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How to Stop With Left Foot Down Every Time

32K views 110 replies 35 participants last post by  Emil 
#1 ·
Everyone who has taken BRC knows that the "ready to ride" position is defined as stopped on the motorcycle in the riding position with the right foot on the brake pedal and the left foot down holding up the bike. This allows for holding the bike with the rear brake while stopped.
Lots of people have difficulty trying to stop with the left foot down every time. It seems that as the speed bleeds off, it becomes more of a random chance as to which foot is going to have to go down to hold the bike up.
An easy solution is to start a normal left turn, just as the bike is stopping. This is guaranteed to put the bike over to the left side .
 
#3 ·
Great tip. I must admit to some randomness.
 
#9 ·
I have always considered it important to stop with the front wheel straight. I would be a bit concerned that with this tip a new rider might make a stop with too much turn to the wheel and find that "over on the left side" might really mean OVER on the left side - as in on the ground if tried with a heavier bike.
 
#10 · (Edited)
& if you can think about starting a turn as you stop you can think about consciously shifting your weight to the left while putting your foot down. Would take about the same amount of concentration/effort without tricks. Then you could do it no matter the situation & soon it would just be second nature. Not that it takes much thought anyway... JMO
 
#11 ·
Much easier to flick your handlebars a little to the right if you find yourself coming down on the right side than to start wiggling your carcass around on the bike, but by all means whatever works for you. I just thought I'd offer a little pointer there.
 
#15 ·
Ok I have to agree with peewee, I'm totally confused here over making something so simple appear so difficult. To a new and inexperienced rider (any rider for that matter) the best AND safest method of holding a bike up is with BOTH feet planted firmly on the ground. Sorry, no one will ever be able produce credible evidence to convince me otherwise.

Simply grab a hand full of FRONT brake when stopped. This is just another example of why I question some of the training provided at these rider training courses, and am glad I didn't have to endure one.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Planting both feet at a stop works fine, as does holding the bike with the front brake. The only problem comes if you stop on a hill (and its not that much of a problem for an experienced rider). Then you need to operate the throttle while preventing the bike from rolling backwards with the front brake lever all with the right hand until the bike is ready to pull ahead . Meanwhile your right foot is flopping around redundantly not doing much of anything to help the situation. It's a whole lot simpler and much easier for a newbie to hold the bike with the right foot on the rear brake while the throttle hand is free just to rev the engine as needed for a nice smooth hill start.

I would also take issue with your assertion that 2 feet down is safer than left foot down.
I suggest that if you have both feet down you are constantly dancing the bike back and forth randomly between your left and right feet. At any given instant one foot or the other is holding the bike up since its not likely to ever be sitting on that knife edge of perfect balance. (if you think it is then pick up BOTH feet and prove it. :thumb:)
So how is this any safer than always knowing which side the bike is leaned toward and using your left foot to hold the bike up, your right foot on the brake to keep the bike from rolling away, your right hand to run the throttle and your left hand to run the clutch. Each extremity has one simple job to do. no fancy co-ordination of throttle and brake needed .

And that's why MSF teaches a standard "ready to ride" position.

I'll admit to sometimes doing it your way before I started instructing, but I find the left foot down to be much a more economical and precise way of doing it, and it makes you look like you know what you're doing.
 
#17 ·
The purpose in stopping with the left foot down (after downshifting) is so the right can operate the foot brake. The right hand is on the throttle, the left is holding the clutch lever in, and the eyes are on the mirrors, watching to ensure an inattentive driver doesn't make a bumper sandwich out of you and the bike. All this is part of the basic rider course. It has saved my bacon, and others have said the same. Or you can wind up like this:

Motorcycle gets rear ended picture | South Bay Riders
 
#18 ·
Well we'll just have to shake hands and agree to disagree.:thumb:

First, I could care less if I "look" like I know what I'm doing. While anything can happen, FIRST and FOREMOST by the grace of God, and second, almost 40 years of riding experience I think I know what I'm doing. I say that knowing motorcycle riding is risky, and any of us could be involved in an accident and/or killed at any moment, I have decided the enjoyment of it out weighs the risk involved.

