Suspention clatter on hard braking? (696)

[Willem C:E]

I've been riding about a year, and I feel in total control of the bike 99% of the time by now. However the one thing that still kinda freaks me out is when I have to do a quick stop and the chassis seems to jack-knife and starts clattering in the back.  I don't get it quite as much since i've started to get engine brake happy, but there isn't always time to downshift and engage on an emergency stop. 

What am i doing wrong here?  Is this a monster thing or a general bike thing?  Ive ridden a few others, but my baby is the only bike im intimate with at this point. 

[Howie]

Hard to tell from your description, but you could be locking the back brake.  You may also be lifting the rear wheel.  Ask someone to follow you and observe.

[ScottRNelson]

I would suggest that you try a few quick stops with no rear brake at all, and the clutch held in.  Let the front brake do 100% of the stopping for you.  If the problem suddenly goes away, and I'm pretty sure that it will, then you need to figure out if it's your rear brake usage or clutch/downshifting that is causing the problem.

Make about a dozen quick stops trying different combinations of the above and you should have the answer to your question.  You only need to be going about 35 mph learn what you need to about braking.

Once you have it figured out you might try a few stops from 60-70 mph to see if the bike behaves the same at higher speeds.  I don't know about everyone else, but for me a maximum stop from 70 mph gives me as much of an adrenaline hit as anything else I've ever done.

[amcloud]

I would suggest that you try a few quick stops with no rear brake at all, and the clutch held in.  Let the front brake do 100% of the stopping for you.  If the problem suddenly goes away, and I'm pretty sure that it will, then you need to figure out if it's your rear brake usage or clutch/downshifting that is causing the problem.

Make about a dozen quick stops trying different combinations of the above and you should have the answer to your question.  You only need to be going about 35 mph learn what you need to about braking.

Once you have it figured out you might try a few stops from 60-70 mph to see if the bike behaves the same at higher speeds.  I don't know about everyone else, but for me a maximum stop from 70 mph gives me as much of an adrenaline hit as anything else I've ever done.

+1 

Most likely the problem is the rear break since the 696 comes with a slipper.  I never had my back wheel hop on my 696 even during aggressive downshifts.

[the_Journeyman]

I sounds like you're taking enough weight off the rear to let it hop as mentioned.  It sounds pretty nasty ~

JM

[Willem C:E]

I sounds like you're taking enough weight off the rear to let it hop as mentioned.  It sounds pretty nasty ~

JM

When I think back the the situations where I experienced it, i remember being heavy on the front but not necessarily so much on the back...so perhaps im a doing a mini frontside wheely (is there a 'technical' term for that?) clattering as it falls back down and stabilizes?  if I understand right, thats what you mean by hopping it correct?  Im guessing applying slightly more rear brake pressure would allow the pull on the chassis to remain balanced front to back.

if thats the case, the the solution would seem to  be the opposite of the previous one, to lay off the back because it's causing a lockup. 

I think ill have to follow Scott's advice and do a little experimenting.  Better to induce and fix than have it hit me at the wrong time. 

thanks for the responses guys, very helpful. 

[Howie]

A front sided wheelie is known as a stoppie.  Back brake applied, it could be locked upon landing.  Even if the back wheel stays on the ground the rear could be light enough to lock.  Hard to know what is happening on the internet.  Anyway, try a quick stop with just the front brake, if there is no chatter you know the problem is with application of the rear brake.  A less abrupt application of the front brake may help. 

[Raux]

sounds like you locked the rear brake and it broke traction by hopping. better than it sliding out on you i would say.

i did a hard downshift today and broke traction with the rear sliding a bit, was applying brake too. but no hop. it can happen even with the APTC clutch the 696 has, trust me.

[BastrdHK]

Are you pulling the clutch in throughout the stop?  I know I have caught myself forgetting to engage the clutch when practicing emergency stops and focusing on the front brake only.  The bike lunges a couple times to remind me.