Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Sticky Back Brake pedal?

[skidlids]

Old topic i know

Originally posted by paulmort
Ok then, poll time
Wots a back brake for?
unless ure racing and dont want to pull a weeeeely at start line!!!
or if u go go into kitty litter and dont want to lowside

Although I haven't picked up my copy of this weeks MCN yet I understand a certain Ex Multi world champion has some interesting comments on the use of the back brake. so do we start the poll with

Those for using the back brake :- Mick Doohan, Shaun Emmett, Troy Bayliss, Tony Rutter, Troy Corser, Jeremy McWilliams etc
Those against use of back brake :- Andy Ibbott and everybody that appears to have attended the CSS

As you can tell this is one of my favourite debates.

[Harv748]

Bloody 'ell kev...next you'll be ranting on about tyre warmers for track days!!!

[skidlids]

Well Harv i'm not sure if you have done a CSS level or not, if you have did they send you out on pre-warmed tyres behind instructors that had just pulled the warmers off their bikes. Can't recall the R6 cup boys using them either.
I say use what ever your comfortable with, I get fed up with people telling me its wrong to use the back brake and how to ride my bike. Even if I spent a million pounds on lessons I still wouldn't be up to the standards I dream of. Thats why the post on use of the bikes potential is interesting, if I could improve 1% each year for the rest of my life I still wouldn't get to 100%

[Harv748]

LOL

'Even if I spent a million pounds on lessons I still wouldn't be up to the standards I dream of. Thats why the post on use of the bikes potential is interesting, if I could improve 1% each year for the rest of my life I still wouldn't get to 100%'

Come on Kev...your not that old!

[antonye]

When it comes to professional racing, it's simply down to the gifted ability of that person. Some people can just naturally ride a bike quick and sometimes find it very hard to explain why.

A lot of their techniques also go against what is taught at the schools, and therein lies the problem - you simply cannot teach natural ability!

Obviously there are things that you can learn to ensure you're doing it the right way, or to improve your style and gain confidence, but these are all taught from someone who has their own view.

If it was as easy as being taught then, as Skidlids says, the podiums at races would simply be full with people who have the money to do the training and that's simply not the case.

The race schools do serve their purpose, and I'm not knocking them, but there's a lot to be said for racing the way you feel comfortable, and fastest, with rather than copying one particular riding style.

I doubt CSS teach you to back it into the corners like Rossi on any of their levels!

[Nigel C]

I don't use it usually cos my foot can't reach the damn thing the lever is at such an awkard angle and you cant adjust it ! (like the handlebars) it's the only thing i don't like about my duke the lack of adjustability on the bars and back brake.

and if i do manage to get to the brake lever it feels like a sponge anyway!!!

you shouldn't have to actually break something on the bars (the locking pin) to adjust them !!!!

[Desmondo]

Andy Ibbott doesn't tell you it's wrong to use the rear brake. He just says that, in his opinion, it's not worth using. They are two totally different things.

I've never used the rear brake on any of the bikes I've owned, it just doesn't feel right or comfortable for me. And as for trailing the front brake in to corners, well, I do that too. Guess I'm getting it all wrong

[Jools]

To use your back brake or not to use it...that is the question.

It's just like everything else to do with riding a bike isn't it? Whatever works for you.

Surely it's the same thing as the how much do you hang off debate or the knee down/not knee down thing. No wrongs, no rights, whatever feels comfortable. OK so the theory says that you'll be able to use less lean angle for a given speed if you hang off and therefore be able to go round safer, or go even faster. I happen to hang off (not as much as I'd like to, cos it feels a bit dodgy once my outside toe starts to come off the peg) but there are loads of people who are just as quick as me that sit bolt upright.

There are loads of different riding styles out there - look how different all the racers are...Ok so they use their back brake but what else do they have in common

[paulmort]

Hey Jools
I agree wiff you for once
What feels comfortable to you, is usually right
I still dont use the back brake, even in "panic" situations

rgds
mort

ps this thread has run and run since Jan this year so it obviously has attracted a lot of thoughts

[antonye]

Originally posted by paulmort
ps this thread has run and run since Jan this year so it obviously has attracted a lot of thoughts

Yeah, and I still haven't got round to fixing the sticky brake pedal either