Originally Posted by Bearbig
After riding a motorcycle for 30+ years I always have front/right. I'm too old to rewire my grey matter
when I need to stop NOW I grab a fistfull of right. BTW I have never had an incident caused by too much front. Is that an old wives tale, or is it due to the fact that I'm a clyde?
In the Uk we drive on the left. You can always tell an imported bike because the brakes are front brake on the left lever. All bikes- except the ones that have been stripped down and reassembled wrongly in the UK, have the front brake on the right.
On effective braking--- I have effective brakes now and with forks that do not squirm about under heavy braking.(Offroad bike with front suspension and when I was a cheapskate- I just bought the cheapies) When I had the cheap forks- I always used to use more rear brake- Now I am faster, have brakes that do work and a bike that stays in line when braking- I use a lot more front brake than rear. This all depends on conditions of course, but under braking, weight is thrown onto the front wheel. If I brake hard equally on both front and rear, then all I get is a skid from the rear wheel, unless I purposely transfer my body weight rear of the saddle.(Very effective way of taking 45 deg. slopes by the way.)
I don't think it matters which side you have the front brake- but it is easier if you have it the conventional way for your country. One thing I hate is riding a friends bike and finding that the brakes do funny things in emergencies.
On the signalling we use sense and it is right arm out or left arm out. Doesn't matter too much though as cars don't see bikes till they are parked on the bonnet. There is more danger in looking round to see if the road is clear to turn than braking.