Why Are We Afraid of Braking in Corners, Bends or Turns? 

I was initially taught to never break in a corner. As a result, when I came in a turn too fast and ran out of lean angle. I crashed. While recuperating I discovered your channel and learned about trail breaking. After recuperating I traveled the same road and applied the trail breaking technique I learned with great success.

I have been trial braking for over 45 years, zero throttle, gentle one finger pressure to compress the suspension slightly to push the tyre into the tarmac, never had a problem, still upright!

"Don't be afraid of corners, be afraid of doing something abrupt in corners!" I had a big accident on track in 2018. Just about lost my foot. I became really slow after that. I was terrified of corners for like 3 years. Focusing my fear on being abrupt, instead of generically on the corner made all the difference for me. I'm fast again. I'm safer and corners are fun again. Thanks Dave!

Where they filmed the coyote and roadrunner cartoons eh? 😂😂😂

For years, I rode where my right hand was either gripping the throttle or gripping the front brake. This meant having to reposition my fingers between these two, reducing my response time. It was either throttle or brake, with a gap of time as my hand changed grip. When I learned to trail break, I first needed to learn how to have two fingers over the brake while also gripping the throttle. Street riders are never taught this technique but it has dramatically changed my riding for the better. The transition from rolling off the throttle to braking is so much smoother and allows more nuanced control. Thank you for the great video, I'd love to see one that is on this grip technique.

I was riding with a friend and his son recently. I ride a goldwing, they both were on FJRs. The son mentioned he had trouble understanding why I was braking for every corner but he was having trouble keeping up. I laughed and sent him one of your videos. He now gets it.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="417">6:57</a> I love that tire grip loading demonstration. It explains the concept perfectly. Stay smooth on the brakes!

Never used to call it trail braking it was just how you rode. Fascinating to see how much attention it gets today. Great video please keep it up!

You got me trail braking several years ago and I consider it one of the most helpful skills I've learned. I use it on every ride and I am shocked at the resistance I receive when I bring up the subject. It's saved my bacon a few times when turns have been sharper than I thought, simply by gently applying a bit more brake pressure while already trail braking.. Thanks so much.

Best description of trailbraking I've heard so far. All the other videos I've watched are just too confusing, but this video pares it down to its fundamental structure. Thanks so much for posting.

I constantly trail brake….been doing it for decades. The only thing you need to remember while taking corners at the maximum safe speed, is eyes on where you want to go, and no abrupt anything, braking, getting off the gas, getting on the gas, cranking the bike aggressively into a corner. Riding at an elevated speed is a wisdom thing, and a lesson on being patient and pick your spots. I prefer not to ride in groups, for the simple reason, that others around, take your level of concentration down, and it adds variables to safe riding. Having said that, a couple of experienced riders. Who have wisdom can enhance a ride. The advice given here is solid, and really nothing to add. The sport of riding should always involve everyone getting home safely, and there is nothing like experience, and a lifelong interest in learning just how to make the bike do what you want it to do.

There is nothing dangerous in trail beaking on the road, it's the safest way to corner...

Trail breaking is a valid technique. I was trained on this technique when I attended police motor training. Great video!

Very well explained... thanks. As a newbie in the world of motorcycles (been riding for only 2 months now), i keep my speed down in all corners so that i don't need/have to trail brake. As a former truck driver for over 20 years, i learned to reduce speeds and to anticipate potential problems and this is helping me as a new rider out there. One thing i do as a rider is what i had to do as a truck driver : respect the suggested yellow speed limit signs before corners. As i'm gaining experience, i can take some corners a little faster than before. Example : the yellow speed limit sign says 75km in a 90km zone (i'm in Canada - km not miles), i now know i can take it at 80km or 85km as 2 months ago, i would slow down to 75km. But i only take some corners faster... those that i know. Whenever i ride on a new road, i still respect the yellow speed limit signs. Better safe than sorry !! :)

They think it's an "advanced technique" because they see professional racers use it. When in reality, we are taught to be smooth with our controls which really what trail braking is.

I've been riding for ~55yrs - both on and OFF road.. this guy knows his stuff !

In a sea of confusing conversation about trail breaking this was the most clear and relatable. Thanks.

Man you really nailed it with the "then we were required to tell all of these new riders to ignore a lifetime of driving and bicycling experience..." My MSF course almost ruined riding for me. I've had to combat that msf course and remind myself that "I already know how to do this" from all those years of riding a bicycle. The only real difference is the speed and weight of the bike...

