Panic braking, How to train to avoid it? Options

[BubbaZ-Isaac]

so, it seems that several of us who have crashed during "black october" have done so due to the same mistake -

mistake #2 - my panic reaction erupted. i was already flicked from right to left but not enough to get through the left. instead of leaning the bike more and gassing it i grabbed the front break. this stood the bike up and pointed the bike at the outside edge - the gravel. this is what i learned not to do monday at superbike school. of course, lots of luck in undoing generations of panic reactions.

so, how does one train oneself out of the panic braking response? there is no time to think.

[DMc]

First and foremost is to remember NOT to put yourself into that position. Other than that what I think is a good thing to practice is braking while your in turns so you become aware of what your bike will do. I do this while going at a moderate pace so I have room for error. I practice using both brakes to verying degrees to experiment. It's fun and keeps me on my toes. I tend to practice braking in as many conditions as possible. I like to know what my machinces tendencies are so that if I'm in trouble I have some idea of what's going to happen next. I guess the key word here is practice. YMMV

[MILLE44]

I guess the key word here is practice. YMMV
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DMc is right, also do not try to over analyze it. Think about it and move on... Familiararity with the bike is also key. Maybe practicing slaloming tire bumpers in the parking lots until you are intimately familiar with your bikes breaking reactions as well as yours would help, I always do this on a new machine and it seems to help. Slow speed Fu$%-ups are the most common. Don’t beat yourself up over it.

[MILLE44]

Also, I will refer you back to Busy Little Shop's comment from your other thread. It says it all.

"I'm happy that you're still with us and your're right... panic smells...
I remember reading Motorcyclist that a panic situation occurs with a rider not just
because a difficult question is being asked, but because an answer must be found in a
very short amount of time. In order to arrive with the correct answer quickly, you must
already have all the tools and information for making a decision. It’s not open book test.
There is not time to look the answers. If you don’t have the information, you will panic.
You can not decide not to panic, if you don’t know how to make immediate action, you
will panic automatically because there is nothing else to do. When there is no
information, there are no choices. it's mean old mister g"ravities turn... 8-)"

[MKP]

Practice trailbraking till you can do it without thinking about it. (has saved my butt numerous times)

Practice looking ahead (and thinking ahead). Many riders don't look far enough ahead (especially at speed) and they end up out riding their brain, by that I mean, instead of planning what they are gonna do in the turn coming up...they just react to the situation as it happens, and sometimes get caught off gaurd resulting in the dreaded "blown turn".

Upgrading to SST lines and better pads has also improved my "hard braking". I can hit the brakes hard for a couple seconds and slow down so quick that I can comfortably make the turn in front of me without panic.

[NoGall]

Practice trailbraking till you can do it without thinking about it.
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+1,000,000

It's an effective tool to take the panic out of braking, if you know you can brake smoothly all the way to or beyond an apex while increasing the lean angle. Chip had a great write-up somewhere. I don't suggest making it a habit on every street corner. I practice it frequently, but I usually keep that in the bag for what could be a panic corner -- an added safety margin.

To add: How effective is trailbraking in taking the panic out of braking? The couple of times I was surprised by a corner this year, in both cases, from the "I don't think I can make it" moment to braking and leaning, I had enough time and calm-ness to think about which NBSR member has a truck nearby.

[NoGall]

Another thing about emergency hard-braking...

When we practice hard-braking, we brake straight up-and-down and look straight ahead at the horizon. In essence, we have 'trained' ourselves out of 'looking through the turn' in panic/emergency situations. We have pretty much trained ourselves (look straight ahead to the horizon) to go dirt-surfing or blow the DY everytime upon an "oh-shit" corner.

[MILLE44]

Another thing about emergency hard-braking...

