Many might not post this but I feel it might save someone's life so I will.
Background:
Prior to getting my Super Ten, my past ~200k miles have been on ST1300s and GL1800s, both have linked brakes so whether you use your foot pedal or hand brake, they both activate both brakes.
My Habits:
Due to the above, I've had a habit of using my foot brake pedal 'FIRST' in order to scrub off speed then my hand brake if I need more, the foot pedal along on the ST1300 or GL1800 will give you anywhere from 80-90% of your braking ability, if not more. So, while many may see this as a bad habit, it didn't really matter on these two bikes and the same probably applies to several other bikes w/linked brakes that operate in a similar manner.
Recent Events:
Was in Arkansas this past weekend and the morning started out very well, used the engine to gauge my entry speeds into curves and really didn't use my brakes much except where some small trail braking was necessary IN curves, not BEFORE curves.
Later in the day I was getting tired and lazy and not using the engine as much so I came up on a right hand curve that was 25mph. I don't know how fast I was going, probably slower than I had earlier in the morning but because I was caught off guard a bit, I fell back to my habit of hitting the rear brake first. Only about 30% braking there, by the time - milliseconds - I noticed I wasn't scrubbing off enough speed, I was across the double-yellow and lucky there wasn't anyone coming the other direction, it was also so fast that I didn't get enough pressure on the front brake to make a difference.
Conclusion:
Get into the habit of hitting that front brake lever FIRST, unless you're off road. I will start retraining myself on my ST1300 so I don't repeat the same mistake.
Please don't turn this into a lecture about the rights and wrongs of riding... I know I was tired and I know I was not paying enough attention to my engine rpms so I wasn't able to just drop it in and power out. The right braking would have resolved those other issues and snapped me out of it and back into a better technique.
I only want those that may have my bad habit of hitting the rear brake first to know that this bike will not forgive you for that and you need to adjust your habits now. I hope this helps someone out there and avoids what could have been a costly mistake on my part.
On a side note, this bike rocks in the twisties.
Background:
Prior to getting my Super Ten, my past ~200k miles have been on ST1300s and GL1800s, both have linked brakes so whether you use your foot pedal or hand brake, they both activate both brakes.
My Habits:
Due to the above, I've had a habit of using my foot brake pedal 'FIRST' in order to scrub off speed then my hand brake if I need more, the foot pedal along on the ST1300 or GL1800 will give you anywhere from 80-90% of your braking ability, if not more. So, while many may see this as a bad habit, it didn't really matter on these two bikes and the same probably applies to several other bikes w/linked brakes that operate in a similar manner.
Recent Events:
Was in Arkansas this past weekend and the morning started out very well, used the engine to gauge my entry speeds into curves and really didn't use my brakes much except where some small trail braking was necessary IN curves, not BEFORE curves.
Later in the day I was getting tired and lazy and not using the engine as much so I came up on a right hand curve that was 25mph. I don't know how fast I was going, probably slower than I had earlier in the morning but because I was caught off guard a bit, I fell back to my habit of hitting the rear brake first. Only about 30% braking there, by the time - milliseconds - I noticed I wasn't scrubbing off enough speed, I was across the double-yellow and lucky there wasn't anyone coming the other direction, it was also so fast that I didn't get enough pressure on the front brake to make a difference.
Conclusion:
Get into the habit of hitting that front brake lever FIRST, unless you're off road. I will start retraining myself on my ST1300 so I don't repeat the same mistake.
Please don't turn this into a lecture about the rights and wrongs of riding... I know I was tired and I know I was not paying enough attention to my engine rpms so I wasn't able to just drop it in and power out. The right braking would have resolved those other issues and snapped me out of it and back into a better technique.
I only want those that may have my bad habit of hitting the rear brake first to know that this bike will not forgive you for that and you need to adjust your habits now. I hope this helps someone out there and avoids what could have been a costly mistake on my part.
On a side note, this bike rocks in the twisties.