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Close call

2K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  PacmanR6 
#1 ·
I've had my bike for about two months. Have a pilot power on the back and pirelli Diablo on the front. Both stick well once they get warm. Decided to take a ride and enough the 65 degree weather. A car pulled out in front of me on a country road as I was going down a hill around a curve going 50ish. I squeezed my brakes and the bike took to going sideways. I could feel my back tire sliding and just knew I was going down. I came to a stop a foot from the ditch safe and sound. I owe it all to the pilot power I think

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#2 ·
Glad your ok bro but a few pointers

1. Never mix and match tire manufacturers.

2. Don't slam on your rear brake when you freak out cause you'll experience what you just experienced. Learn to use the front brakes effectively and you'll forget you even have a rear brake.






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#3 ·
Glad to know. The tires were like that when I got it. In my study book to take my test it says to use both brakes to effectively stop so I've just always used both at the same time. I always felt like I shouldn't be but I'm not the expert like I thought the book guys were. I think most of the sliding was cause I was cornering and only had 20 ft Max to avoid tboning him

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#16 · (Edited)
Yes, the rear brake doesn't do too much besides helping really advanced riders; or slowing down at low speeds for a stop light. There isn't much weight back there to help it either..unless you have dual enlarged rotors, and this on your back seat:



:laugh Really glad you are okay man, lesson learned almost the hard way :cheers

Practice and learn to use the front brake well, and work on higher and lower speed maneuvering. It can be tough to focus and remember stuff in close situations, especially when you target fixate on what is going on ahead of you.

:popcorn: Listen to what is said, these guys know their stuff.
 
#6 ·
I wouldn't worry too much about the differing tire brands. Your close call was probably due to locking the rear brake like already mentioned. Your bike has more than enough front brake to stop you in an emergency situation. Go to a parking lot and practice stopping quickly with just the front despite what the MSF may teach you.

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#7 · (Edited)
Yeah, bad reflexes to jam the rear brake... We all do this at least once. It happened to me last year, but in a straight (car was beside me, he didn't saw me and changed lane) so I managed to control the back, but I would have probably ended up in a ditch if that had happened in a curve.

What I've learn : Don't stay in the blind spot of other vehicules, because drivers are dumb as hell.

Glad you're lucky though, it could have been really bad.
 
#10 ·
i've owned my r6 for over 2 years now. i've used the rear brake exactly once.

you shouldn't use the rear brake at all unless you find yourself going off-road. most other times, it's completely useless unless your last name ends in "rossi"...


s3aturnr
 
#15 ·
Lemme tell you a few things about the guy who wrote the DMV handbook.

1. He obviously never rode on a real road, in real conditions, in real traffic. He tells you to ride in the center of the lane...you know, where all the oil and grime is. This also makes your best escape path less effective. Riding in the left wheel track gives you better traction and allows a quick escape path to the left if, for instance, the car in front of you stops short.

2. He never priced the difference in cost between brake pads and transmission components. He tells you to use downshifts in conjunction with brakes to come to a stop. A couple of problems with this: a. it increases the chances of causing a lock up or skipping of the rear tire(not quite as bad with a slipper clutch like on the 3rd gen R6), and b. I have had to change transmissions for people who are overly aggressive with this technique....good for my pocket, not theirs.

3. He had to write it with all types of bikes in mind (same for MSF). Sprotbikes react very differently than cruisers under hard braking. The rear brake on a cruiser is much more efective. With a sport bike, the rear wheel will actually leave the ground when youbrake hard resulting in what you experienced.
 
#19 ·
for sure it's not all-inclusive, especially for sport bike riders. it has almost become a necessity for us to attend a track day, simply to learn how a sport bike works. it is MUCH different from a standard or cruiser. so much so that they should have their own version of the MSF course...


s3aturnr
 
#20 ·
Exactly as others have stated... general riding books are generalized for all bikes... A sport bike's braking power is roughly 90% front/ 10% rear when used together... There are several test videos out there that show stopping distance when using front / rear / both... There is barely a difference between front vs both. Now on cruisers it's completely different, I know on my 1200cc cruiser the front does jack... and the rear has way more stopping power, of course on this bike i pretty much always use both...
 
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