How can I improve my motorbike brakes when riding?

Unlike cars, the braking of the front and rear wheels is controlled by the front brake lever and the rear brake pedal respectively. Although some motorbikes are also equipped with front and rear linked braking systems (CBS), they cannot be used in all road conditions.

Motorbikes are actually much more difficult to drive than cars, as only two wheels touch the ground, whereas cars have four wheels, making them much less stable than cars. For example, when a car needs to be braked in an emergency under normal conditions, all it needs to do is depress the brake pedal and steer, whereas motorbikes need to take into account road leveling and traction, as well as whether the body is leaning in corners.

It is common knowledge that the front brakes on most two-wheeled motorbikes perform better than the rear brakes. You can see that the front brakes on all motorbikes have higher specifications than the rear brakes, for example, the front discs are generally larger than the rear, the brake pistons are larger than the rear brakes, the front discs can be double discs and the rear brakes can be drum brakes.

Firstly, in wet road conditions, with foresight, the main braking means is to slow down and drop the oil, as the engine drops the oil to produce an additional braking effect, this deceleration is more moderate and generally holding the steering handle steady will not cause the vehicle to slide sideways and fall.

In general, the front brake should be used with caution, as the front wheel will most likely slip, and it will be difficult to save the car from falling.

So, in the case of slippery roads, the safest and most secure way is to take the initiative to slow down early.

ABS is not a panacea, and there are many cases of emergency braking on motorbikes that result in wheel spin and crashes.

Secondly, some heavy machines need to be stopped and slowed down at slow speeds, such as parking in a car park, so try not to use the front brake, or not to pinch the front brake, as this can cause the vehicle's centre of gravity to tilt excessively to one side after stopping and cause a crash in place. In this case you can use the rear brake alone and tilt the handlebars to the left side of your body before the vehicle is about to stop. The purpose of this is to keep the body of these heavy motorbikes from tilting to the right after they are about to stop and move forward, and most people get on and off motorbikes from the left side as they are used to doing, which means purposefully shifting the centre of gravity to the left to facilitate getting off.

Generally speaking, when you need to apply the emergency brake on a motorbike, it means you are in an extremely dangerous situation, and despite all that has been said, it still doesn't completely eliminate the possibility of falling off and you are still in danger.

So, improving your anticipation is also a key factor in safe driving. It is the ability to read the current traffic situation and to take anticipatory measures to avoid imminent danger.

How do you gain the ability to anticipate? By relying on the experience gained from observing more often and riding with an amount of forethought, and not putting yourself in a position where you have no choice in the matter whatsoever.