THREE THINGS I LEARNED…
1 Keep your head up and lean forward
When the front wheel is skidding, on the verge of skidding or you have just recovered a skid, the temptation is for your head to drop and your vision become more focused on the road/hazard ahead. This movement causes the bike’s front to be more inclined to tuck, which means you are less likely to stop in a straight line as you battle and recover it. Looking ahead keeps the bike straight while leaning forward also loads up the front tyre, lowering stopping distance and the chance of locking the front. Keeping your head up also helps if you lose rear grip under acceleration.
2 Use the clutch
Get into the habit of pulling in the clutch lever when you perform an ‘emergency’ stop as it prevents the engine stalling under hard deceleration. On modern bikes, a stalled engine can often turn off the safety assists, leaving you without ABS, which can be problematic in the final stages of hard braking. Also, once you have stopped, you may want to get away from the area quickly in case traffic behind has failed to spot the hazard, so keeping the engine running gives you the instant acceleration to get out of harm’s way.
3 Think 1, 2 ,3, 4, 5...
David’s suggestion of de-constructing braking into five stages makes it simple to understand how much pressure to apply to the lever. Treating stage 1 as ‘brake lights on/minimal pressure’, stage 2 as ‘loading up the front’ and then stage 3, 4 and 5 as increasing pressure on the lever gives a simple guide. If it is wet, try to stay within stages 1-3; if it is icy or tyres are cold, aim to keep in stage 1-2; if hard braking is required, get to stage 5 as soon as possible. Look at the conditions of the road and think ‘what stages should I keep within?’