Riding Skills Series: The Basics of Hard Braking
騎乘技巧: 緊急煞車

文: Jason Black
圖: Wes Allison

1. Twenty years ago, you weren't even supposed to touch your front brake. You'd flip right over on your face, so the stories went. Five years ago, racers and riders were preaching the exact opposite: "Don't even bother with the rear brake; the front is all you need." So, in the pursuit of the ultimate braking performance provided by your average Bandit 600S, we hooked up our Stalker radar gun and the laptop computer and set out to solve the big braking question: What is the optimum braking procedure, and how do you do it?
二十年(即三十年)前, 人家說, 千萬不要碰前煞. 一定鹹魚翻身. 五年(即十五年)前, 不論是賽手或騎士卻又鼓吹:別去碰後煞, 前煞就綽綽有餘. 為了研究常見的鈴木土匪600S的極限煞車性能, 我們踹了Stalker 雷達測速槍與筆計本電腦, 跑去尋找理想的煞車步驟與方法.

2. Keep your head up when riding, eyes always scanning what's going on around you. When applying the brakes, squeeze them smoothly, don't yank them. This gradually transfers weight to the front tire, increasing front tire traction and reducing the chance of locking the wheel, which eliminates the rider's control over the motorcycle. A hard stop using the front brake has the front tire howling on the verge of lock-up. The line between optimum braking and lock-up is a thin one, so make it a habit to go to an empty parking lot and practice hard braking. Our braking distance from 60-0 mph using only the front brake was 151 feet.
騎車時抬起頭來, 眼睛掃瞄周邊的事物. 當須用到煞車時, 平穩地握緊, 不要猛抓. 逐漸地將重量傳到前輪. 增加前輪的咬地力, 減少鎖死前輪的傾向, 也就是免除前輪鎖死失控. 抓緊前煞使得前輪號叫(Howl 與台語哭(號)同音) 即鎖死邊緣. 極限煞車與鎖死輪胎的界現很細微. 建議養成到空曠的場地練習緊急煞車的習慣. 我們僅用前煞從60英哩(96.56公里) 到靜止, 最好的距離是151 英呎 (45.72公尺).