[The CyberPoet]

add 2 more for each time you had a panic reaction in the past year

Never heard that part before, but I definitely like it. That means I should follow about a day behind any traffic on the road. I wonder if my boss will accept that as a good reason for being late to work?

If you find your adrenelin-fueled muscle responses giving you panic-reactions (instead of controlled responses to what would be a panic situation if you didn't have a cool head), yeah, add more following distance to give yourself a bigger buffer zone.
If that would make you late for work, you know what the boss will say -- leave earlier.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[kwebbel]

Maybe I should have, but the reality is, at least in the American automotive market, that braking distances for both cars & bikes are almost always fairly similar, and it's not uncommon for bikes to be able to marginally out-brake most low-end (under $30k) vehicles even on the stock brakes.

Are you sure Marc? what's the legally prescripted (wrong word I know but sure you'll understand) minimal braking-deceleration on cars in the USA?

[Uloset]

Well at least your ok that is the most important thing and it is not like you are alone most people have locked the back tire up on accident 1 time or another. I don’t know if you have taken the MSF course but if you didn’t it would be a great place to learn/practice how to properly break in an emergency situation. If you have gone or don’t want to go to the MSF course all I can tell you is when getting on the front breaks hard always remember to 1st break only enough to load the front suspension up (you'll feel the weight of the bike come forward and your front end will start to dip slightly) then apply great and great pressure. If you just GRAB the leaver than your going to lockup the front tire and then you’re in real trouble.

[The CyberPoet]

Are you sure Marc? what's the legally prescripted (wrong word I know but sure you'll understand) minimal braking-deceleration on cars in the USA?

I base the numbers on comparisons between automotive magazine published data and motorcycle magazine published data for distances from speed X to zero.

US (DOT/NTHSA) required testing procedure is here:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Vehicle%20Safety/Test%20Procedures/Associated%20Files/TP-135-01.pdf

Federal Requirement for light vehicles (under 3500 lbs):
From 100 km/h:
Cold Brakes: 70 meters
Engine Off: 70 meters
Failed Antilock: 85 meters
Failed Power Brake Unit: 168 meters
Hot Performance stop: 89 meters
The rest are formula derived and vary depending on weight & speed.

Note that to pass the test, any single braking event in a series must comply with the requirement (i.e. - if the manufacturer & special driver can get one car out of a production batch to exhibit the performance once out of 25 or 50 test runs, it is considered as having "passed the requirement" -- as verses to having to meet the requirement on every single run).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[SL1D3R]

Agreed. I did panic. Though, I had enough time to decide if I wanted to change lanes to the left or stop. I decided to stop, obviously, but still wasn't fully prepared for the reaction that occured.

I did use the front brake, but apparently not enough. I'll try to get into a habit of using it and practicing more.

[River]

Remember to equalize both rear and front brakes. Don't just pick one and push/pull on it.

[thetable]

I did use the front brake, but apparently not enough. I'll try to get into a habit of using it and practicing more.

At least you picked the right one to lock up.