Another great video! I'll add this: I don't think a lot of people understand just how much engine braking plays into their deceleration until they pop into a false neutral and have a near-heart attack at their entry speed..... speaking from experience, of course 😅

@CanyonChasers after watching a lot of RU-vid videos on 'trail braking', most vloggers seem to agree that the principles of trail braking are (1)to load the front tire for more grip and (2)it may decrease the distance between the front and rear tires improving the cornering capability of the bike (forgot the better term for it). Basing from this, i practiced and applied these principles to every cornering i made at almost all moving speeds when not contraindicated and found out that the improvement in ease and control during cornering is applicable to any speed in my daily city commute making me wonder why this was not taught at all as a basic riding skill.

Excellent advice. One thing I wish more coaches would teach is covering the front brake at all times with 1 or 2 fingers - thank you Andy! It only took me a week to get used to after 30+ years and > 250K miles of road riding. That ~250-500ms of reaction time has saved me from sketchy situations multiple times on the road since. Bought ChampU and so many safety techniques transfer from the track to the road it blew my mind. I use trail-braking, 100 pts of grip, load tire before working it, body position, etc. on the road nearly every day. No where near the levels on the track but that application of safe-modulation, situational awareness and prep on corner sequence is muscle memory now. Keep up the fantastic content! 👍

Late apex, Slow in, Fast out, access the corner way before getting to it and use maintenance throttle once into the corner to stabilise the bike, l like you explanation of trail braking it really makes sense.

A perfect refresher course! You’re still the best riding instructor on RU-vid, Dave. Make more vids, please. Also, where is the Moar Coast? Good riding there? Nice beaches? 😉

what a great video! "never break in the corner" is the same bs like "hands off the front brake in situation xy"! the front brake is the most important brake in mostly every situation (even offroad!) and this bs myths only exist because instructors want to prevent beginners from hammering into the front break. instead, they should teach the right usage of the front break right from the beginning!

I just finished a YCRS ChampSchool at NJMP and it's heavy on trail braking / progressive control inputs. Great stuff. Back home, riding hundreds of miles of twisties a day, I realized how few corners require any braking (beside engine braking on my big KTM V-twin). Unless I'm confronted with a 15 or 20 MPH hairpin, rolling off the throttle is all the braking I need because I didn't pin the throttle on the previous corner exit. Roll on. Roll off. Repeat. FWIW, I'm rolling along 10 to 20 over the speed limit (65 - 75 ish) and at least doubling the suggested corner speeds, so I'm not dawdling. Trail brake when needed, but the fingers are always covering the lever (just in case). If you ride public roads like a track day, that's different. But I ride "The Pace (2.0)" and it's just another tool in the toolbox. Apply when needed.

Totally unrelated...man those cattle grates/guards in UT were not what I was expecting...nor cattle just out roaming around. :) But man, was the scenery gorgeous!

I'm a new rider (less than a year) and was about to go wide in a corner the first time I went in faster than usual. Breaking gently in the turn saved me from an accident.

"You come around a corner and there's a car driving slowly" voiceover of video of a dude on a Goldwing waving you past. 😂😂😂

Great video - as always. A lot of my corners go like this though: 1. Roll off the throttle 2. Reach to the front brake 3. Sneak/Squeeze the front brake 4. Feel the weight transfer 5. Realise I’ve over slowed as a kid on a push bike nearly runs into the back of me. 6. Have to get back onto a neutral throttle to go through the corner 7. Think CanyonChasers would be so disappointed in me. 8. Repeat on the next corner. Rolling off the throttle completely, and loading the front, I think only works if you are going into the corner faster than you are in fact comfortable travelling through it at ..

Smooth and steady. I really never realized what I’ve done for years was called trail breaking.

I was a nervous wreck new rider fresh out of msf and parking lots. I was great at slow speed stuff even better than my cousin who had been riding for 6 years, but on the streets going fast just wasn't something I was comfortable with. I signed up for champs school at Laguna Seca and took my rs660. Great experience, met a lot of nice people and was a very. fun and exciting 2 day course. I came out of that class maybe 5-10 times better rider. I am now the safer faster cousin rider, he still refuses to go to school or listen to any advice probably why we just high sided at willow springs. Trail braking completely changed my riding style, always having the front brake lever covered with my 2 fingers pointed and ready to go on the brakes has made me a very confident rider. Learn how to brake to be able to go fast!