When we practice hard-braking, we brake straight up-and-down and look straight ahead at the horizon. In essence, we have 'trained' ourselves out of 'looking through the turn' in panic/emergency situations. We have pretty much trained ourselves (look straight ahead to the horizon) to go dirt-surfing or blow the DY everytime upon an "oh-shit" corner.
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Yea, like "Oh Shit" look at the size of that tree!!!!
Instead of thinking our way out of a situation, we tend to think our way right into a bad one imagining the worst case scenerio instead of the best.
Good advice NoGall, Thanks!!

[Busy Little Shop]

so, how does one train oneself out of the panic braking response?  there is no time to think.
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I don't have a monoploy on the best course of action in every situation either but I
do hold bad thoughts to a minimum and I practice what I've read on every ride. I
believe what goes on in our heads effects on how well we ride.


HURT REPORT
The Hurt Report on motorcycle accidents has provided us with a number of
sobering truths; one of its particularly alarming findings is that more
than 30 % of the motorcyclist in the survey did absolutely nothing when
confronted with the possibility of an accident. They panicked and froze.
Of those who attempted to avoid a collision, 20% did the wrong thing.
This tells us that about half of us are unprepared to react correctly in
an emergency situation. But this is something we can change.


SPORT RIDER
Panic is what our DNA tells us to do when we don’t know any better, but it may be
about as useful today as our tailbone.

It is possible to suffer a modified panic in which you become fixated on
an action that is intended to save you. Locking up one of the wheels on
your bike and keeping it locked because you know you want to stop very
badly and are too consumed by the moment to think clearly enough to
realize less braking would be an advantage is such an action.

A rider who has done his homework and paid attention to the circumstances leading
up to the crisis may know how to avoid it. A prepared rider doesn’t panic because
there are always choices and opportunities for action up until the point of impact.
Though some accidents cannot be avoided, that decision must NEVER be made by
the rider. A rider’s only concern should be to do everything possible to keep from
crashing. Forget dumb luck.

There is nothing instinctive about the learned behavior of riding a
bike, and so there must also be a repertoire of emergency behavior
available. This may sound overly simple, but it is the basis of being an
experienced rider.

We draw from two distinct kinds of knowledge when we operate a
motorcycle and being aware of these is necessassy for not panicking. The
first is the knowledge of your bike… how it operates. If you only read a
book on now to ride a motorcycle, you would not be able to ride very
well because you would only have repetition memory of motorcycling. Only
through the experience of actually riding can you learn how to do it. If
you know that using the front brake is the only way to stop quickly yet
you routinely don’t practice to the point shy of lock up, you will not
apply that much pressure when you need it most, in an emergency, you
will resort to what you have taught yourself through practice. You have
learned how to ride well when you can maneuver a motorcycle seemingly
without thought.

The second kind of knowledge is of the ever changing contingencies of
the road you are traveling. This knowledge is unlike the other in that
it is always changing and so requires much more attention. It is not a
learned part of your behavior but consist of a cognizance of the world
external to you. This is the knowledge of that gravel off the right side
of the road, of the traffic around you, of potholes, paint stripes, tar
snakes, birds and bees, of all the other relevant elements and hazards
that you may have to react to, of that cage approaching on the wrong
side of the road. It is the complete picture of your present
environment. To lack any of this knowledge is not to have all the
critical information you need to make an important decision.
This kind of knowledge is only gained by continual concentration and
requires effort and focused attention. Regrettably, many motorcyclist
travel without this information because they are aware exclusively of
what happening in a narrow depth of field in front of them and only in
their lane. In order to be able to react adequately, though, you need to
have a complete and perpetually developing view of you changing
surroundings that includes all features relevant to your safety. As
there is not time to learn how to ride a bike at the moment of an
emergency, there is likewise usually not enough time to look around in
search of a plan of defensive action.

MSF Motorcycle Operator Manual
Perhaps a refresher course in MSF is a good place to start your recovery...

[Kensaku]

+1 on trailbraking. It's about being smooth.

[Waterboy]

Can't say it enough: practice, practice, practice. That's how we get good at anything.

