2, 3 or 4 fingers

[Dave in Doodah]

I also had to consciously pay attention when I rode last night...

 

4 on the clutch, 3 on the brake (index finger rests on the handle pivot, kind of like finding middle C on the piano or something...)

[lvnvbiker]

2 and 2, except at a stop then 4 clutch and 2 brake. I have found that for me covering the levers keeps my hands more relaxed and leaves me looser on the bars.

[Bullett]

2 on the brake; 4 on the clutch

[DieselDave]

Years ago I took the MSF New Riders training course. The instructor was not at all impressed by my use of only 2 or 3 fingers on the brake lever. Coming from a long history on mountain bikes, I was used to 2 fingers only (3, or god forbid 4, would lock the brakes up and lead to disaster).

 

I used 4 fingers for the class and promptly returned to 2 or 3. Glad to see I'm not alone.

[Bullett]

Yep. They were all over me for the two finger brake thing too, but it just feels right to me.

[russell_bynum]

Yep. They were all over me for the two finger brake thing too, but it just feels right to me.

 

Remember that the MSF is a least-common-denominator sorta thing. There are some bikes that require more braking force. And there are some with so much lever travel that you need to have all of your fingers out of the way to get max braking force.

 

If your bike doesn't fall into those categories (and most modern bikes don't), then you don't need to heed that advice and you can take advantage of the shorter reaction time that you'll get by already having your fingers covering the brake.

 

 

[smiller]

They were all over me for the two finger brake thing ...

LCD training, along the lines that Russell described. But in this case such 'one size fits all' advice can be detrimental since as David mentioned two fingers can actually provide greater control on many modern bikes. Two fingers is all I need even on my 1100RT (albeit with metallic pads and SS lines) and all I would ever want on the GT, at least if I want to have any detailed brake feel at all. All four fingers will do on the GT is put me into the ABS more quickly, not sure if that is such a good way to manage skills. Even more importantly, two fingers allows you to have the front brake covered constantly in heavy traffic conditions, this technique is a lot less practical (more fatiguing) when using all four fingers.

 

I would expect competent advice to take all this into account over a simple 'four fingers is the right way!' declaration.

[JJZorro]

4 clutch 2 brake

[russell_bynum]

I would expect competent advice to take all this into account over a simple 'four fingers is the right way!' declaration.

 

Yeah, but I can see why they'd want to keep it as straightforward as possible. They have to cater to people who have never even been near a motorcycle until the class and class size is often big enough that they wouldn't have time to field a bunch of "what if" and "but what about" questions.

 

I don't particularly agree with that philosophy, but I do understand.

[smiller]

I suppose the rider will figure it out quickly enough as they gain experience. My biggest concern though (if I were the trainer) is that it can be a little cumbersome to manage the throttle in traffic with all four fingers on the brake lever, and if the alternative is no fingers on the lever then that's even worse. Covering the brake is something I'd want beginning riders to learn.

[russell_bynum]

I suppose the rider will figure it out quickly enough as they gain experience. My biggest concern (if I were the trainer) though is that it can be a little cumbersome to manage the throttle in traffic with all four fingers on the brake lever, and the alternative if the alternative is no fingers on the lever that's even worse. Covering the brake is something I'd want beginning rides to learn.

 

Yup.

[Jim Moore]

Yeah, but I can see why they'd want to keep it as straightforward as possible. They have to cater to people who have never even been near a motorcycle until the class and class size is often big enough that they wouldn't have time to field a bunch of "what if" and "but what about" questions.

We also see all sorts of crazy techniques. Middle and ring finger. Ring finger and pinkie. Ring finger only. Whatever combination of fingers you can imagine. I tell people to use all 4 in the class, but I also discuss why you may want to try other techniques.

[Jim Moore]

Covering the brake is something I'd want beginning riders to learn.

Actually we specifically teach them not to do that. It's too easy for a true novice to panic, grab a huge handful of brake, and lock up the front wheel.

[smiller]

Actually we specifically teach them not to do that. It's too easy for a true novice to panic, grab a huge handful of brake, and lock up the front wheel.

That really surprises me. In real-world accidents I would have to believe that the number of times a beginning rider applies too much brake and locks the front is vastly outnumbered by the times they simply brake too little/too late.

[russell_bynum]

Actually we specifically teach them not to do that. It's too easy for a true novice to panic, grab a huge handful of brake, and lock up the front wheel.

That really surprises me. In real-world accidents I would have to believe that the number of times a beginning rider applies too much brake and locks the front is vastly outnumbered by the times they simply brake too little/too late.

 

Lisa dropped her bike twice (well...HER bike once and MY bike once) in the first few months of riding by using too much front brake at the wrong time. It wasn't so much an issue of "locking the front", but she'd get in a low-speed turn, things didn't feel right, she'd panic and grab the brake.

 

So...I can understand why that would be a slightly more advanced skill to have.

[smiller]

OK, but it would seem more beneficial to the student's longer-term learning (and maybe even short-term survival on the street) to instead of saying 'don't cover the front brake/always use four fingers' (wrong) simply say 'don't use the front brake on tight low-speed turns' (right). I think the former is dumbing it down a little too much, even for a beginner.

[Jim Moore]

I think the former is dumbing it down a little too much, even for a beginner.

You'd have to se it to believe it. lol.

[smiller]