Smooth and soft = Enjoy the ride!! Pure gold man, thanx for the very good lesson!! 🤘🏻👽

Awesome video. The suspension shot after the tyre behaviour explanation closes the case. Thank you!

When I first started driving I was self taught mainly at first blasting around an empty field in an old beater and later with oversight by my father. After I got my license a friend who had done the driver's training in school was riding with me, when I applied the brakes in a corner he had a fit. He told me in school he had been taught to never use the brakes in a corner. I continued to use the brakes in a corner all be it carefully. When I started to ride a motorcycle cycle a couple of years I continued the practice and still do it to this day. I didn't know there was a term for it until recently. Excellent video as usual.

The concept you are missing is "turn-in point", which differs greatly depending on the corner. It's the point where the apex and exit can be identified, and the rider commits to the lean angle to steer through the corner, in one steering motion (theoretically one). An initial slighter lean is needed until the rider can see through the corner - this is where braking to set speed is done. In a DRB (decreasing radius bastard) that point is late into the corner. Speed should be set prior to turn-in initiation, brakes released prior to turn-in, and throttle applied after the bike is at the desired lean angle. Therefor, the throttle is NOT used to accelerate all the way through the corner. It is used after commitment to turn-in. The term "acceleration" is used lightly in the context as well. Initially only enough to take up driveline lash and settle the suspension, and gradually rolled on as the circumstance allows. Keith Code covered it well in 1993 with "twist of the Wrist ll", and years later commented to trail brake only when it's required.

I always brake in corners if need be, and I always use trailbraking on public roads. It just makes sense on both counts. Those who think it's for a racetrack only don't have a clue what they're talking about, and obviously don't understand trailbraking. The key, as you said, is not to do so abruptly. I really love the "early, lighter, and longer" for brake usage. This is something that should be taught at the beginning in the MSF BRC classes, in my humble estimation. As always, Dave, you hit it out of the park with this phenomenal video! You're my hero of the riding world. I just told my wife that I wish I could spend like three months every single day with you and have you teach me. I've been riding a lot of years, but I'm never too proud to learn or recognize the incredible skills and knowledge of others, and you are at the top of the list, sir. I am riding a new Gold Wing and I trail brake every time I ride, but I'd love to have that close up and personal instruction where what I do can be seen and analyzed. Thing is, the nuances and handling characteristics of my new ride are much different than my old Suzuki Boulevard C90T cruiser, so I almost feel like a first-week MSF BRC rider again. LOL Anyway, thanks again for sharing your wisdom! I ALWAYS come away knowing more and also being challenged to get better as a rider! Ride safe, ride well, and ride often!!

Good words bud! 35 years for me and I told my kids and friends to read the corner and push the grip gently and feel the corner.

If traveling at legal speeds most often you will not need to use brakes in a corner at all. This assumes reducing your speed to legal limit before the corner. If there's an obstacle in the corner it is of course a different story and the reason why you should never open the throttle before you see the exit of the corner. When it comes to oil spills or ice and such on the road, the safest thing to do is to sit home and watch youtube rather then ride 😁 Good video, thank you.

Those coyote and roadrunner cartoons... WERE FILMED IN THE REAL WORLD?!?! Amazing! EDIT: Also... great video and subbed!

Great video! I just made a trip from LV to Utah to ride these rides on Father’s Day! They are FANTASTIC roads and I cannot wait to get back to them!!

Your channel is one of the most underrated channels on RU-vid… Thanks for all your hard work!💯👍🏽

You are correct saying we trail brake already. We trailbrake coming to a red light. we see a red, we apply the brakes smoothly and ease off until we come to a stop under control. This is done without thinking about it, trailbraking for a corner is the same technique, ease on the brakes, then ease off the brakes as needed to keep the motorcycle under control and not go wide.

It amazes me how many riders dont know about counter steering or trail braking. On a side note, ive ridden both of those roads numerous times. Hurricane, UT to Torrey, UT. Theyre awsome rides, but im back in Oregon now and there are some of the best roads in the country here... hidden gems. Love your content, every rider should be subscribed!!