No reflection on you, Isaac, but a message to us all: If we think we can jump on a sport bike, ride fast, and not crash without practicing how not to do so, we are deluding ourselves. The downfall of every one of us is that we think we're good, and we think it too early in our riding careers.

[Admar]

Hey Issac,

It sounds like you gave it enough brakes to stand the bike up, which probably means you scrubbed off enough speed to navigate the corner. I think the key is to release the binders quickly, after getting caught off guard and using the brakes, and immediatly look up and through the turn. Of course not getting caught in those "Oh Shit" moments in the first place is even better.

As far as trail braking goes, I was under the impression that you need to use it consistently, in every corner, so you have it as an option if you need it. If you don't use it in every corner, and then get surprised by a sharp turn and hit the brakes, you aren't actually trail braking, you're just hitting the brakes mid-corner.

I think Danny made a great point about practising different braking techniques as a routine part of riding. I think I'll be adding some of these drills to my rides from now on, so be careful if you're riding too close behind me .

[NoGall]

I think the key is to release the binders quickly...
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Be careful with that. It could get you into worst troubles. If you catch yourself on the brakes when you shouldn't be, it's best to release them slowly and in a controlled fashion -- with respect to how quickly you want your front end to come up.

As far as trail braking goes, I was under the impression that you need to use it consistently, in every corner, so you have it as an option if you need it.  If you don't use it in every corner, and then get surprised by a sharp turn and hit the brakes, you aren't actually trail braking, you're just hitting the brakes mid-corner.

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If you are using brakes (trailbraking or hard-braking) constantly for non-track twisty riding, fundamentally, you need to re-think about your speed and pace. Trailbraking is not applying brakes in mid-corner. You do have to practice to be consistent. Once you are proficient with it, you only need to practice it once or twice on every ride to maintain proficiency. It becomes a tool in your back pocket that you can fall back on when you encounter a corner that looks tighter than it is.

Since trailbraking must start long before you reach your turn in, it has to be a planned action. If you have time (you do if you are able to panic brake) to realize that you are carrying a bit more speed than appropriate for the upcoming corner, trailbraking is a better course of action than hard-braking when you must slow down AND turn at the same time. Trailbraking gives you a longer window to slow down and turn... Hard-braking must happen NOW and before you TURN.

If the next corner comes up so fast upon you that you can't act on it correctly or incorrectly, you need to re-think about your street speed and pace.

Trailbraking and hanging-off (half-an-ass, or full hang-off) are skills to have. Both aren't things you should or need doing for every corner on the street. For street riding, both are tools to have in your back pocket for additional safety margins. For example, "Oy, that looks like a sharp turn. Since I'm just sitting straight up on my bike, I can hang-off to compensate for my inappropriate speed," or "I can trailbrake around the corner." Well, you don't have that to fall back on, if you are already hanging-off or trailbraking every street corner.

[Kermit]

I think the key is to release the binders quickly, after getting caught off guard and using the brakes, and immediatly look up and through the turn.  Of course not getting caught in those "Oh Shit" moments in the first place is even better.
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+1

also: get comfortable with severe lean angles



You could concentrate more on the road

[BubbaZ-Isaac]

what has been said in the above posts rings true to me, but i also think that (as said) once i go in with too high an entry speed, the die is cast, and it becomes about saving my ass and getting through the turn without crashing.
rule #1 at that point is "don't do the instinctual panic reaction thing which is to grab a handful of brake".
so, how does one train oneself to not panic react?
do i really have to repeatedly push to the point where the panic sets in and overcome it with correct action?
over and over until correct action is the immediate response over inappropiate panic response?
man, that's going to be scary!
yep, there goes isaac, freaking himself out in every corner so he can practice freaking out correctly. talk about the opposite of "a nice relaxing ride".

