In talking about the need to put two feet down when stopping touring bikes instead of one foot, the column says, "Your rear brake can be released if your front brake is holding at 2 MPH with no concerns whatever." Now maybe I'm wrong, and I admit to being thick-headed, but I spent a lot of time under my BMW R100GS before I figured out what was causing the problem. See, in MSF class they said, "ALWAYS use the front brake, NEVER use the rear brake alone" and I put that in my little brain. I noticed though, I was doing a lot of parking lot dumping, if you know what I mean. I'd be in a parking lot, the bike would start to get away from me, and I'd be down. I finally figured out the problem - in parking lot maneuvering you steer the bike, not countersteer. At low speeds when the gyro effect of the wheels is lost, touching the front brake when the front wheel is turned causes the momentum of that 500+ pounds to continue straight, and dump you right down. Even if it does not dump you, your natural reaction to compensate can cause a dump. Granted, I'm talking about a tall bike (the R100GS) and a short rider, but the principles hold. I learned to use ONLY the rear brake in parking lot maneuvering, and stayed right-side-up a lot more often. So, I think saying there are "no concerns whatever" is a bit much.

Thanks for the forum - this is a life-saving resource!