Good stuff, Dave. While not the ideal way to learn about front braking, I was on a trip in Mexico when my rear brake failed and all I had was the front. I quickly found out that it wasn't the scary, "never do" scenario that had been drilled into me in my MSF course years ago. I've since have put front braking into my riding technique in the public road twisties. Your asterisk on "abruptly" is key. Thank you for that emphasis. You picked some great roads for this video. UT 72 and UT 12 are fantastic roads, with UT 72 being much less traveled (and with less deer than I've experienced on that aspen section of UT 12 between Boulder and Torrey).

Thanks. I've been working on this with my Vision for a while now. After watching one of your previous vids about trail braking.

I agree 100%. And I am really surprised that after 35 years of riding (and not watching much RU-vid until recently) I have learnt these techniques by myself. No classes attended. Like you said, it’s basic common sense. You slow down to turn. Same as a car. More finesse at the controls. I do use the rear brake at the same time as I find it calms the bike down but you are right in saying the rear traction is limited when braking with the front. The problem with all of this when it comes to beginners (my girlfriend started riding last year) is to make them understand that they have to be gentle with the controls. I rode in the winter up north on ice on a river when I was young. 2 wheels. No studs. Just rubber. 5 winters. You learn how to be smooth with the controls. Beginners don’t have that chance to learn what slipping and sliding feels like. You have to listen to what your front tire is trying to tell you. Feel is the name of the game. Hard to explain to someone just starting. Stay safe out there.

I learned years ago from Twist of the Wrist to essentially break the corner into 3 parts. The first is the slowing down, trail braking until my fork compression from braking matches the needed compression from cornering Part 2 is to catch the throttle and wait for the clear exit path. Part 3 is rolling on throttle to give me the acceleration I want. I found that this strategy even works in cars.

The motorcycling community needs to plead with the government (or whatever organization oversees it) to have the MSF courses drop its last-century, antiquated thinking that "it is too complicated for new riders" and teach trailbraking as the proper (and possibly life-saving) way to take a corner. New riders can learn this technique if taught as a standard, normal procedure that is just part of the course.

Great job of removing the woo woo from trail braking and encouraging commonsense use of front brakes to stay safe in corners. Simple, straightforward and confidence inspiring.

You explained this so well I've been riding just like this for over 45 years. People are afraid to use the front brake when cornering for fear of it sliding out but if loaded up when entering corner then pressure relieved and controlled with slight steady pressure you are better prepared for the unexpected variables when riding on unridden roads. plenty of time to power on when you can see where your going safely.

Great video mate, makes so much sense, when I first got my license, instructors told us never brake in a corner, but in actual fact they should have told us don't brake abruptly in corner, thx

Great video. I have come to these same conclusions after years of riding, and having been taught not to brake in corners.

I love your teaching style and how you take the time to make “complicated topics” easy to understand and remember. Never brake (abruptly) in corners is genius 👏👏👏

Speaking of slippery corners. One time I was riding in Northern Colorado in a Natl. Forest on a windy road in the rain. I was being cautious as I went around a curve and there was a pile of cow stuff in the road. My rear tire slipped out some but I regained control and when I looked up, there was a cow napping in the road. Good thing I was going slow enough. If I would have even touched my front brake I would have gone down. I never use my front brake in the rain on a curvy road.

In a last case (really last!), it is possible to straighten the bike in a corner and brake as hard as possible (as much as there is places), then release the brakes and drop the engine through the rest of the corner. Twice in my driving career I saved myself from a crash/death that way, but I've been driving for 50 years, so it's only done when there's no other solution.

I find my entry speed based on what I can see, then drive through the corner from there. I find my entry speed, drag the brake and increase the throttle a bit to hold it while the front end is loaded before I enter the corner. I drive through the corner using the brake to adjust my speed and rarely move the throttle until I am releasing the brake and exiting the corner... I guess you think that's wrong but since bringing that off road technique to the street, I have not once overrun a corner and am a lot more confident with my bike. NOTE, sounds to me like CC doesn't endorse this full time braking in corners, readers and followers of CC should take his credentials and experience into consideration and probably stick to his recommended variation of the technique.