[DMc]

what has been said in the above posts rings true to me, but i also think that (as said) once i go in with too high an entry speed, the die is cast, and it becomes about saving my ass and getting through the turn without crashing.
rule #1 at that point is "don't do the instinctual panic reaction thing which is to grab a handful of brake". 
so, how does one train oneself to not panic react?
do i really have to repeatedly push to the point where the panic sets in and overcome it with correct action?
over and over until correct action is the immediate response over inappropiate panic response?
man, that's going to be scary!
yep, there goes isaac, freaking himself out in every corner so he can practice freaking out correctly.  talk about the opposite of "a nice relaxing ride".

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Are you going on a "nice, relaxing ride", or are you going on a ride to learn new skills and be on the top of your game. I see those as two polar opposites. I tend to do both, just not as the same time and have to remind myself what ride I'm on

[Busy Little Shop]

so, how does one train oneself to not panic react?
do i really have to repeatedly push to the point where the panic sets in and overcome it with correct action?
over and over until correct action is the immediate response over inappropiate panic response?

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Mercy... make sure you practice in a save environment like a large deserted parking
lot... you can set up Coke cans to line out a large figure 8 course... you push until you're
blowing the corners and experience onset of panic... you work to over come panic with
the correct action... no brakes... head and eyes up... look where you wish to go... trust
your new found lean angles... practice your brains lose... well at least until you're not
crushing cans... 8-)

[NoGall]

Are you going on a "nice, relaxing ride", or are you going on a ride to learn new skills and be on the top of your game. I see those as two polar opposites.

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Message below is in no reference to Isaac:

I disagree. Case in point: Henry appears to be nice and relaxed all the time. I am a firm believer that many on our rides could benefit from more "nice, relaxing rides". It's called learning and practicing the BASICS progressively on public roads with minimal panic or pain. I do agree that at some point, yes, you have to actually go fast to learn how to be fast. That "some point" is still far off for quite a few of us without a sudden injection of endless trackdays on annual basis to speed up that process. That's the cold honest truth from the guy who benefits from riding in the back. I suck at riding, but I know a fast-on-the-straight and wobbly-in-the-corner guy when I see one. There is a difference in learning to go fast progressively and learning to go fast while skipping competency here and there. Unless you are planning for the next AFM season, I don't understand what the rush to be fast is all about.

If and when I could be considered as fast, I would still ride like a coward when the only thing between me and that tree, or that truck, or that armco rail, or that bottomless fall is a thin piece of fabric with some foam padding.

[christofu]

I agree with much of what has been said but I would add one thing.

Skills need to be practiced so that they become reflexive. Continuous practice, over and over and over until every muscle is directly connected to your DESIRE and not your COMMAND.

What I mean is... if you desire to go faster then your hand should automatically open the throttle without you having to think "Hand, open the throttle please". Similarly, if you desire to slow down rapidly, your hand should automatically be applying the brake without you having to think "SHIT!!! BRAKE!!!"

It's a suble point but an important one. This sounds like a cliche, but you should "be one with the motorcycle". It should be an extension of your body. The other day someone asked me if my motorcycle had a name. That really made me think. No, my motorcycle does not have a name, it would be weird, like giving my leg a name.

p.s. OK, I know people are going to switch off here because you think "Yeah, Chris just wants us to come to track days". But. Practicing this type of skills is EXACTLY why people SHOULD come to track days. Track days should not be about going as fast as you can, that's just dumb. Track days are a perfect venue to practice the skills that make you a better rider in an environment where there is no gravel, Volvos, trucks, trees, pedestrians AND there are only 15 turns that you do over and over. That's the BEST way to practice!

[NoGall]

p.s. OK, I know people are going to switch off here because you think "Yeah, Chris just wants us to come to track days". But. Practicing this type of skills is EXACTLY why people SHOULD come to track days. Track days should not be about going as fast as you can, that's just dumb. Track days are a perfect venue to practice the skills that make you a better rider in an environment where there is no gravel, Volvos, trucks, trees, pedestrians AND there are only 15 turns that you do over and over. That's the BEST way to practice!
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Nope, I am sold on the idea. Look for a new rolling obstacle in the C group next year