I agree.I lock my rear brakes all the time. sometimes for fun, sometimes because i keep forgetting how useless the back break really is for stopping power. on a hard turn i normally only use the back break in fear of my front tire slipping- no good. as far as im concerned that back tire can slip all it wants. when you loose traction from the front tire your face meets the ground. when the back tire looses traction theres room to correct the bike IMO.
45 Years of riding, with many hours off-road riding. I don't think twice about locking up the rear, it happens all the time in the dirt. Because I switch between my FZR and my dirt bike so often, I tend to go too easy on the front brakes when riding either on the pavement. I have made it a habit to practice hard braking using mainly the front a few times at the begining of any street ride to help "set my brain". If I am in the mood to ride fast in the corners, I continue the hard braking excersize every few minutes to keep the brain in "road mode", as well as keeping the brakes warm (which makes them more effective and consistant).
The only way to develop "instinctive" or "automatic" skills is with repeated practice. I learned how to control a skidding car by going to empty parking lots when it was snowing and forcing the car to skid out. If you don't practice until it becomes a reflexive act, you can't wait for the first unexpected skid and hope that you'll remember the driver's ed advice to "steer into the skid".
Last week a husband and wife got killed when their bike slid into a train crossing gate in upstate NY. Maybe they were going too fast; maybe not paying attention; but my money is on poor braking technique.
I'll end my sermon with the story that many of you have heard already.
A somewhat lost out-of-town couple ask a native NY City resident, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
He answers, "Practice, practice, practice".
RIDE SAFE
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