19. Emergency stop

USE AS A LAST RESORT

You should only do an Emergency Stop as a last resort. Good forward planning in most cases will prevent you needing to carry out an aggressive braking manoeuvre.  It is far better for you to identify hazards early enough so that controlled braking can be carried out instead of an emergency stop. In the event that you need to carry out an emergency reduction in speed, you should keep the bike upright and travel in a straight line. Although some motorcycles do have Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) to prevent the wheels locking up, you should not rely on this and ignore developing hazards. If you do carry out an emergency stop and the wheels do lock up, release the brakes immediately to regain traction and then reapply them with less pressure. The following is a guide to braking in dry and wet conditions:

EMERGENCY STOP IN DRY CONDITIONS

• Throttle off
• Apply front brake to allow the brakes to start binding
• Apply rear brake a fraction of a second later
• Gentle squeeze both brakes until they start to bind
• Continue squeezing the front brake only
• Keep the brakes applied until the bike stops
• Just before stopping, pull the clutch in to prevent stalling
• Left foot down once stopped, to support the motorcycle
• No gear changes are necessary until you have stopped

EMERGENCY STOP IN WET CONDITIONS

• Throttle off
• Apply front brake to allow the brakes to start binding
• Apply rear brake a fraction of a second later
• Gentle application of both brakes
• Continue to squeeze evenly on both brakes
• Keep the brakes applied until the bike stops
• Just before stopping, pull the clutch in to prevent stalling
• Left foot down once stopped, to support the motorcycle
• No gear changes are necessary until stopped