Somehow I'm able to plant both feet on the ground, hold the front brake AND watch my mirrors. Again, anything can happen but I really doubt that IF a bumper sandwich is looking to happen God forbid, the fact my right foot is on the brake "looking like I know what I'm doing" has a higher chance of saving me anymore than letting off a brake lever. I say that as I learned long ago to control the throttle AND have two fingers on a brake lever when situations call for it.

Call me a rebel I guess....:D
 
#21 ·
And if you have a left foot shift bike (pre-1973)? What about a suicide shift, left foot clutch?

Left foot down first is a nice general rule as is, and should be, taught to new riders.

I saw a guy that was so well trained that when his laces (should tuck in laces if you ride with laces) on his boot caught his shifter he fell over on the left. He couldn't let his right foot off the brake because it was so trained into him. He just didn't know what to do and fell right over! :eek2:

Now, that was more than 20 years ago and I have never seen it since...so it's kind of an odd accident I admit.

It's a good rule of thumb, but it isn't the be-all and and-all. One should be able stop with either foot down as conditions or situations dictate of course. ;)


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#25 · (Edited)
And if you have a left foot shift bike (pre-1973)? What about a suicide shift, left foot clutch?

Left foot down first is a nice general rule as is, and should be, taught to new riders.

I saw a guy that was so well trained that when his laces (should tuck in laces if you ride with laces) on his boot caught his shifter he fell over on the left. He couldn't let his right foot off the brake because it was so trained into him. He just didn't know what to do and fell right over! :eek2:

Now, that was more than 20 years ago and I have never seen it since...so it's kind of an odd accident I admit.

It's a good rule of thumb, but it isn't the be-all and and-all. One should be able stop with either foot down as conditions or situations dictate of course. ;)
Your question kind of answers itself. As it happens I have a '73 Commando that I don't really ride anymore that has a right side shifter (controls were standardized in '75 I believe) In those days I never thought much about it.
There is seldom any circumstance (with a post '75 bike), where you couldn't stop with the left foot down, so as you say ..rule of thumb,, left foot down every time just for consistency. Unless of course you believe randomness has some value. If you do a thing in a consistent way you tend to get very good at it. That's not to say that once in a while you may not screw up and have to drop the right foot.. I would not be so rigid in this that I would rather fall over as in your example :lol2:
 
#23 ·
[And that's why MSF teaches a standard "ready to ride" position.][/QUOTE]

Mr. Duck is simply helping an unlearned rider to grasp a basic concept of safe stop, wait and go. I am very virgin (51 years old but have less than 500 hundred miles in the saddle). I have embarrassed myself more than once in the past two weeks in situations that could have been prevented if I had a teacher. Mr. Duckster, to you I will bring an apple and leave on your desk, Thank you.
 
#24 ·
[And that's why MSF teaches a standard "ready to ride" position.]
Mr. Duck is simply helping an unlearned rider to grasp a basic concept of safe stop, wait and go. I am very virgin (51 years old but have less than 500 hundred miles in the saddle). I have embarrassed myself more than once in the past two weeks... [/QUOTE]

Never be embarrassed. Chicks dig scars.





(Oh...and...good teacher+interested student=scar prevention). :D

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#27 ·
If safety doesn't persuade you.

The best reason to learn "Left Foot Down" from the git go, even if you own a bike you can totally flat foot, is so you don't look like a total doofus the first time you get on a bike you can't. Say for instance your brother's spare BMW. Damn I wanted to go on that ride. If you haven't been on a bike for a (long) while, you better have a bunch of good habits hidden in your muscle memory or you are more dangerous than a total noobee. Or even swapping to a different bike. If I'd had decent training "back in the day" I wouldn't have been as intimidated by some of my buddies bigger bikes and wouldn't have felt as constrained in my choices.
 
#30 ·
Again CONSISTENCY is your friend.. Get in the habit of cancelling the signal as you straighten the bike on course after your turn and do it that way EVERY TIME. After a while you'll do it without even thinking about it automatically as part of the turn.
 
#92 ·
One silly thing the MSF didn't teach me was that pressing the signal switch shut it off.... For the first week with my Rebel I was constantly moving the switch left and right to get it shut off, thinking I needed a new switch. Then I accidentally discovered pushing. I went back to the MSF Basic Rider Course manual, and the Rebel manual, and didn't find I missed anything! Neither told me to push the switch off. Silly stuff, but frustrating. As soon as I finish the turn my thumb pushes, now being muscle memory after over 2,000 miles. I don't recall my years with the KZ1000 long ago well enough to remember if I knew to push it off back then.
 