Fine tuning methods! Thank you so much!🤙🏽🤙🏽💯

I started riding as a teen back in the last 60's, quit when I turned 50 and then bought an adventure bike after a 20 year break. All my buddies were "you gotta learn how to trail brake"??? What? In all these years I've ridden street, dirt, quad, cafe, three wheelers, early sport bikes and old brit thumpers. And lately Ive gotten into side by sides and casual 4 wheeling. I raced for 1 season on my CR500 in the desert. The problem with trail braking is not only the definition but the wild mix of differing techniques across all the bikes we all ride. I'll go faster in the corner and use the rear wheel to turn the bike in dirt, and have even used that at high speed on dirt to save my life, literally. Using the front brake on downhills was not what I was learned as a teen and it took me a while to relearn that habit. So when a street rider gives me advice I have to consciously think about his experiences and blend what I know with what he's saying Of course it's been 45+ years since I rode my 750 Norton so my tarmac canyon carving was on old tech tires and drum front brakes and those experiences slow me down on todays road bikes. I guess what I'm actually saying is advice from other riders needs to be taken with caution as you might not know his level or type of experience which forms his opinion. I read about braking in a real paper magazine 30+ yrs ago and I still use this when I am not rushed or panicked, just play with this cornering technique, and on several corners with steeply decreasing radius, it's worked. Go into the corner, roll off throttle, lightly grab front brake then lightly drag rear brake while gently using more throttle. As you gain experience you can increase control pressures. This loads the front tire even more than normal trail braking and stiffens all the bikes suspension, front and rear and the bike can corner at higher speeds or turn in sharper. Of course this came from a professional sport bike racer for use on the track. So, should I use the experience gained from an experienced winning racer? Probably not on the street or the dirt for that matter. But, knowing and playing with this technique very lightly has given me another tool. Please remember this advice, advice is worth what you paid for it....

Always great advice. No doubt, you've saved many individuals from disastrous riding issues. Thanks for caring!

This has completely transformed the way I ride. Going through the twisties has become even more enjoyable. Let’s be honest, at some point we all have been nervous riding on super twisty roads. Trail braking has put the fun back into it! Great video brother. Taking champ street in August!

The big debate I've ever seen with trail braking is less whether it works (universal favor in my circles), and more where the etymology comes from. I was taught that it's because loading and tightening up the front suspension trims the front geometry, including the trail, in order to make for more precise steering input, rather than anything to do with "trailing on/off" the brake

New rider of 8 months here and I've been consuming your content with glee. Love these trail braking and "anti" going wide videos! Please keep them coming! Not enough people can articulate the how to drive a motorcycle adeptly!

good info, here in southern Spain the country roads can get very polished after 6-8 mths with no rain, in hairpins I gently trail brake and if any hazards like oil slicks or tar snakes i may reduce fronk brake and apply slightly more rear, but on my old 916 ST the 320mm front brakes are very linear and powerfull, whereas the single 245mm rear is nearly an ornament, plus Battleaxe S22 tyres have amazing grip as i do not have ABS ( nore do i want it)😂😂

You have lots of good solid advice, thanks.

Your best video! Great coverage of the myriad arguments, sayings, and outright insanity that people on all sides spout on this topic. Now we have something to confidently send to people. Thanks!

I’m from Switzerland. People who say ‘never brake in a corner’ must be from places with straight, flat roads. Full-braking-before-tipin is trained and tested here, but in practice I believe trail braking is much better.

Hello from Newfoundland. Before I heard practice than implemented trail braking I don't know how safe and in control I was !!!! It has changed and improved my riding ten folds easy the best tool I got throughout reading and taking advice from different outlets in my 25 years riding career . Try it implement it right and reap the rewards. Chuck

Interesting and makes complete sense. I remember as a child flying down hills on my pedal bike enjoying the speed whilst gently squeezing the front brake into the bends and we never came off ! Surely a motorbike is the same …

Mindfulness when riding is an amazing thing. Feeling the road…feeling the front tyre contacting the road surface, feeling the road surface. That’s how you know become one with your bike .

As a biker with over 51 years riding experience and averaging over 330 days, a year on motorcycles, I-grade the presenter, a 95 out of 100. The only thing I add is that my bike weighs 800 pounds and I weigh 250 pounds and I have my rear brake lightly mimic my front brake action in fast curves. I feel this planes me out and anchors me once again thank you for the outstanding presentation.

1.28 in , I brake in corners . I downshift in corners , the worse that happens if I don t match rev enough the ass end kicks out a bit , and its fun. As a kid I rode my bmx in the canadian winter , it was a blast.

