Do you need to trail brake on the street?

[@marceloperdomo4043]

I just received the entire dvd collection “Riding like a pro” I highly recommend to everyone ! We all assumed we know how to ride, watch the DVD and you will get a reality check ! Thank you Motorman for all your work ! 👏👏👏

[@marceloperdomo4043]

Also thank you Donna ! My apologies for not mentioning you and my spelling errors. You guys are awesome 🙌

[@2WheelsNcoffee]

I'm glad you added that bit at the end about not mixing throttle and brake, very important.

[@jimcarleton]

Great tips Jerry. I've instinctively trail braked in turns for years. Many training courses don't want you to do that but instead brake ahead of the turn. I've always felt more "prepared" going into a turn, especially if I can't see through it, covering the brake like they taught us in Driver's Ed. Only us old guys remember Driver's Ed in high school! Thank you.

[@Shadrach666]

Always stay in control of your bike. Using the back brake gently as you take the turn off the road onto another keeps you under a controlled braking, if your brake light and indicators are on - drivers behind you are more likely yo notice what you are doing. That over-the-shoulder check you make also tells them you're turning and slowing.

[@jamalzughayar5833]

Very detailed video thank you

[@mattdonna9677]

I'm reminded of a very old comment, How does a musician get to Carnegie hall ? Practice, practice, practice. Thanks again for another important lesson I needed.

[@tomskeen6405]

Best explanation of trail braking I have heard. Thank you!

[@aBluegrassPicker]

Absolutely the best explanation of this that I have seen. Thank you.

[@Kevin-ib4gv]

It's good knowledge Jerry and people, especially new riders, need to know about loading the front wheel. What I feel happens anyway is we slow down entering a curve using our brakes and loading the front wheel, as we see the exit, we release the brakes, then accelerate and stand the bike straight up exiting the curve. New riders may not understand how this works and is definately beneficial to them for sure.

[@dieterf8304]

Simple and effective, great tips, thank you!

[@mpista7182]

Man the colors on your bike are poppin cool !! Another great lesson Thanks Motorman

[@dailybugle2147]

Your advice has been a lot of help for me.

[@Kiyoti]

...just got back from Colorado....used trail braking extensively....12 // 149 // 550 etc etc all on an RT. ...++ getting there and back home....must use technique...!!!

[@tomfillmore9710]

Great advice Gerry thanks for sharing have a great week

[@bigg2768]

My 2 cents, don’t buy a ‘big bike’ until ur already a BOSS on smaller bikes. YMMV, of course. To each their own though. 👍

[@eeepmeeep]

THANKS for this. Love all your content, you are a good man and legend.

[@Superfangelo]

Great habit to form. I'll be working on it, boss!

[@hondo1829]

Thanks for the tip, Jerry

[@curtisgrady4368]

Will try this

[@mhoeij]

If I'm turning right from a 50 mph to a 25 mph road, and there are cars behind me, I prefer to trail brake the turn because it gets me off the highway more quickly. It feels safer, just in case traffic behind me is not looking.

[@thomasgaliana6288]

This video is a good one. Thank you.

[@stevemoore9951]

Greetings from the PPRC GREAT VIDEO AS ALWAYS.🇺🇸🏍️

[@quinlanz92]

Is trail braking explained this way due to linked brakes? I only asked because I've commonly heard trail braking referenced as drawing the rear brake only. Is one better/safer/more effective than the other?

[@johnanderson9735]

I trail brake anywhere it is necessary for me. Once you know how it works, and practice it, I think it is valuable in any situation necessary.

[@loopertrooper6671]

I trail brake all the time on my Heritage. I typically ride a higher performance bike and the brakes on the Heritage while adequate, are not the best for spirited riding. I’ve never used a back brake as much as I do the heritage. I’ve put almost 60k miles on sportier bikes and literally never wear down enough to change the rear brake pads.

[@fredmagee]

I guess I’ve been doing it wrong for 37 years. I trail break with the rear brake and the power on. I can slow down to miss a pot hole or or gravel or dirt on the road. It’s a smooth transition from power to breaking because they are both on. It’s kind of like the friction zone and clutch thing for slow speeds but faster and without the friction zone. I’ve never seen anyone else talk about doing it my way so it must be wrong but it’s saved me so many times I can’t change now. I’m thinking that if I see a pile of gravel coming up I don’t want to be on that front break and I surely wouldn’t add a little more front break pressure while riding through it.

