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**dash** · #1 9 Oct 2012

Braking with all four fingers appears to be good enough for a certain Mr V. Rossi.

***Touring Ted*** · #2 9 Oct 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by dash

Braking with all four fingers appears to be good enough for a certain Mr V. Rossi.

Not many pot holes or sand jumps at Laguna Seca though....

**dash** · #3 9 Oct 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*

Not many pot holes or sand jumps at Laguna Seca though....

I dunno...

(and off-track excursions aside, do you really think that a MotoGP rider stopping a bike from 200mph requires less finesse than you do when braking at urban speeds on a slightly bumpy road?)

As noted above, I will use two fingers in situations where hanging on to the bars/steering is as important as applying the brakes.

However given a relatively smooth surface, I'm still surprised that a few people believe they can brake (or operate the clutch) with more finesse by pulling very hard with two fingers than they can by pulling gently with four. My experience is the exact opposite.

Turns out there is more than one way of riding a motorcycle

**Coach** · #4 9 Oct 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by dash

Braking with all four fingers appears to be good enough for a certain Mr V. Rossi.

Quite right... You have sharp eyes. Number 46 And most other big names use four fingers when they are down in the bubble at the end of a straightway and then pop upright at 200 kph to create an upper body air brake that transfers downforce to the rear wheel. It this and similar situations the fingers are not just for smooth control function.

For most riders the problem with four fingers is the opposing thumb. If you do need to hang on for a bump or whatever the squeeze requires lever movement when it may not be appropriate. In other words holding the bars and moving the levers are two different things.

In beginner classes we have students "cover the levers" with four fingers so if they panic a double squeeze does three things: (1) they can hold on and not fall back (2) their left hand stops power and (3) their right hand stops the bike. For more advanced riders multi-tasking is the next skill level, like smooth front braking AND blipping the throttle at the same time for downshifts. In this example the right hands is doing three things at once: pulling-in and holding the brake lever, rotating the throttle and steering the bike. Hard to do well without multi-tasking fingers.

Coach