Your still the best on RU-vid explaining CLEARLY what good motorcycle techniques really are. There are so many variations of the meaning of trail braking from the other “RU-vid experts” For instance Motojitsu makes everything so complicated in his explanations that it makes the relatively easy and simple skills on motorcycles so complex. Your simple explanation s are so much more easier to understand and without the “ego” other RU-vid “experts” try to portray. Another example on other channels are explanations on cornering - making an easy skill sound So Hard. It must make new riders feel so inadequate. Even I that have been riding my whole life find the explanations so complex and hard to understand. Thank you once again for simple easy to understand, great clear and concise accurate information!! Its a real credit listening to you and it’s obvious your are very highly experienced something I really look up to. Feel very privileged to watch your videos Thank you so much Cheers from “downunder Australia 🇦🇺 👍

I loved to break in corners with my Ducati 900 with warm tyres on good surfaces, feeling how the bike wanted to go straight and push the inner hand to keep in lean .... great feeling of control. Took years of practice

The MSF needs to update their outdated curriculum. There so much bureaucracy and egos the real focus on safety cant really be accomplished. Solid video thanks for sharing it!

I trail brake fine on my bicycle so it should work fine on the motorcycle as well. Be smooth and anything goes.

The issue here in northern England is narrow roads with poor visibility on most corners, without this technique we wouldn’t make much progress. I’m an experienced rider but I think as usual you give some great advice to all levels of experience on the road. I use two fingers to front brake on my lovely Multistrada in nearly every corner but it’s gentle and progressive, to be honest I very seldom touch the rear brake apart from controlling front end dive in heavy traffic which is rare around here. My instructor told me slow and gentle into a bend and as the visibility reduces, and then accelerate as the ‘vanishing point’ moves away as the road straightens and the view opens up, eventually it becomes second nature.

This is the same thing as heel/toe shifting while when you are approaching the maximum brake pressure for the corner in a car. Right hand instead of right foot instead of left hand to clutch instead of left foot. Slow to the safe speed for that corner while trailbraking until you are ready to start accelerating. Reducing risk in a controlled manner. Kyle Wyman does this with an almost 650lb bagger racebike on the track to maintain traction and load on the front tire. The suspensions and tires are literally designed to have traction during braking force in the corner and not before singularly. Good lesson sir.

Smooth inputs!

I experienced the lack of trail breaking on my Harley low rider on a closing radius corner in May 2023 thinking I could stay on the throttle and add lean angle. Bad idea and I had 49,000 miles on top of two bikes at the time. Two problems. Too much speed at 37 mph, the bracket for forward controls/floorboards. When I hit the bracket, I lost the rear tire and low sided across the lane into a ditch. Ouch. Time stands still, although you don’t…going horizontally at 37 mph BTW. Don’t try it. I Didn’t scratch myself due to extreme gear but broke 4 ribs (thank goodness in the front, not back). FYI, because of AGATT I went home put on a tux and went to a gala. Unreal day. Gear? Top of the line Harley leather jacket, fully armored. Kevlar jeans, leather knuckle protector gloves, Harley high ankle boots. Full face helmet. Lesson? Trail break, see the exit. What I saw was pavement. Embarrassing as hell and a bit painful. Informative? Incredibly.

You mentioned a car in a corner where there's a Goldwing cruising through the corner, classic.

Practice and eventually it becomes 2nd nature. Start in very easy corners and as you become comfortable with it, gradually work up to doing it in tighter corners

Finally, someone who provides the correct trail braking definition.

I think braking while leaning up to emergency braking is a vital skill to learn and should be trained. Modern bikes and tires can take an astonishing amount of brake force without any risk if done properly. However, never ever abruptly as you say, that would spell bad news (which is the reason curve ABS is becoming increasingly common.

At the risk of being slightly off topic, the best emergency braking technique is not to have to do emergency braking at all. And I found that a headlight modulator, a $50-75 gadget, that make your high beam headlight flash like that of a pursuing police car has been saving me quite a few hard/emergency breaking because I don't get cut-off as often. Strangely, this simple, cheap and effective safety device is seldom discussed in motorcycle safety video and very seldom seen on the road. Despite costing 5% of some muffler " upgrade" . One of the cheapest motorcycle accessory on the market.

Never brake in a corner? Absolutes are derived from the dark side. <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="147">2:27</a> OMG what a beautiful camera angle! Careful on roads you do not know as gravel is everywhere!

Great video. May I suggest another method to explain trail breaking. If you could video your ride with your brake light showing as an insert in one of the video corners and as you comment we can see when you apply and release your brakes. Watching this video, there is corners that I would not have applied brakes but unsure if you did.