#31 ·
So, what's wrong with putting down whatever foot feels good, putting the right foot down to make sure you're in first gear, then put the left foot down, and pick the right foot back up? You can do all that with the front brake on and as soon as your right foot is on the brake, your hand is free again.
 
#35 ·
One exception would be if you are stopped on an incline. Putting the right foot down in that situation means you would have to use the right hand (front brake) to keep the bike from rolling. Having the right hand squeezing the brake rather than just on the throttle means it will take just a little longer to execute your escape plan once you decide that is what you need to do. In such situations, time is of the essence.

To me, it's more important to be consistent and proficient, so it's left foot down every time. Just like turning the bike in an emergency; don't have to think "Do I push left to go left or pull left to go left?". It needs to be automatic.
 
#32 ·
Nothing wrong at all.. You will occasionally have to change feet, but if you take pride in your riding you will soon learn that consistency "feels good" and makes you a better rider. You tend to develop "good habits"
 
#33 ·
My MSF instructor was rather emphatic about the shifting of weight when using the front brake to come to a complete stop. If your front wheel is not perfectly straight, stopping with the front brake alone causes the weight to shift more abruptly to the side than when using the rear brake.
 
#34 · (Edited)
In the first place, he should have told you NOT TO BE USING the front brake to any significant degree if your front wheel is not pointed straight ahead. If you are doing a U turn for example and decide you have to stop, using the front brake enough to compress the forks at all, runs a serious risk of a skid and crash. Instructors see students doing this quite often even though they have all been warned not to. Newbies are well advised to stay right off the front brake when the bike is at walking speeds or just slightly above except in straight ahead braking.

Braking does not cause any shifting of weight,(from side to side, there is a weight shift forward ,of course) but stopping hard while the bike is leaned in a corner will leave the bike in a leaned position with no dynamic turning forces to compensate, thus making it seem like weight shifted. It really doesn't matter whether you use the front or rear brake in this situation. For example, If I practice tight circles on my 1098 Ducati, I have to be very careful not to stall the engine with the clutch engaged, because the high compression of the engine will STOP the back wheel instantly leaving the bike leaned over with no corner speed to compensate.
This requires immediate aggressive action with the appropriate foot to prevent the bike from going down. (been there a few times)
 
#36 ·
I just read that, when one has a pillion, it's better to stop with both feet down. Does that make sense? I always stop as Duck suggested, with the left foot down and the right on the brake. It's very stable, very easy. But I've been practicing also doing it with two feet (never had a pillion but want to be ready when I do) and, as suggested above, two fingers on the brake and ready to use the throttle. Good idea or no? Duck?
 
#37 · (Edited)
First you should have briefed your passenger to sit very still when stopped because the rider will have to compensate for any significant movement. Experienced pillion riders know this and will not be a problem. When I take my wife or daughter on the back, I don't have any problems with stopping in the usual way.
Having said that, I think it's OK to brace with both feet and accept the complexity of the throttle brake operation with the right hand because the rider no longer has complete control of the balance of the bike as in the solo riding situation. Certainly if the passenger misbehaves, the rider may have to plant the right foot to catch the bike in a hurry. Also, when a passenger is getting on the bike, the rider should have both feet firmly planted and both hands firmly gripping the handlebars. The passenger should mount the bike like a horse with the left foot on the left peg and both hands on the riders shoulders as he swings a leg over the bike.
As I said before, there's no need to be rigid on this point, particularly when riding 2 up, but riding solo, putting 2 feet down for a routine short stop and wait is just not good form. Even so, there's nothing wrong with putting both feet down on a long stop to stretch your legs etc.
 
#38 ·
First you should have briefed your passenger to sit very still when stopped because the rider will have to compensate for any significant movement. Experienced pillion riders know this and will not be a problem. When I take my wife or daughter on the back, I don't have any problems with stopping in the usual way.

My daughter does not move around. She stays glued. Perfect.

My wife, who has a lot more experience, can't get the idea at all and has always been a problem. I swear she's trying to make me crash half the time and at a stop she moves around so much I absolutely have to keep both feet on the ground. But I still generally put the left foot down first.


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