Yes that sort of becomes natural in slow trading which lots of stop starts.
To be honest I don’t notice my style change between city riding and cruising. I mean it changes as it does all the time with changing road conditions, but its all sort of become instinct, I will try and take note next time I’m out.
Bad idea for 3 reasons that I can think of.
Your using the muscles in your hand more than they need to, this can lead to aching or stiffness on long rides.
Its very easy to fall into the friction zone, it may be ever so slight you wont feel it (I will outline why this is bad later on).
If your thinking about trying to keep just the correct placement on the brakes your have less attention on the road.
Its a good skill for slow speeds and quite useful here in the city, but remember to give time to let your brakes cool down, at slow speeds you’re not getting the airflow over the disk and the heat is being transferred to the fluid as well as the mechanical parts.
Be aware of the cost in parts/servicing also, burnouts can be fun but they have a cost involved.
To the question of “Should I brake or should I swerve” this is normally a hindsight question, if you have time to think about it you should already be stopping. usually its a case of “Hit or Evade” and again this will come down to instinct and reaction as opposed to a conscious decision.
The most likely scenario is your heading towards impending doom, you have your anchors on but they just aren’t cutting the mustered, then the choice comes.
Do I keep the brakes on and try and take some of the energy out of the impact.
Do I off the brakes and try to avoid hoping there is nothing else in my path and that the other party stays where they are.
No right or wrong as you would have done what you do and be dealing with the consequences before you have given yourself the answer.
I will pass on a little information I was given on one of the advanced rider courses I had to do to get insurance when working as a motorcycle courier. He was a motorcycle paramedic and said he had to attend more accidents where people had tried to evade than to stop.
(I don’t like replying to this thread as my 2min reply between jobs always becomes an essay)
