took me ages to " master " this rediculous action of stopping and starting with a foot on the foot / rear brake,, i had to do it for my test, never done it before and never since !!
Its the best way to start on a hill and feathering the rear brake during slow speed manoeuvres allows far better control of the bike, especially when turning on a tight lock. Get the hang of the technique and it makes tricky junctions far safer to negotiate and reduces the risk of stalls, spills and lurching or badly timed pull-outs. It is well worth persevering.
You've actually got much better low speed control of the bike if you're fully part of it with your knees gripping the tank rather than half riding, half walking with your feet paddling along the ground. Find a car park and practice full lock turns while pulling against the back brake. Feels counter-intuitive at first but once you really get the hang it gives you so much more control. Feel the bike through your knees and look where you want to go. When you get good at it you can maintain perfect balance and hold the bike completely stationary at full lock against the back brake. Trust me, it really does work, especially on a cramped sports bike.
i will give that a try mate ,, ( who pays for fairing repair ) just realised that may be next year now
Yep-had to do it for my IAM but found I had to stand so hard on it to make any effect that it negated any effect it did have - I tried the S1000R and just about fell over the bars when I discovered what a rear brake was!
Sorry to hear about your off, but we've all done it and lived to tell the tale. Clutch and gear levers are generally easy to remove and replace but if you're a bit cack handed with spanners it's all too easy to snap a bolt or round off the head of a fastener or generally make a pig's ear of it and so cause more problems than you solve. Also, sometimes an easy job can go pear shaped if for whatever reason a part or fastener won't cooperate. For instance, just this morning I replaced the half snapped clutch lever on my Monster (it was like that when I bought it, honest) and the little pushrod which bears on the master cylinder just would not unscrew out of the pivot which attaches it to the lever. In the end I had to use loads of WD40, a pair of mole grips and a fair amount of brute force to get it out, which left it a bit mangled looking. I was lucky but I could have easily snapped or chewed the thread or buggered something up in some other way, which would have left the bike unrideable. Also the levers I replaced it and the brake lever with were aftermarket ones and they needed a bit of jiggling about to make them fit, so sometimes it's easier to use OE items.! By all means have a go, but 1. Take photos of everything in situ before you remove anything and as you go along. 2. Make sure you're using the right tools (this avoids chewing up hex/allen heads). 3. Don't use too much force. This can be difficult to judge and there's sometimes a fine line between giving it enough welly to crack an overtightened or slightly seized fastener and snapping it clean off. That sort of judgement only comes with experience and going through the frustration and expense of having mistakes rectified. If in doubt it's better and cheaper to ride the bike to a mechanic so he can remove a stubborn bolt than having to have the bike trailered somewhere to have snapped bolts drilled out and re-tapped etc. Hope you get back on the road soon PS: I also totally agree with what others said about using the rear brake during low speed manoeuvring. I use mine a hell of a lot and it improves control no end. Also, a lot of low speed riding tends to be in amongst traffic, and having your brake light flashing on and off probably makes dozy drivers more aware of your presence.