68 here/44 still riding; all sport. I was taught to SQUEEZE the front brake- NEVER EVER GRAB; Front= 80%+ of total braking available…to LOAD the front end, giving me LEAN. Also…dragging the rear brake through tight corners as needed. ***. I took a Braking Class decades ago- with the class bikes in cages- with outrigger caster wheels. We had to go 60 and lock it up. On purpose. Great lesson for stopping distances, ABS vs Non, etc.

I’m really inspired by these videos about trail braking. I have practiced a little. It’s reassuring that the uncertainty about the corners is normal. I do worry about my bike at times as it has CBS - but this doesn’t seem to affect my trail braking efforts.

All good, I have braked into corners on the road and downshifted because I had to, there can be many reasons, for example you spot an oil or damp patch on your path while you are at lean. When you close the throttle and coast, you have engine braking, but how much that depends on what kind of bike, the load, etc. When I am on the road, I ride exactly the same way I ride on the track, but less. It's not to show off, it's stuff that works, but less speed means less braking, less lean angle, less body movement and so on. But, what you didn't say in the video and I was expecting to see, is what to do to brake while you are already into a corner if you must. Sure, be gentle and don't snatch, but that's not all of it.

People who say "never brake in a corner", or say "accelerate through the corners", or say "do all your braking before the corner" are completely ignorant of how the suspension is designed to work on a vehicle.

I did enjoy this excellent explanation of trail braking. Home Run! 👍

Get a BMW GS, it has combined brakes, with clever electronics distributing the brake power between front and rear breaks on demand. And the Telelever front suspension pretty much prevents the compression of forks when breaking. And the curve ABS does it's job, when needed. These all builds up your confidence in couple of years at a high level, because you learn that you can break in curve as much as needed (dry asphalt) safely, in case you enter in a curve too fast. I guess many other modern bikes too, except the Telelever. If you got a 25 years old Harley, be careful. :)

You always have the best and easy definition for trailbreaking.

Great video, thumps up! One addition from my personal point of view: never ever use front brake in a close serpentine when going upwards... because that will load the front, stiffen it up and in extreme situations, like Stelvio for example, it will make you going on the opposite lane.

Last weekend i was doing 65 around a backroad corner, four deer bolted across the road and I slammed on the brakes both front and back coming to a fast stop down to 5 mph. Luckily I have abs and came to a smooth straight in my lane position stop. My Voyager slightly straightened up as I quickly slowed to the 5 mph. The buy behind me who does not have abs smoked up his rear tire and skid sideways and past me up by a few yards. He's been riding for 65 years so he did well in preventing laying the bike down. Neither of us hit any of the deer. Me only riding for 4 years have the abs working on my behalf. So braking in corners can be done one way or the other, especially if you have no choice.

Great video as always, thanks and this is very needed for so many new and old riders who still live in wrong impression that you should never touch front brake in corner. PS love your Strada, actually called dealership last week and wanted to order new V2S to hear and stay surprised that model cannot be ordered anymore as apparently they are coming up with the new model, for which there is still no info about as of yet.

Great advice, thanks. Public roads are far more unpredictable and dangerous than a racetrack. No place for heroics.

Straightforward, concise, informative. I've gained so much from this channel.

You say you don't know where the bad advice came from despite teaching it. Interesting. Reminds me of my University days when I was frequently reminded that such things were the "accepted wisdom" or "beyond the scope of the course" to question. As I understand it, SLP&R comes essentially from the reduction in the circumference of the tire as it leans. RPM increases as a result, and smoothly rolling on the throttle keeps the engine "stable". It also comes from bad (stock) suspension. I think a lot of people overlook just how good modern high performance suspensions are even compared to bikes of 10 years ago. Rolling on the throttle keeps the butterflies open so there's no engine braking and the shock loaded so it doesn't bounce, and rather unfortunately shifts weight off the front and extends the forks making the turning radius increase. It's all rather opposite of what you really want to be doing, but it comes from a place of "accepted wisdom" largely based on underperforming machinery and not really understanding the mechanics. This video really is a public service to a generation of riders. Thank you.

I currently have a bike with performance and lean ABS, and it's curious (and amazing) how it brakes super hard until the forks finishes plunging, then releases for .5 milliseconds, then continuously to ferociously brake. The whole process is seamless and smooth. But performance ABS doesn't allow you to be abrupt, either up or learning. I've had several bikes before with ABS, and they were all a bit clunky, gradually less over the past 15 years. The current iteration of ABS smooth and ferocious.