• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Throttle hand position.

Doghouse

Doghouse

Moto Newbie, Crash Vetran
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Location
Fremont
Moto(s)
Suzuki 2007 SV 650 Naked
Name
-Larry
I ride an 07 sv 650 naked. It is my second bike. It is very torquey and the throttle is hard for a newbie to roll smoothly off and on. At Doc Wongs class he suggested a technique he uses where he always rides with the first two fingers of his right hand on the brake lever and the throttle controlled with the thumb and last two fingers. It increase control and prevents the wide swings in throttle control that newbies have to conquer.
Issue for me is last Sunday two riders went down in front of me (I was fourth or fifth bike back), the guy in front of me out-braked me to make sure he didnt hit anyone. Of course this all happens in a nano second but I recall dogding the bikes / people while not tagging the rider I was following.
I have reviewed this in my head a zillion times for different reasons. My bike is in very good shape, brakes ... tires etc. I can't remember for positive but I'm thinking the two fingers on the brake lever wasn't enough muscle to deliver the full force emergency stop.
So I will make a change but not sure what exactly right now. Other techniques to mediate throttle responses out there?
-Larry
 
I keep my hand out at the end of the bar,holding the end lip of the grip with my pinky and index and middle finger over the brake.You get more leverage on the brake lever for two finger stops,plus you get a little better leverage on the handlebar
 
I'm a 2 fingers for controlled braking and a 4 fingers for max braking guy. I just feel I get better modulation with all 4 during max braking. As far as not really remembering exactly what you did--that's probably good news because you automatically did the right thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQpJDux_M-w
 
I suggest following less closely. Also I suggest practicing braking on the SV. I can stand a stock SV on its front wheel with two fingers.
 
On modern bikes with modern brakes, I tend to use 1 or 2 fingers. And I'm not that strong. What I find makes a lot of difference for my short and stubby digits is proper brake lever adjustment. Experiment with it and you should find the angle of the lever and the distance from the grip you like it at. On the track, with maximum braking applied routinely, I find it makes the difference between total control and struggling to do a handful of laps without getting arm pump.

Another thing I've found can really mess with my braking is excessive throttle cable slack. I've discovered that unless I bring it to the absolute minimum amount of slack, I start to have trouble controlling the throttle while applying the brakes, which puts a lot of stress on and increases the movement of my wrist while I'm squeezing hard on the lever. All that contributes ever more to the feeling of being weak on the lever, when in fact it's just an inefficiency in your movement.

One last thing. Make sure your arms and shoulders are nice and relaxed. Stay loose on the bars. If you tighten up, that's another thing that can fight against you with the brake application. Use your legs, abs, and lower back muscles to stabilize yourself. When I'm on longer rides, or suspect I'm not as loose as I should be, I like to do a real quick shake of my elbows (like the chicken dance) and feel my upper body relax.
 
Doghouse said:
Issue for me is last Sunday two riders went down in front of me...
Click to expand...
Hey, Larry.

Whereas there are a dozen ways to grip and use the breaks, one often overlooked skill is maintaining a good distance. The dicier the situation, ie heavy traffic, group rides, high speed, dirty road, bad viz, the greater the distance. The other day a BARFer was suggesting 2 bike lengths. Nonsense. I use 10, 20 or more.

Best,

Marc.
 
Last edited:
afm199 said:
I suggest following less closely. Also I suggest practicing braking on the SV. I can stand a stock SV on its front wheel with two fingers.
Click to expand...

This. Practice hard braking. You may be surprised just how hard that SV will stop.
 
Doghouse said:
I ride an 07 sv 650 naked. It is my second bike. It is very torquey and the throttle is hard for a newbie to roll smoothly off and on. At Doc Wongs class he suggested a technique he uses where he always rides with the first two fingers of his right hand on the brake lever and the throttle controlled with the thumb and last two fingers. It increase control and prevents the wide swings in throttle control that newbies have to conquer.
Issue for me is last Sunday two riders went down in front of me (I was fourth or fifth bike back), the guy in front of me out-braked me to make sure he didnt hit anyone. Of course this all happens in a nano second but I recall dogding the bikes / people while not tagging the rider I was following.
I have reviewed this in my head a zillion times for different reasons. My bike is in very good shape, brakes ... tires etc. I can't remember for positive but I'm thinking the two fingers on the brake lever wasn't enough muscle to deliver the full force emergency stop.
So I will make a change but not sure what exactly right now. Other techniques to mediate throttle responses out there?
-Larry
Click to expand...

There is quite a range of opinions on this, depending on the riders background (frame of mind on finesse of brake application), and what their ride consists of, and of course how their brakes work, in feel and power.

