Rear Brake Get Offs happen more often than you think. Many times the rider has no idea why he got pitched. I had one rider tell me he thought someone hit him from the rear when I watched from two bike lengths the entire scenario unfold.
We had a two day track event over the weekend and as usual there were one or two "Noodles" who just couldn't behave themselves. Good judgment and common sense seems to evade them. Saturday we had two get offs in the same blind corner, both running straight off without any attempt to tip in. The first guy was transported with a broken collar bone and the second "Noodle" ran off at speed on the first lap and ended up with a helicopter ride. He had bleeding and swelling of the brain along with a broken vertebra in the neck. At the rider's meeting everyone is given instructions "No hot laps on the first two laps". Give the tires, the bike and the body time to warm up. The crash victim was hauling arse passing everyone in site and unfortunately never make it past turn 9. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Now the good news, the victim of the rear brake get off was not injured. However, in order to protect his male ego, he made this excuse "I don't know what happened. My brakes just locked up and I never touched them"! The reality was, he passed a couple bikes (Me being one of them) coming off the front straight into turn one, found himself a bit to hot and attempted to brake with both ends and got his arse pitched. After his lame excuse of the brakes locking up on their own I pulled the clutch in before I stood it up, kicked the rear tire and it spun just fine, did the same to the front and it spun just fine as well. I picked the bike up and says "The brakes work just fine now partner".
This rider was on a dedicated track bike with slicks and it wasn't his first rodeo. The point of this thread is to make those who habitually use the rear brake aware that you are not immune to this very same situation that put this rider on his head. There is a place for the rear brake, it just happens not to be for most riders on clean dry pavement at speed.
Most riders never find themselves in this situation until the unexpected pops up and panic braking is the choice of solutions. If you are convinced this could never happen to you on your 150 mph daily ride due to your exceptional level of experience and skill, let's hear from you!
We had a two day track event over the weekend and as usual there were one or two "Noodles" who just couldn't behave themselves. Good judgment and common sense seems to evade them. Saturday we had two get offs in the same blind corner, both running straight off without any attempt to tip in. The first guy was transported with a broken collar bone and the second "Noodle" ran off at speed on the first lap and ended up with a helicopter ride. He had bleeding and swelling of the brain along with a broken vertebra in the neck. At the rider's meeting everyone is given instructions "No hot laps on the first two laps". Give the tires, the bike and the body time to warm up. The crash victim was hauling arse passing everyone in site and unfortunately never make it past turn 9. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Now the good news, the victim of the rear brake get off was not injured. However, in order to protect his male ego, he made this excuse "I don't know what happened. My brakes just locked up and I never touched them"! The reality was, he passed a couple bikes (Me being one of them) coming off the front straight into turn one, found himself a bit to hot and attempted to brake with both ends and got his arse pitched. After his lame excuse of the brakes locking up on their own I pulled the clutch in before I stood it up, kicked the rear tire and it spun just fine, did the same to the front and it spun just fine as well. I picked the bike up and says "The brakes work just fine now partner".
This rider was on a dedicated track bike with slicks and it wasn't his first rodeo. The point of this thread is to make those who habitually use the rear brake aware that you are not immune to this very same situation that put this rider on his head. There is a place for the rear brake, it just happens not to be for most riders on clean dry pavement at speed.
Most riders never find themselves in this situation until the unexpected pops up and panic braking is the choice of solutions. If you are convinced this could never happen to you on your 150 mph daily ride due to your exceptional level of experience and skill, let's hear from you!