Mis-information Abounds

[Nate]

Originally Posted by Bruce McCrary

Not that I heard. BUT! Some time ago I got into an on line discussion with some folks who told me that I was foolish for using my front brake for anything more than panic stops. THEN, I spoke to a local MSF instructor who told me the same thing! AND later heard from a motor patrol officer that told me his instructor threatened to take the front brake lever off the bikes if he saw another student touch the lever!!!

Obviously none of these folks were ever involved in any type of motorcycle racing and/or figured out there is a lot of control to be had with that lever on the right side of the handlebars.

But that's another story...

Which I find incredible, but not surprising. The MSF BRC I took three years ago stressed the use of the front brake as 70% or so of the total stopping power is provided by the front wheel. There was even discussion of how to handle a front wheel lockup although we didn't practice it. There was no way to pass the braking test on the riding range without determined use of the front brake.

Sadly, I think that too many riders have never learned to use the front brake and when they do get into a panic situation never apply it because they're not in the habit of using it. The only way an action will be done in a panic situation is if it is practiced normally. I use the front brake normally and have for years. I've surprised myself how quickly I've grabbed a handful of front brake and how quickly I was able to react in a near panic stop.

I've noticed that I've not quite made countersteering a habit. I do it consciously, but I know that there are times when I find myself not using it to make a slight swerve. Again, it's a habit I'm trying to change and that's tough when the mind needs to be retrained for all situations.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

As for European helmet standards, from what little I've read they seem to have a good standard. If we could get Snell and DOT standard to coalesce around the Euro standard, we may see helmet prices go down a bit as the manufacturers would be producing to one standard and not three or more.

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by A2rider

I will agree that article was just a TAD biased toward Snell. The other one I put up actually told the difference between Snell, DOT and European standards.

If I had the money, my head would be in a European standards helmet.

That's something I think a lot of us could agree on. Many of the helmets that meet those standards are multi-layered, which means they have different densities of absorbing material to protect from a wide range of impacts, not just a cast iron door knob...