and the clutch as well.  Reduces emergency stopping distances considerably.

Regarding the OP method, I was confused by the idea that the rear brake would stand the bike up in a curve, not my experience at all.  In fact, I find that rear-braking through a turn substantially improves my ability to modulate speed & lean angle - especially useful in new curves & turns.

Needles Highway in SD is a great example & for me very recent.  Saw where a bike had gone over the side heading down while we were riding up & I reminded myself to go easy on the front brake - I assumed (with no basis) that he had stood himself up after a sharp hairpin with the front.  Pure conjecture on my part, but it was what went through my mind then.

Ride safe,
Patrick.

[CVODON]

I use the front brake about 99% of the time, but I make it a habit to shadow the rear brake pedal, every time just in case I need it. Hardly ever depress the pedal but my foot is there just in case. NEVER use the rear brake alone.

[Ironhorse]

Under most riding conditions one should try and use BOTH brakes. I know the fronts can carry up to 80% or more of the stopping power, but if your ship sank, would you want your life preserver to work at 80% or 100%? So get in the habit of using BOTH brakes when stopping as it does make a difference.

Having said that, there are times when I am rear brake dependant, such as slow speed manuvering in close quarters or congested traffic. I would not be able to make full lock turns on narrow streets or parking lots without dragging the rear brake. In fact using the front brake with the bars turned and the bike leaned over can get ugly real fast, especially with those slow tight manuevers. A couple of months ago I had a rider from this forum take my class. He was an excellent rider and a long timer in the saddle. He covered the front brake all the time, and while that served him well on the streets every day, it did not help him in the class. Having his fingers on the brake lever predisposed him to applying the front brake even when he did not mean to. As a result he kept dumping it in the Circle and Figure 8.

As riders move up to bigger and heavier bikes they find that the rear brake is helpful in slow speed work. A lighter sport bike is easier to handle with just the front brake, but the added size and weight of a full touring bike makes rear brake usage almost a necessity, especially at slow speed.

[Indenial]

And there you have it....That's what I am trying to teach myself to do.

[Cvostu]

I was taught 75% front and 25% on the rear during normal riding.  I agree with Jerry.   If it wasn't supposed to be there " to use", The moco would have left it off.  Not a good idea to use the front only.  

[dayne66]

70/30 at my refresher course a couple years ago in Edmonton, Alberta.

[bbrown]

All good points

[grc]

Buy a BMW or Honda with the linked braking system, then you don't get a choice.  Both brakes are applied each and every time, just like they are in your car or truck, whether you grab the hand lever or stomp the foot pedal.

Damned shame that so many good features from the old days are being scrapped because so few current drivers have the skills or attention span necessary to learn how to operate equipment properly.  This is one of the few instances where I like the fact that H-D is so far behind the technology curve.  I do wonder, however, how long it will be before they add the linked ABS at least to the Touring line.  Probably soon.  Then we won't have these debates anymore, just nostalgic threads about how satisfying it was when we had to learn how to brake properly versus just stomping on a pedal and letting the electronics do everything but clean our shorts after a close call.


Jerry

[Sledge]

Well that's going to be a PITA since the key to reduced speed tight turns is feathering the rear brake with a bit of throttle to keep rpm's up a bit.  A few rpm's over idle keeps the bike up when you think it will fall over.  That's from training I took led by police motorpatrol officers.  Rule was front brake in turn = eat pavement.  If you feel like you're going down give more gas but don't hit the brakes.  But I'm sure most everyone here knows that already.

Hey check this out:

http://www.wimp.com/donniewilliams/

I massacred a bunch of cones everytime I tried even the small course and my time was way up there.  Notice the officers' rear brake is being applied during every turn.  You can hear his footboards scraping.

[Midnight Rider]

Well that's going to be a PITA since the key to reduced speed tight turns is feathering the rear brake with a bit of throttle to keep rpm's up a bit.  A few rpm's over idle keeps the bike up when you think it will fall over.  That's from training I took led by police motorpatrol officers.  Rule was front brake in turn = eat pavement.  If you feel like you're going down give more gas but don't hit the brakes.  But I'm sure most everyone here knows that already.

Hey check this out:

http://www.wimp.com/donniewilliams/

I massacred a bunch of cones everytime I tried even the small course and my time was way up there.  Notice the officers' rear brake is being applied during every turn.  You can hear his footboards scraping.

Those guys are amazing...I practice tight turns in empty parking lots on occasion, but haven't developed the 'nads to get it that far over yet.  But, you've GOT to use the rear brake and throttle to make even relatively tight u-turns.  Not only the front brake will have you dumping the bike when doing that...stall the engine, and over it goes.    I'd like to take one of those classes sometime...on some other bike.

[Sledge]

The class I took they had police roadkings (lights and all) with pieces of fire hose zip tied to the crash bars.  They knew someone was going to drop one lol.  I managed to get through without dropping it but I had to put my foot down a couple times, a real no-no.

The whole deal is the snap of the head to look over your shoulder at your target not the turn area.  Once you get that down you can scrape boards all day doing 8's.  I don't think the motorpatrol guys even use the clutch except to shift, they just keep the rpms up and keep moving.  Looks like he never feathered it at all in the video, just shifted up or down then let it go.  It's like "friction zone?  We don't need no stinkin' friction zone!"  Hard to believe he did that entire course in under 2 minutes.

[Hank Hankerson]

Depending on where you read it, 70-75% of a vehicles braking power is from the front brakes.  With that said, the techical DMV answer is to use both equally.  I generally use more front on most bikes, but on bikes with floorboards, I find it unnatural to use the rear brake.  If I'm on forward or mid controls, I tend to use both. 

I've only seen people come into our shop with warped front rotors because either their front brakes pads are gone, their rotors are worn too thin, or they overheat them by riding the front brake all the time.  I saw one 2002 V-Rod rotor out of spec from the get go and covered by warranty in my time working at the Harley shop.  Also, the use of brakes can also be determined by what your road conditions are at the time...I wouldn't recommend going into a gravel laden curve solely using your front brake. 

[Sledge]

My personal rules for keeping off the pavement:  Don't look down.  Feather rear brake in slow tight turns and don't hit front brake.  Emergency/high speed stop: Apply rear brake first allowing more weight to shift front as forks compress, then basically as much front as you can to stop the bike.  This technique can lower chance of rear skid and puts more pressure on the road under front tire, giving more friction and more stopping power.  If it starts to skid release brake and then reapply.  (Done automatically with ABS.)  Release and reapply can save us with older bikes in a wet skid, which I have been in before.  It's mentally hard to release the brake when you need to stop but it's the only way out of a skid that I know of, along with throttle back of course.  Usually you'll get your traction back immediately.  Unless you came into a 20 curve at 70.

Off topic but the salvager lady just picked up my Ultra.  A sad day for me to see my baby going down the road on a towtruck.

[Cosmic Charlie]

When I am coming to a FULL STOP, like a stop sign, red light, .... especially where traffic is moving (FAST) perpendicular to me

I always use both brakes, front & rear together

Reason Being -

In the very rare occasion if one of the 2 brakes FAIL, I will be safe or somewhat safer, as opposed to going INTO Cross Town Traffic and getting HIT BROAD SIDE !!

not likely, BUT I definitely don't want to die ... better for the brakes as well ... better for my concerns as well

[Sledge]

Yeah, dying can put a real damper on things, eh?