The past two days our motorcycle accident lawyer blog has been all about preparing for the motorcycle license test and ways that you can practice.

In the third part of our motorcycle training series, we go over making quick stops in a straight line.  This is an important lesson to learn if you want to prevent a motorcycle crash.

Exercise Two: Quick Stop in a Straight Line

This motorcycle training exercise provided by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) should help you learn to stop quickly if something suddenly appears in your path.  This should help if you need to brake for a car, pedestrian or animal in the street.

Exercise Directions

Start out riding straight approaching marker one, shifting to second gear.  As your front tire passes the first marker, down shift and begin braking in order to try to stop before marker two — which is closer than the last practice exercise.  Practice this at 10 mph, then 15 mph, and finally 20 mph, but don’t exceed 20 mph.

Coaching Tips from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation

  • Keep your head and eyes up.
  • Apply both brakes when stopping, squeeze the clutch and down shift to first gear.  It’s important to keep the clutch squeezed in.
  • Keep your handlebars straight.  Be sure you squeeze your front brake and don’t just grab it in a jerking motion.
  • Don’t release the brakes until you come to a complete stop.
  • After you come to a complete stop, put your left foot down first.

Common Problems & Recommended Corrections

  1. If you are overshooting the final marker, apply more pressure to the brakes.  You can avoid locking the front brake by squeezing and not grabbing the lever.
  2. Should your motorcycle begin to slide sideways or lean to one side, make sure you’re sitting straight on the seat, looking directly ahead of you and not turning your handlebars.  If your rear wheel locks inadvertently, make sure to keep steering your motorcycle straight.
  3. When and if the front brake causes the engine to rev itself more than normal, try closing your throttle before braking.  Squeeze the front brake with all four fingers, and avoid pulling back on the throttle when applying pressure to the front brake.

Check out the rest of our Motorcycle License Test Practice Guide series.

If you were injured a motorcycle crash caused by another motorist, you may be entitled for a monetary settlement for your damages.  Call our bilingual law firm at 1-858-551-2090 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a FREE Consultation with a motorcycle accident lawyer or click here to submit your case for a FREE Online Review.  Our lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means you owe nothing until we recover money on your behalf.