Smooth Operator: How to Stop Your Motorcycle Safely

When I was a younger, less experienced Q, I found myself coming to a stop on my motorcycle somewhat abruptly, or as I used to say “clunky.” Now, when we are just getting the feel for things, we can get away with these little bumps, since it’s just us on the bike or no one is around. But as we progress, we start to find our stopping skills have to keep up with our going ones, lest we become habitual butterfingers or worse that person holding up traffic. Here are some of my tips on how to stop your motorcycle smoothly and safely. Shiny side up!

Smooth, Controlled, Confident

Even before my motorcycle, I was always a fan of being a “smooth operator.” Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, was drilled into me from as far back as I can remember, and I applied that logic to my driving and riding. When we take our time, we’re training our body and brain the deliberate motor memory we want to apply to each situation, and stopping a motorcycle is no different. We want to plan your stops when we can and apply your brakes (front and back) with balance (smooth). Next, we want to apply our braking force progressively (controlled). I, myself, like to use a progressive counting down from 5 to 1 increasing my pressure until I reach a complete stop. Some will say count from three, but in any case, the idea is that we’re not just grabbing a hand full of front brakes or locking out the rear. Also, we need to keep our heads up and on a swivel (confident). We need to know what may be coming in for a landing behind us or what homeless person is about to throw themselves out in front of us. So, keep your head up, slowly and gradually apply pressure to both front and rear brakes until we come to a complete stop.

Disclaimer: Downshifting is a thing, and we can also use that in tandem with deliberate braking to make our stopping even more effective. I do caution though if we are too worried about our rev-bombing gear drops to dodge an open manhole cover, we’re going to look very stupid riding right into a big hole. I recommend getting the mechanics of braking engrained into your hands and feet and then start adding a downshift or two to bring you to a stop.

Left Foot First

Speaking of the stop, I’ve only recently become part of the “one foot down club” and honestly it’s a goal we should all strive for as soon as possible. Originally I was going to name this post “One Foot Down: A Short Guy’s Journey” until I realized I had more to say. It wasn’t that I didn’t practice LFF, I just wasn’t forced into the habit until I bought a bike that required it. And boy was it a nightmare at first.

For those who don’t know, Left Foot Down (LFD) or Left Foot First (LFF) is a technique of coming to a stop where you’ve done all of your downshifting and you’re almost completely stopped and you keep your right foot on the peg/floorboard (operating the rear brake) and put JUST your left foot down for stability.

Don’t worry, I know it’s his right foot but you get the point…

Why is this good? Well, if you’re stumpy like me, it’s the only practical way to keep at least one foot in contact with the earth. By moving my booty over a little and putting my left foot down I get solid and deliberate contact instead of tiptoeing and hoping I don’t meet another vehicle’s oil slick. It’s also convenient if we don’t stop completely. We’re not dragging our heels and wobbling ourselves to a roll. Instead, we’re still balancing the bike, making the physics of movement happy and all we have to do is re-position our weight and take right off again. This brings me to my last point;

Keep it in Gear

Now I know what you’re going to say, “But Q, my hand hurts. I’ve got this big Hayabusa, heavy spring, triple plate, competition clutch to hold and I just need to let my hand relax a little bit.” For those riders, I have this to say. Riding a motorcycle is a total body experience, and part of that experience is building the muscles that are necessary to ride a motorcycle effectively. The top riders in Moto GP are full-blown athletes who use their entire bodies to bend and twist the motorcycle to their will. They hang off the pegs, push the front end down, and twist their core, all in the pursuit of traction and performance.

I’m not saying we have to be the next Rossi or Marquez, BUT you are going to NEED those muscles for when you get stuck in traffic or want to go to your local biker rally in Anywheretown, U.S.A.

Also, it’s for safety. Keeping the bike in gear means you’re always able to get yourself out of a sticky situation. If an inattentive motorist is running up behind you, pick your escape line and get out of the way. If someone decides they like your shiny zip ship more than you do, you can jet-set into the next zip code. I’ve lost count of how many times being in gear has saved me and my bike from almost certain crushing. Do yourself a favor and just keep it in gear.

So That’s It…

…that’s how I come to a stop about 90% of the time. Keep your head up while you apply even and progressive pressure to both front and rear brakes while downshifting to reach first gear at which point we put our left foot out in preparation for when the bike comes to a near-complete stop and when the bike has reached that stopping point rest our left foot firmly on the ground for stability.

EASY RIGHT!

Run-on’s aside, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you did, leave a comment. Also, consider signing up for my mailing list. Only updates, no junk, promise.

Until next time, catch ya’ later and stay safe,

-Q