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68 here; been riding sport bikes for the past 44. One of my first m/c classes waaaay back was..."Panic Braking". DELIBERATE panic braking. We were on 600's inside a cage on outriggers; we hit a mark on a straight-away at 60mph....and LOCK it up. DELIBERATELY. Yeah it was scary. Yeah I learned ALOT. As in....PRACTICE that also. ps: and part of that class in the early 1980's taught "Cover 2", for front braking; been using it ever since. And I'm on a '87 BMW K75, sans ABS! (ONE front disc, rear =drum!)
I am 100% in agreement with you Matt! It’s a habit I’ve had since the early 80’s when I hopped off an XT500 onto a Yamaha XJ750... cover both brakes especially in town! It’s saved me more than a few times from idiot drivers, so to the newbies... listen to Uncle Matt, he’s old and wise...and still riding!!🏍👍🇿🇦
Great advice I’ve always covered my brake. To be honest it’s natural with me. If you haven’t got the finite control of your motorcycle may your god go with you. Been a motorcyclist for 54 years. Be prepared stay alive 👍
It's sound advice for sure. Personally I 'do' and 'don't' at the same time, as I constantly assess the open road conditions. It becomes a lot more 'do' in town ;-)
I00% on this tip. Coming from a dirt background I only use my middle finger to cover the brake and clutch. It keeps your strongest gripping digits, your thumb and forefinger free to do their job i.e. maintain your 'leggo man grip,' to stop the bars being wrenched out of your hands by unexpected road impacts i.e. potholes, depressions or bitumen rises mid corner.
This is good advice, you want muscle memory to help you brake effectively when the unexpected happens. My view, practice it, all the time, more the better
Riding for 30 years, I always cover both brakes and clutch, it feels way safer. Con: fingers tips get very cold in winter at contact with aluminium levers, no matter if you have heated grips. But the best advantage is that covering brakes gives you extra support to modulate the throttle way more precisely.
Thinking ahead, keeping a safe following distance and trail braking is far more important than covering the brakes - which I only tend to do at the track...
My first motorcycle I bought I went out and practiced random emergency stops. Covering the brakes helped me apply the brakes in smoother fashion than releasing the grip then moving to the brake lever. I don't know if that helps, just my observation.
Another nice vid Mat, for me, covering the front brake allows you to develop real sensitivity so you can fine tune your ride. Maybe not necessary on an empty straight line highway, but definitely in most other situations.
Another great way of sharpening up the road riding skills is to buy a small dirt bike as a second machine, riding off-road bikes 'generally' makes for a better road rider (in my humble opinion of course).
Yes! Cover the brake at all times. It just makes sense. But, you may experience pain/numbness, if you don't get your riding position right. Refer to his previous video about that.
I can’t ride without covering the brakes for increased response time and to prevent grabing too hard … progressive braking is much more easy to do with the covering technique
Imo what's important is training your brain to cover the brakes in situations where it's entirely warranted. Filtering, heavy traffic, groups, etc, situations that warrant it, along with simply getting used to preemptively covering brakes when around obstacles etc. Depending on the situation, it is simply not possible to cover your brakes 100% of the time, despite what the "i always cover my brakes" people say. You'll have a pretty bad time attempting that on a 10h ride for example. Also key to point out is setting your bike's ergonomics correctly. If your levers are too high or too low, besides braking, throttle, clutch control etc being sub optimal, you will tire out way more easily, thus simply being less "safe", no matter what you're doing.
100% agree on this. I cover at all times too, both controls. American pilot Chuck Yeager was once asked, if you had three seconds left to live, what would you do? He responded, I would weigh my options in two seconds, and execute the option in one. On the street, anything can happen in a fraction of a second, so I’m focused on my fraction.
I couldn't imagine fisting the throttle than hoping to not hit my fingers off the brake lever in a panic situation, covering the brake is so easy and so smooth for riding, absolutely the difference between life and death in an emergency situation
After 36 years riding and trying to get used to covering.... ; Nope... not for me. I will cover in busy traffic, but only then because I tend to 'panic grab' when I cover. On track is a completely different story though... The rear brake .... I never use it, besides in hairpins or slow maneuvers maybe...
Not disagreeing with you, each to their own, but I can’t ride while covering the front brake. For some reason I dont feel comfortable doing it , I often ride buy pushing on the bar ends with an open palm especially on twistier roads. I will put out 2 fingers and cover but only for a short period or when feathering the brake into a corner. Come to think of it I barely touch the brakes as I use the engine/ gears and very light touches hear and there.
It's all a question of practice. Sure, some bikes (very upright ones, for example) might make it a bit more tricky to cover the brake while counter steering, rather than sportier bikes, where you're already leaning into the handlebars based on the riding ergos, but still it comes down to practice. I'm a short-ish guy riding a GS, so I'm very much sitting upright, and the GS has really thick grips, but even I can cover the brakes while riding twisties. Only times I don't really do it is when cruising on the highway and there's not a ton of traffic happening around me or when I'm on gravel or other surfaces where the front brake should be used very sparingly, if at all, anyway.
No need to do this all the time, I do it when I feel someone might pull out or someone might step off a kurb etc, forward thinking is much more important, do you cover the brake in your car?
@@johnlaw5762 Entirely warranted, but it's not comparable. Good luck trying to cover the brake while on full gas, regardless of hand position. Similarly, it's highly implausible that you'll be doing that on 10h+ rides, even more so when riding for a couple of days back to back. Being prepared for the unpredictable is quite advisable, but you are not foolproof, regardless of how much training or experience you have. I've yet to meet the person that can stay fully focused on really long rides, or in every single situation. As the other dude said, it's rather forward thinking, mentality and risk recognition that works in tandem with covering the brakes and other necessary baseline skills.
