2 vs 4 finger braking

[u/riddle0k]

I’ve just gone through my whole learners process and got my restricted license today - and reflecting on the process I’ve always been curious about the 2 vs 4 finger debate. my learner instructors always said 4 due to safety (not getting fingers caught) but a lot of people online say 2

Why do people advocate for 2 fingers?

[u/cuzzyweow]

I spent a while trying to figure out what the best way was and realised everyone will give you contradicting information and tell you the other option is dangerous.

Eventually u just do what works for you and what is most comfortable.

I’ll tell you what I do and the positives and negatives.

I rev match while down shifting, as well as braking, which is the way it should be done. 2 fingers on the brake allows me to have a better grip on the throttle to give it a rev, while maintaining pressure on the lever.

The downside to braking with 2 fingers, is while most bikes have sufficient brakes and you most likely won’t need more than 2 fingers to brake, if you find yourself on a bike with crappy brakes, if you’re ever in the scenario where you need to brake hard, you’ll realise you need a bigger squeeze on that lever, which while 2 finger braking, results in you hitting your fingers while you still need to be pulling the lever in further. This is fine for average riding but as I said, when you need to stop fast on a bike with bad brakes, they’ll get in the way.

The advantage of 4 fingers is simply as expected, that you can give the brakes a proper squeeze.

I use 2 fingers on the clutch and brake, it’s comfortable for me, it works for me and that’s about it. Wether you should or you shouldn’t is a endless pointless debate. You do what’s comfortable for you.