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Rear end sliding up

3K views 35 replies 9 participants last post by  JBaz 
#1 ·
I was riding home from class today and the car infront of me decided to peg the brakes. I got on my front and rear and my rear locked up without to much pressure and slid about 10 or 20 degrees to the right with the bars staying straight. This isn't the first time its happened, but its the first time I've been able to atribute it to my rear brake. Any ideas what could cause this or a way to remedy it? The tires were cold since I had just left campus but I dont know if that alone would cause this.

Thanks,
Sepias
 
#2 ·
Tire being cold is a big contributor. Personally I think its fun when you lock your rear end and sliding around, but it burns rubber. I don't do it traffic unless I need to. When I go stunting, I do some practice slidings. Not only can they be fun and dangerous, but if you start slow slides and build your way up, you can learn on how to control emergency stops when you need to in real situations.

Last year, I had to do this after a small pickup truck turns in front of me and stops due to traffic and I do a 90 degree slide right up to its rear bumper. I was about 6 inches away from hitting the truck in the process.
 
#8 ·
Ley off the rear brake. When you hit the brakes, weight transfers forward. Hard braking puts 99% of the weight on the front. Traction of a function of material properties and weight, and if the weight is near zero, it doesnt matter if your rear tire is coated with superglue, it still wont maintain traction worth a damn.
 
#9 ·
Vash said:
Ley off the rear brake. When you hit the brakes, weight transfers forward. Hard braking puts 99% of the weight on the front. Traction of a function of material properties and weight, and if the weight is near zero, it doesnt matter if your rear tire is coated with superglue, it still wont maintain traction worth a damn.
yup, this is why you always see front brakes being bigger then the rear brakes on bikes, cars, buses, trucks, you name it.
 
#10 ·
I rarely use my rear either, just when I need to stop fast like I did then. I usually will just engine brake the rear and use the front. I dont know if they are performance brakes or not, I wont need to replace them for a long while anyways. The are still at aroun 70 percent. I dont think doing a burn out before I start would be a great idea, especially since I live in a retirement comunity. They might not appreciate it to much:twofinger

Sepias
 
#11 ·
I've done it twice while approaching intersections and the light goes yellow, I could of gone through but I wanted to work on my emergency braking. The first time I did it I was like "what the hell is going on" the second time I knew what was happening, but rode it out. I started to lock up the back again a couple days ago, and I got off the back brake a bit, and on the front more, corrected itself.
 
#12 ·
Yea as soon as you let off the back it jumps back into place. I'm curious how far out I can get the back end to go... I might just have to try it. I just wont be goin 60mph when I do it like I was yesterday:twofinger

Sepias
 
#13 ·
SepiasSoul said:
Yea as soon as you let off the back it jumps back into place. I'm curious how far out I can get the back end to go... I might just have to try it.
One thing for sure you are going to know when you went too far.
 
#15 ·
i know a lot of guys that adjust their back brake to where even when its applied all the way it just drags and wont lock (unless its wet or something). i havnt had the problem with locking my back break when i dont want it to though so i left it alone. and +1 on the cold tires. cold tires are dangerous.
 
#16 ·
sampleofme said:
i know a lot of guys that adjust their back brake to where even when its applied all the way it just drags and wont lock (unless its wet or something). i havnt had the problem with locking my back break when i dont want it to though so i left it alone. and +1 on the cold tires. cold tires are dangerous.
It is amazing how tires respond (or dont) when they are cold!
 
#17 ·
Cold tyres for sure & possible the pavement was cold as well. Set your rear brake pedal down a bit so your dumb foot will not be to much pressure, for the foot does not have the f iness of the hands. Your feet at like dumb clubs so do not make it to easy to be stomping on the rear brake------remember to the power you have in your foot & said leg compared to the hand & arms.

You will find most bikes are with the rear brake pedal to high up & to easy to apply. So down just a hair to help easy off the stupid move of to much rear braking.

Be careful on letting the rear end slide out for you could be in for a surprise called "low sided" to even "high sided" & while latter is most expensive BOTH are costly to you & the bike. You are not on dirt & hot footing it around a bend or burm. You are on pavement.
 
#18 ·
Yea I've low sided before, never a high side though, and for that I'm glad. I'm not planning on wrecking trying this though. I'm just curious as to how far I can push it (like JBaz hinted at) and still be comfortable, as well as how to control the bike when this occurs. Plus it could be fun:twofinger

Sepias
 
#19 ·
Smitty said:
Cold tyres for sure & possible the pavement was cold as well. Set your rear brake pedal down a bit so your dumb foot will not be to much pressure, for the foot does not have the f iness of the hands. Your feet at like dumb clubs so do not make it to easy to be stomping on the rear brake------remember to the power you have in your foot & said leg compared to the hand & arms.

You will find most bikes are with the rear brake pedal to high up & to easy to apply. So down just a hair to help easy off the stupid move of to much rear braking.

Be careful on letting the rear end slide out for you could be in for a surprise called "low sided" to even "high sided" & while latter is most expensive BOTH are costly to you & the bike. You are not on dirt & hot footing it around a bend or burm. You are on pavement.
That's a good suggestion, Ive just been telling myself to take it easy on the back brake, and use the front first. But, I probably should adjust it to be sure. I do use the back too much.
 
#20 ·
I got pulled over at a stop sign last year for doing a rear sliding. He gave me a "went through stop sign violation" but he didn't stop other cars who did the exact same thing.

Also, when you slide, you need to make sure your body position compensates for the slide so you won't lay it down.
 
#24 ·
I decided to play with it again on my way to class tonight. I got up to about 40 and gave a little front brake and jumped on the rear. I put the back end pretty far out to the side before the tire got enough heat and it jumped back. It was pretty funny. By compensate, you mean lean to the higher of the two sides? IE if the bike leans left, then lean right? The bike hasn't wanted to lean to either side yet, the back end just jumpes to the right. It freaks the hell outta the cars that see me do it. They look in the rear view and see a bike coming up on the half sideways:laughing: After about 10 minutes into my ride the tire was getting a little to hot to loose grip and started to just squeel like a pig when I got on it. Heh its fun though.

Sepias
 
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