Well I had a chance to practice my emergency stop for real the other day. I was using good practice by maintaining a safe gap and riding slightly wide(as taught to me on a Bike Safe course" between me and the vehicle in front who was tailgating another vehicle.Suddenly the first car literally slammed his brakes on to turn right into a drive way with no prior warning(probably to p*ss off the tailgating driver)The following tailgater then went into a side skid in an effort to avoid crashing into the vehicle.Of course I immediately went into the hardest braking I've ever done to the point the bike was standing on its' front wheel and squealing.I was convinced I was going to rear shunt the car despite the fierce braking and safety gap.At the last second I manouvered to the right of the vehicle stopping about a foot past his bumper despite the extreme load on the front. Phew!!! When I thought about this I realised how important it is to "1 " maintain a safe stopping gap, "2" ride nearer the centre of the road (except on right handers of course) to take advantage of the manouvering capabilities that a motorcycle has over a car. "3" proper control under extreme braking from all speeds and not always on a level plane! When I see the swerve manouver at 31mph introduced into the new bike test I can see the purpose of it and like "Onfire" has said before If one cannot manage that then what chance at higher speeds and especially in uncontrolled environements! Safe riding everyone!
