Don't let this happen to you…

Hopefully global warming will finish the job and keep us snow free and balmy this winter. But when it does eventually get slippery out there, you can save yourself a little trouble by learning to use the rear brake when there's oily pavement, ice or snow. Of course, the best thing to do over oil, ice, snow is just maintain speed and ride past it. But if you have to slow down, the rear brake is kinda' like throwing an anchor out on a boat. It drags the bike to a stop slowly, and may make the rear misbehave even before locking up - which is why you need to get comfortable with how your bike behaves when using the rear brake on slippery stuff.

You don't want to lock the rear wheel, but if you do, you can still control the bike. But if you lock the front wheel, often times, the ground will seem to jump up and smack you so quickly that you won't have a chance to save it.

Another thing to note is that it's much harder to feel what the rear wheel is doing, so it's easy to lock the rear without realizing it… Anyway, that's why we practice and think about these things. Hopefully you won't have to think about this anytime soon.

Related posts:

1. Are Motorcycles Green or Not?
2. How To Use The Rear Brake
3. Slippery when wet…