(IScream @ Jun. 09 2007,15:55)
(Samurai-Jim @ Jun. 09 2007,15:34)
(IScream @ Jun. 09 2007,15:08) I really believe now that had I just set the preload properly before that, to reduce the dive under hard braking I could have gotten it stopped that morning.
I would disagree. More dive will promote better braking. It allows the energy to transfer from horizontal to vertical putting more weight on the front tire. If it didn't dive the energy travels strictly horizontal and there is better chance for lock up. Thats why the schools will tell you to gradually apply pressure and once the suspension sets down you can give it a handfull of brake.
In a panic the front never has a chance to dive if you imediately grab a handfull. Its easier to lock the front if you just stab the brake rather than gradually applying it and actually even exceeding the presure you did with just a stab.
Have you ever panic braked a busa? If not, try it and tell me again it doesn't dive hard. I've owned 12 different motorcycles and been riding all my life. I've had to stop quickly many times. The busa front locks much too easily in my opinion. There are descriptions around of the busa having so much dive that it will actually bottom out the fork and increase the likelyhood of a lock.
I had 3600 miles of fairly hard riding on this bike when the wreck happened. I had even practiced panic stops from low speeds over at the school parking lot where they teach the MSF.
As I mentioned above, after locking the brake the first time and having the bike start to slide out from under me, I let up on the pressure to catch it, then applied the brake again to the point where it dove and locked. I then had to let up and catch it again. I got it down from 60 to 20 during the whole process.
I do think this little stretch of road is low on traction as my truck will barely take off from a light in there when it rains. It wasn't raining this day though.
None of this is to say that the wreck wasn't my fault in the end though. Had I been paying less attention to the guy in the car to my right and more to traffic ahead I wouldn't have ended up in the panic situation.
I'm just saying that a little extra stopping power at the tire to road interface probably would have been enough to make it a close call rather than a wreck.
-Chris