Brouggy on the art of stopping. There are only two ways you can affect the motorcycle you are riding. You can change its speed, and you can change its direction. These two actions should not be confused because, although they occasionally (and I mean very occasionally) overlap, they are two totally separate issues. Changing direction obviously relates to turning a corner, but before you get to the corner, chances are you will have to do something to the speed of the bike - and this usually involves braking.

One of the biggest mistakes people make about braking is thinking it is a cornering skill, when in fact the brakes are really only useful when travelling in a straight line. Riders also often come to me saying they have a braking problem. My response is usually the same, and that is to say that most riders don't actually have a braking problem at all. When you consider it, the brake is really a pretty easy instrument to use. You squeeze it and the bike slows down - how hard is that? The reality is that most riders don't have a braking problem, they have a problem of where their attention is being focussed while braking.

In first book A Twist of the Wrist, brings out the idea that you only have a certain amount of attention to spend on any activity. He likens it to having ten dollars to spend - meaning that attention, like money, is finite. You only have so much of it. If your attention is being spent unwisely, you may be using up a large portion of your ten dollars on something that doesn't really deserve it, and the important stuff like getting your speed set exactly right for the turn gets missed because you just don't have enough mental money left over to spend on it. If your speed is not right coming into a turn, is it because you didn't know how to use the brakes properly or because you didn't have enough attention left over after doing all the other actions of entering a turn to get it right? Just thinking that something might happen, takes some of your ten dollars worth of attention. Interestingly one of the most common fears listed by riders in my experience is the fear of locking the front or rear wheel while entering a corner.

Let's handle that one straight away. You shouldn't have the brakes on while entering a corner! If you have decided that you will complete the braking prior to getting the bike leant over, then you won't be spending any attention at all on the possibility of this happening. Taking this further, there is one school of thought that suggests if you apply a little rear brake in the middle of a corner when running wide, it will tighten the line up and allow you to get your apex. This not only flies in the face of the sheer physics of riding a motorcycle, it also confuses the control actions of riding through a corner, reduces traction, and takes your attention away from where it should be, which is completing the turn. You are now trying to deal with a whole other set of forces which you don't really need to deal with while in the turn. Try it and you may soon find yourself being 'overdrawn' on your ten dollars. Which of course can't happen. You can't spend what you don't have.

The brake lever is a decelerator. It is pressure sensitive and is used to set the speed for the next thing you are going to be doing. Taking a corner and slowing down for it are two different issues. If the next thing you are going to do is take a corner, then setting the speed for it should be completed before you get there. If you are going to be stopping at a set of lights, then the brake's job is to set the speed to zero. How you regulate this force and what result you get from it will determine your ability to complete the next action in the control sequence for a corner If you find yourself struggling to slow the bike down when you're already in the turn, then you've made a mistake somewhere before you got to the corner. Once you've made a mistake like this, you can't fix it on that run through any particular corner. All you can do is learn from it and try to fix it next time.

Stop that right now. Steve tells us how. Last issue I put forth the idea that the brake lever is a decelerator, or a reverse accelerator, which is used to regulate the speed at which the motorcycle decelerates, and sets the speed for the next thing you are going to be doing. The unfortunate fact is that many riders treat the brake lever as if it were a light switch, meaning it's either off or on, and there is only one intensity at which it works. I know you don't just snap the throttle open when you want to accelerate, so why do it with the brakes when you want to slow down?

If you needed to change your speed from 100kph to 60kph for the corner you are about to enter, the brakes can be used in a number of different ways. In fact, if you gave yourself enough time, you wouldn't even need the brakes to set the speed for the turn, you could do it just by backing off the throttle early enough. However, if you wanted to compress the braking into say, 15 metres, then you would have a vastly different deceleration requirement.

These examples highlight both extremes, from no pressure on the lever at all, to maximum braking force. One of the exercises we do on a school day is to have riders complete an entire session without using either brakes or gears. Keith Code assures me that he developed this as a tool to help riders understand the way the throttle works, but he has this glint in his eye when he says it that tells me there's more to it than that. Think about it. If the purpose of the brake is to truly 'set the speed' for the next thing you're going to do, then wouldn't it make sense to get you to do it without the brakes first? I mean, if you don't really know what speed you want, and you can't regulate it without brakes, can you do it correctly with the brakes? It is amazing how many people tell me they stop having problems with over or under-braking for corners after doing the Level One school, and they learn it from not using the brakes!

Doin' what comes naturally
Brake levers? Fingers? Sometimes it's all about finding out what works for you says STEVE BROUGGY...

There is a seemingly endless discussion about how many fingers you should use on the brake lever. In several internet forums I contribute to, the debate has recently raged (once again) and I decided to put an end to it once and for all. For those that have read this already in other formats I apologise now. For the rest of you, I'm about to share with you exactly how many fingers you should use whilst squeezing the front brake lever. Are you ready...

USE AS MANY FINGERS AS YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE USING

Taadaaah! It's as simple as that.
The arguments are always "Rossi uses all four fingers" or "Doohan only used one finger" or "Rainey used two fingers". Honestly, who gives a rat's backside? If you can generate enough force to slow or stop your bike with one finger or two fingers, why should you use anymore? But, if using all four fingers gives you more 'feel' then why would you use less? Good questions, aren't they?

The truth is that there are irrefutable physical facts when riding a motorcycle and anyone who has had contact with me in the past will know of my penchant for bringing these things up. Some people will present as fact that you can put more force with more feel with all four fingers. They even have tests which will back their argument up. Some present as fact that using only two fingers allows better control over the throttle and the handlebars for a barely perceptible loss in available force for the brake lever. Both these arguments have merit. The reality however is that when you add in the human element to any such argument, physical facts take a back seat to what you are 'comfortable' doing.

As a rider you will always resort to what you have previously decided is the best thing in any given situation. This is often misunderstood as being something you do "naturally" but is not exactly true. At some point you decided (either consciously or unconsciously) that you would respond in a particular manner. And how many fingers you use on the brake is one of those things.

Not sure if your 'natural' response is the right thing? Simple, try something else and see what you get.