Re: RT Linked Brakes]

[Bruno Valeri <bvaleri@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "BMW Oilhead List" <oilheads@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004 1:15 PM
Subject: [Fwd: RT Linked Brakes]


>When I'm going downhill, I just use a
> low gear for rear wheel braking.

Strong front brake is not a problem going downhill on a road
surface, even in the rain.
Unless of course, you run across wet oil.  =:O

>First gear at 4 to 6000 RPM is not
> unheard of for me.  The bike makes a racket, but you can do
this all day
> without side effects.   If you're going very slow, to the point
that 1st
> gear isn't slow enough, well, rear braking is only marginally
effective
> anyway.

Going down a steepish trail with loose and gnarly gravel (ie
Marble Mountain) I was in 1st gear and still needed brakes to
keep my speed down.
In this case, using the rear brakes made all the difference. I
needed to feather the front to add just enough to limit rear
wheel lockup. but not too much so as to create a front wheel
lock.

Of course, the fact that the 929 reaches 75mph in 1st gear maybe
has something to do with it.    :)

In this case, bikes with a shorter 1st gear would provide more
compression braking.

But this doesn't apply only to riding gravel trails. You could be
coming down a steep mountain pass type road that has gravel
liberally strewn across it. In this case use of front brake could
easily result in front slide.

Things to consider.

Bruno
Montreal, Canada
CBR 929
http://pages.infinit.net/mcrides

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