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Originally Posted by Nick Mystic  A lot of good suggestions have been made in the previous postings. One thing I would like to add is this: Emergency braking is definitely a skill you will want to practice, but I think what a true novice would want to do first is to just become familiar with your new scooter and its basic operation. Spending time in the sort of parking lot that has been described is a good place to start and those country roads around your home should also provide some good practice.
I wouldn't worry about doing much emergency stopping until you think you have a pretty good feel for your machine. When you attempt to do hard braking it is important to be able to tell when you are approaching the point where your wheels are about to lock up and start skidding. I don't think you can reasonably expect to be able to make this determination until you've logged some miles on your bike under non-emergency conditions. You definitely don't want to go out to one of your early practice sessions and end up dumping your new scooter doing an emergency stop due to a wheel lock up that you had no idea was about to happen. |
I'd like to expand on the braking thing a little. I was an instructor for the state of NH for 10 years. On a few occasions I would suggest to the students to do these things to help with their braking skills, after the course. All you need are two or three big soda bottles or cones, and that big parking lot. Take one cone and use that as your brake application point. Take the next cone and put that where you stop. As simple as that. Each time you make a run, try to stop short of where you put the cone from the last stop. You could use a third cone to leave at the point of your first stop, so you can gage your improvements. Without assigning any numbers, and indeed, at a pace you are comfortable with, you can see how your stopping distances change, and hopefully improve. Keep your speed as consistent as possible. It isn't rocket science, just good old fashioned practice. You can experiment with technique and certainly, feel. If you want to be anal about it, you could bring a tape rule, but I don't really think that is needed. The cones, or bottles should give you enough of a real world idea of how your braking can change, improve, etc. Don't set out to make any records. Start off conservatively, and let your bike tell you what it likes. The distances WILL drop as you become more familiar with your bike.