[@motorman857]

As I said in the video, you can trail brake with the rear brake but, your fork won't be compressed and you won't have as much traction on the front tire as you would if you used the front brake. If you find gravel in a curve you can release the front brake and straighten up the bike. I do what the best riders in the world do. Front brake. Watch this link kzbin.info/www/bejne/jafVmKFrltCCo5Y

[@fredmagee]

I watched the video and I still don’t agree. In my opinion there’s things you can do on the track that don’t work on the street. I’m from Iowa our 2 lane country roads always have some kind of obstacle that can come up. Gravel is a big one the cars go onto the shoulder in corners and throw it up on the road. So if I’m Trail braking with the front and have stand the bike up to go through it without slowing down I’ll go wide. I would have to tighten my curve then stand it up. Instead I stay off the front brake scrub the rear brake when I see the gravel I leave the throttle on apply more rear brake enough to bring my RPMs down and slow the bike before I roll off the throttle slow the bike down more then tighten my curve and stand it up all in one fluid motion. That happens in about 1.5 seconds. As long as I don’t panic and kill the motor I know my rear tire won’t lock up. Kind of like a poor man’s cornering ABS lol. It works for me.

[@michaelruggia476]

speaking of tires what brand of tires do you suggest for a 2001HD heritage classic? It has Dunlop D 402s on it now. Just curious if you have a preference..thx Jerry

[@benkrom2737]

Metzeler tires are superior to Dunlop tires in a given price range. You're paying more money for an equivalent Dunlop.

[@wcraiderevo8078]

I am a fan of the Michelin Commander 3s for either touring or cruiser. You can't go wrong with these or the Metzelers. They have better wear resistance...more mileage between tire changes.

[@paulprosser4108]

Here in Wales in the U.K I use Avon Cobra Chrome reinforced Tyres. excellent grip in all conditions including wet roads which we get a lot of here in Wales.

[@benkrom2737]

@@paulprosser4108 I've had Avon tires and they're great, I just get more mileage from the Metzeler tires. The Metzeler, Michelin and Avon are superior to Dunlop.

[@tomdivittis2688]

I put Metzeler CruiseTecs on my Ultra Limited. While I’m not unhappy with them, they are MUCH stiffer than the stock Dunlops. The ride was much more comfortable with the stock tires, and the stock ones absorbed minor road defects almost completely. The Metzelers are much more responsive and feel more stable in the rain, and no squishy feel at all in curves. I haven’t made up my mind on what I’m getting next time, ideally something in between the two would be my preference.

[@rbljackson]

How well does this work with my 1800 VTX. It has that linked brake system. For hard cornering, i am covering my rear brake pedal and easing it on if I need to apply some braking force if I go into a corner a little too fast. Am I going about this all wrong? My understanding of the VTX linked system is hitting the rear brake applies the rear brakes and the center calipers on each of the front brake s. Pulling in the front brake applies both sets of outer pistons on the front brakes only. Just got back from our Mtn riding and I always tune in after a ride to add to my riding abilities as questions arise out there on the roads. Ive noticed its harder to corner aggressively (for me at least) on downhill sections of twistys. Thanks!

[@motorman857]

Yes, you're doing it wrong. Linked brakes have no effect on trail braking. Follow the tips I give in this video.

[@rbljackson]

@@motorman857 thanks... I will begin practicing that and change my technique.

[@0873sp]

Jerry, please clarify something you said. You said to not give any throttle when trailbraking? If you don't give any throttle in a curve, won't you slow down? I thought the objective was to maintain your speed in a curve.

[@tomdivittis2688]

I think much is lost in nuance in most motorcycle videos like this one. (I have questions about that comment too.) I’m not at all knocking Jerry, or any other content creators, to be clear. These subjects don’t fit neatly into short video clips, inherently lacking actual seat time, and Jerry is one of the best (my opinion of course) at sticking to the meat of a subject, leaving out the ego BS that so many have trouble getting over.

[@BarryMcConnell]

I may be wrong but I interpret that to mean manipulation. Don't change throttle and brake at the same time, adjust one or the other.

[@tomdivittis2688]

@@BarryMcConnell thanks. That would make complete sense to me.