And.... need to stop, which is quite different than need to brake.
On that, it's been my experience, in the situations that leap out at you, on the public road/street/highway, it's far more beneficial to keep the emphasis on seeing the clear space, the clean line, the toss your bike (and a SV650 naked is a very choice bike for that toss move) there. Braking takes time and distance that in that Nano second, that, more often then not, isn't there.

A main problem (as I've seen it) in braking for a hazard, is the rider will look at that hazard they don't want to hit.
That's just what a rider doesn't want to do. You have to look where you want to go. Not where you don't want to go.

Now for the brakes, if a rider develops the presents of mind, to use ubber powerful brakes (yours can be up-graded very easily with braided SS lines and after market pads,( AFM199 would know the best choices there) to turn your front brakes into a ONE finger affair. Then You have three fingers and thumb, controlling the throttle and one finger (which is very comfortable) covering the brake lever, AND that turns the gas and brake into ONE control.

That's the best way, that I can recommend.
 
Last edited:
I like all my fingers around the throttle unless I'm actually braking. If you're having trouble controlling the throttle, that might help more than taking fingers off of it. Also, make sure your wrist isn't hiked up high with the the throttle closed. Bike throttles like fine movements more than big ones.

Practice your emergency stops, as mentioned. The biggest thing I see new riders do to increase their stopping distance is pull on the brake somewhat and hold it there, waiting for the bike to stop. Remember the progressive squeeze from MSF, and practice that - using the brake smoothly, but fully (you took the MSF, ja?).

But remember that swerving can be a more effective tool than braking, which is why I don't ride around with my fingers ready to brake as my first option. Target fixation is the negative side of using your eyes; the positive side is seeing an escape route and using it.
 
also op, is the pitch/rotation of you brake lever adjusted to suit your riding style/positon?
 
gas on, gas off

When applying braking force via grabbing the lever, do you feel as though your hand still has the grip pulled back into your palm a bit? It is possible, when using the "two-finger" technique to not fully release the throttle pressure, thereby reducing your stopping distance by mere fact that you are still providing some acceleration.
 
Last edited:
afm199 said:
I can stand a stock SV on its front wheel with two fingers.
Click to expand...

Yes, it can, I've done this. Two fingers are enough for nearly any modern sportbike, and this has some real advantages for transitioning between brake and throttle.
 
I've found that 4 fingers give me a better feel for the brakes and more control. However, 2 fingers has been more than enough to lift the rear wheel or slide the front on any bike I've ridden.
 
Hey Larry,

I'd try to adjust the throttle cable so that there is a minimal amount of slack. Also, it just takes time to get use to I believe. As others have suggested, practice emergency braking, and 2 fingers should be more than enough if the lever is adjusted well. Having shorty levers helps me use 2 fingers at the right distance for my digits and not bump into my knuckles.
 
CaptCrash said:
I'm a 2 fingers for controlled braking and a 4 fingers for max braking guy. I just feel I get better modulation with all 4 during max braking. As far as not really remembering exactly what you did--that's probably good news because you automatically did the right thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQpJDux_M-w
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I want to take instruction from someone who uses CaptCrash as his name :twofinger

Good idea to have someone blowing a whistle to give you an unexpected emergency braking point.
 
Last edited:
Tanks!

Thanks for all the ideas. Absolutely first will be an adjustment on brake lever position and throw. Maybe also try resting the middle and ring finger on the lever. I don't think the "two and then four" technique or keeping the pinkie just out past the end of the grips would work for my current skill level. The throttle cable slack seems good, had a tech check it also. The way it is now it doesn't seem like I could stand it on its front wheel with two fingers from 35 - 40 mph. It feels like the fingers are too close to the inside and reduces leverage. I'll work on this.

BTW - I had a decent space cushion between the rider in front of me, the nano second is how fast it all seemed to play out in my mind (cpu=186 :teeth). I think I would have swerved left but peripherally I felt something was there, maybe rider #2. I'm also thinking some target fixation but it wasn't a straight shot between the two bikes, there was some weaving under braking so I was looking at where I didn't want to go. But more than enough tips and ideas, whatever it takes, I'll do it.
Thx,
-Larry
 
I'd say most riders don't practice emergency braking enough. I try to practice it at least once every time I ride.
 
ex911 said:
I'd say most riders don't practice emergency braking enough. I try to practice it at least once every time I ride.
Click to expand...

I tell you, it's saved my ass a couple of times... Not because it helped me stop sooner, but because it trained me not to over brake when I really needed to slow down fast!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top