Keep It Covered Brother

Don't feel like getting too up close and personal with the right quarter panel of that Prius which just rocked a 180 directly in your path without so much as a text warning? Like to keep the medivac frequent flyer miles to a minimum, while avoiding the always hilarious "donorcycle" jokes from the ER staff? Bonus!..........Chrome Asylum is here to lend you a hand, more like a couple of fingers actually. But just as two fingers can be a pretty handing bartending tool, those nifty digits can keep your butt alive out there on the mean streets.

See, it's all about coverage, brake coverage that is. You've got to keep that front brake covered......all the time, every time. I know, I know, ".....but my MSF (http://www.msf-usa.org/) said not to cover the brake unless I was using it to slow the motorcycle down." I know that's what he said, it's just not quite what he meant..........I'll explain later. Carry on.

The average Harley Davidson weighs what, at least 750 pounds, without you or your lady? Add you two, throw in a weekend getaways worth of chaps and sleeveless t's and we're talkin' some serious heft. The more beef, the more distance it's gonna take to whoa-up........it's just plain old physics, and Mr. James thought I was sleeping in class.......hah! What we have to do is get you squeezing the lever sooner, so you have more time (more feet.......more distance) to apply the brakes and come to a safe stop with real estate to spare. So how does covering the front brake give me more time you eagerly ask? And I thought I was the only one here that failed eighth grade science!

Think about it. Better yet, go out to your garage and get on your bike. Now grab the bars and let's play pretend..........You're putting down the blacktop, you come to an imaginary stop sign, with an imaginary cop sitting in the weeds off to the side, so you're not blowing through this one.......time to come to a halt. You loosen your grip, move your fingers off the throttle, stretch them forward to the brake lever, grip said lever, and begin to pull back towards the bar...............jeez, when did we start this whole process, about a week ago!?!? And that's the point, all that effort took time, time you don't wanna waste when you're trying to avoid first hand knowledge of what your femur looks like without the benefit of x-ray technology.

Probably took you a good second or two complete the "squeeze", and if you were moving at oh, say about sixty miles an hour, you'd have traveled a good, um.....well, a long damn way. OK, I may have slept a couple of times in class.......but what if you could save those couple of seconds, huh, what about that? You'd stop sooner of course. Like if you'd had a couple of fingers already on the brake lever, just waiting to jump into lifesaving action? Bingo........we have a winner!

Simple as that, and honestly, if you've ever raced a motorcycle, or just checked out some race action on the tube this technique is used news. Watch some MotoGP or MX action on Speed and you've probably seen your favorite "go fast" hero with a couple of fingers (or maybe just one, but honestly, you think you're gonna haul your Harley down to a crawl with only one finger!? Please.) lurking on the front brake lever, even when he wasn't applying it. And these guys know a thing or two about bike wrangling.......not more than you, or me of course, but they've got some knowledge.

All it takes is developing the habit, start with your index and middle finger draped over the front brake lever and go out for a putt. It'll feel kinda weird at first, but you'll soon see that you can still twist the throttle, maintain a good "feel", and move the bars..........all while keeping yourself covered. In time, it'll seem awkward not to have a couple of fingers on the brake lever. Better yet, when it comes time for that "oh sh*t, not another insurance claim" panic stop, and your time is coming, trust me on that.........you'll be ready, coming to rest, rubber side down with inches to spare. Sweet.

So we're done, right!? Not quite yet, no "how to" guide worth its weight (hey, just what does a blog weigh anyway!?) is gonna leave you without some warnings and disclaimers......and we here at Chrome Asylum are slaves to convention. First, remember our MSF instructor's demand to keep our paws off the front lever unless we were actually braking? He didn't say it because covering the front brake is a bad thing, he did it because when you're learning to ride, you've the grey matter boiling just trying to make the damn machine go in a straight line without slamming into the sign-up table (yeah, its happened), you don't need to be worrying about learning an "advanced" control technique.........it's a first things first kinda thing........got it?

Also make sure your brake lever is adjusted so that when it's pulled all the way back to the grip it doesn't smash the digits that are still wrapped around the throttle, best to get this handled before we advance beyond the "pretend ride". I mean it, check the adjustment. Lastly, be careful in parking lots, if you've got the bars turned in sharply and you stab that front brake, chances are you're gonna find out just how effective those crash bars really are. Let's use our heads. Remember Chromies, smooth application of the controls.............