Everybody rides differently. When you do your bike test, you?ll probably be taught to use your rear brake and your front brake in roughly equal measures. If you come from an off-road background, you might use your it more. If you?ve done a bit of road racing, you might not use your rear brake very often at all, if ever. But you really ought to, because not only will it help you slow down quicker, it?ll help you go faster, and be in more control of your bike. This is when you should use your rear brake, and why?

Slowing down

This is fairly obvious isn?t it; you use the back brake to help you slow down. But you?d be surprised how many people never touch it, particularly on track. But the fact is, it will help you.

On track, the reason a lot of people (myself included) rarely use the back brake to slow the bike down, is primarily because they?re anchoring on that hard with the front brake, there?s little, or no, weight on the rear tyre. Stamping on the rear brake will only lock the tyre up. But a little lean on the back brake a split second before you squeeze the front brake will almost always help keep the bike settled down. A touch of back brake (just before the front brake) initiates the weight transfer in a much more gentle way, so that when you yank the front brake lever, you don?t get such a severe front end dive. With less front end dive you?ll feel more in control, and you?ll soon be braking harder, later and lapping faster.
Another reason rear brak...