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Kneeslider

Race Dog
Joined
Jan 26, 2012
Messages
755
Reaction score
2
Location
Knyp Town
Bike
AJS (all models)
Ok, so following on from the "Why are we hitting the deck" thread, https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=161050.0 I put forward an argument that riders were loosing the skills that should be ingrained in us as second nature if we are to remain safe and derive maximum enjoyment from our machines.

In the interest of safety and learning, and maybe just an eye opener to drive home the fact that we are not quite the hot shots we think we are, and how automation has robbed us of our skills, I would like a few volunteers to do a simple braking test and post up the results, for us to debate.
Of course you can tell me to sod off, that is cool, but it would be in your best interests and a real eye opener to go out and try.

Firstly you will need a bike that has some form of ABS/braking aid, and  clear quiet stretch of road, a long tape measure, some chalk and a helper or two.

Firstly, draw a chalk line across the road as a braking reference point.
Start far enough behind the line to be able to accelerate to 100km/h by the time you reach the braking reference point line.
Get your helper with the chalk and tape to stand down range where you estimate you will come to a stop, so he/she can mark the position of the front wheel, once stopped.

First run, with ABS active to establish a bench mark.
Accelerate to 100Km/h, as you cross the reference line, apply maximum braking and bring the bike to a stop.
Let your helper, mark the position of the wheel with chalk, measure the braking distance and note it down, you can even draw a second line across the road at this point as a target distance.

Second run, disable ABS  by whatever means applies to your bike, switch/pulling the fuse, whatever, so that you have no braking assistance.
Again, accelerate to 100km/h, ay the reference line, apply maximum safe braking, and measure the distance, note it down.
I guarantee you it will not be something to be proud of.
Do another ten such runs without braking assistance, and note the stopping distances down.

Then come and post the results on this thread, let us compare notes, and all learn something form it.
A few things I can tell you now, your first un-aided run will be WAAAY longer than the run with ABS active.
Do another 10 runs, and you will see the stopping distances getting shorter and shorter with every run, as you get a feel for where the edge of the grip is, by run 10 you may even be very close to the ABS aided stopping distance.
Which shows us, that;
We don't know our bikes as well as we think we do
Our bikes are capable of a lot more than we think
The bikes limits far exceed our own
The more we practice the better our skills get and the more in tune with our bikes we become.
The safer we become.

If you have a bike without ABS, you can still participate in the experiment, look up the road test for your bike, (Google knows everything) and extract the tested stopping distance from the test and use that as your bench mark, post results.

So now you think you have it down pat?
How about spraying some water down, or spreading some gravel on the road now?  :biggrin:

Give me an honest run and we can all benefit form it, remember you only BS yourself.

 
 
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