[@user-bk8db7ud6k]

Trail braking is different from the usual way you are told to brake, which is before the turn. With trail braking, you go into the corner faster than you usually would and as you enter the corner, you gently apply the front brake to compress the front suspension, so that the front wheel has much more grip than it usually does. It's all about compressing the suspension and increasing grip so the bike is more stable, so you are taking the corner faster, but safer.

[@user-bk8db7ud6k]

@@BarryMcConnell When you are trail braking, you only have a finger or two on the brake lever, and your hand is still on the throttle. During the trail braking process, you never apply throttle and brake at the same time but you sort of "roll on" the brake as you simultaneously roll off the throttle, and when you come off the brake, you roll the throttle back on. It is one smooth motion from one to the other.

[@dwheeler016]

At 35 and over doesn't linked braking also activate the rear brake?

[@zoranm3866]

On HD bikes built after 2016 it does

[@dwheeler016]

My 2015 has linked braking also@@zoranm3866

[@motorman857]

Linked brakes are linked at all speeds. However you'd have to press quite a bit on the front brake to get any rear brake effect. Keep in mind you can trail brake with the rear brake as well but you won't compress the fork with rear brake only.

[@davidleaghty2943]

I've been doing that for so long I can't remember when I started.

[@marksmallman4572]

trail braking applies anywhere, learn it..

[@mrnonpc9885]

Why do you find it better to trail brake with the front brake vs the rear brake?

[@K9RickRet]

As you apply light pressure to the front brake, weight transfers more to the front, increasing the level of traction between the front tire and road surface. Increased level of traction means increased efficiency and control.

[@motorman857]

As I stated in the video, the front brake causes the fork to dip down and load the front tire. That puts more traction on the front tire. You should watch the video.

[@carlosherrerias1989]

I have a question if I release the throttle a little bit in the curve, before the breaking, I can slow down indeed and make the break?

[@motorman857]

I'm not sure what you're asking.

[@carlosherrerias1989]

@@motorman857 thanks for responding, my question is when I enter to a curve and some obstacle appears, you told us to squeeze the brake but I want to know , If I need to release the throttle before the breaking. Thanks for your videos you help a lot of motorcyclists

[@motorman857]

@@carlosherrerias1989 Yes, for sure release the throttle before braking. It should be a smooth roll off the throttle and onto the brake, motion.

[@FalconMe]

New rider here. I’m on a 500cc Honda. I try to practice trail braking but my bike engine breaks too hard. By the time I am off the throttle, the bike has slowed down too much.

[@rugershooter5268]

Watch someofthese high sides on the utub........ that's from trying to learn trail braking..........the problem comes from when leaning your front wheel turns into the curve Yesterday, very dangerous curve coming out of Sandy Hook Ky, there was no one in front of us for miles but when we come around this curve there's a guy sitting there waiting to be hit so he can sue, I'm on XR with dual front.....if snatching brake it would be disastrous, son on iron and he locked back brake for a second, he also didn't snatch the front brake but he could pull the lever a bit harder being single disc We both avoided disaster doing the way I was taught and I taught him, slow before the curve, slightly accelerate thru the curve........if something happens that you need to brake first let off throttle while applying rear brake then front brake I'm sure everybody has, in a right turn, felt right grip pushing back....trying to turn front wheel right, that's the bike trying to stand back up, the reason is because you are going to slow for the amount of lean.........a wee bit of throttle will eliminate that I'm not a speed demon, I rarely scrape pegs, and my body leaning is only when I'm wanting to go a little faster(also rare) But I do ride with trail brakers, one of them is faster than me and he told of his trail braking mishap, a high side......and I saw a trail breaking mishap where the front brake raised him up and couldn't make the turn in our lane...... fortunately there was no cars coming in other lane, he did stop before going off road There is at least one utubr that admits trail braking is more likely to be in accident, but preaches it anyway because that's the way to do it on the track

[@BruceConstantino-h1q]

Officer Palladino does it make a difference if I have ABS brakes , relating to this video?

[@NobodyWhatsoever]

No. If you are braking hard enough to trigger the ABS to engage, you're braking too hard. This isn't emergency stopping; it is slowing into a turn on the road. As for stopping, it is leaving the front-end "loaded" with better traction, so if the need arises to change directions or brake, you've already got more traction than if you did all of your slowing before entering the turn.

[@motorman857]

No.

[@stuyrides5144]

I can see why so many videos on here are americans grabbing the front brake in corners and sliding on thier arse, after reading these comments this and seeing this video. Lol😅😅😊