| Author | Message | ||
     Loose_nut_dan |
What can I do to make the rear brake work better? I really have to bear down on the pedal to make the wheel lock up, and I have to change my foot position to get more leverage when trail braking in corners. A while back I put on some EBC HH pads, did the whole bedding process, with little improvement. Any ideas?? -Dan | ||
| Lovedabueller |
why would you want it to lock up? use more weight on it. | ||
| Eboos |
 I must be riding the wrong way. | ||
| Loose_nut_dan |
I don't necessarily need it to lock up...I guess I'd like it a little more sensitive. Is there any way to adjust the free play in the pedal? -Dan | ||
| Sspilotmi |
The rear brake on my 98 S3T is pretty much useless. It doesn't even slow the bike let alone lock the rear tire. Fortunately the front brake has incredible stopping power. I don't even use the rear anymore. | ||
| Loose_nut_dan |
If I was a good enough rider, I'd say I wanted them to work better so I could "Back into the Corners." Right now, that would be pretty much impossible. | ||
| Fast1075 |
As far as I have learned...all Buells have poor rear brakes...that isn't exactly right...a different approach would be to say that is the way they are designed...with the compression braking of even a Blast motor...a powerful rear brake would tend to lock the tire up easily... Fix: Find a master cylinder with a slightly smaller bore. | ||
| Billetmetallic |
i would guess that a braided stainless line would improve it some, other than that maybe a larger disc, or master? I only use mine to double the chance that my brake light is working brakes off and throttle on entering the turns -g | ||
| Loose_nut_dan |
That's more the type of info I'm looking for...Now, what MC might fit. Anyone know the bore of a blast MC, and/or the X1 MC? Since they all seem to have Japanese brakes, I wonder if some of those bikes would have a compatible MC?? | ||
| Randymoser |
For some reason I think the rear master is the same unit that was on the early Ducati M900. A friend had that bike and the rear brake was also useless. Add to that the extra weight of a M2 and you have a REALLY bad rear brake. Whenever anyone asks a question about rear brakes people chime in that they don't need to be any good. (Not just here, mind you, but on every motorcycle forum I've ever spent time on.) If you didn't need a rear brake EVER, they wouldn't fit bikes with them. I don't think it's fair to assume someone is a noob just because they think their rear brake should do SOMETHING when they use it. My old Hawk had rear SS lines and it didn't feel any different than my friend's with SS lines. Believe it or not, I think PM makes a 2p and 4p conversion for our bikes. Now THAT would probably be overkill, IMHO.  Randy | ||
| Eboos |
Backing it in occurs by using the engine braking, not the rear brake. By clicking it down multiple gears and modulating the clutch is how to back it in. Your rear wheel should never lock up, but simply rotate at a different speed then the front. To make your rear brake more sensitive, first check your fluid quality, bleed if necessary, then take a look at your brake line if the fluid wasn't the issue. Replace with a braided line and you will need an aftermarket brakeline pressure switch. | ||
| Randymoser |
Eboos.... What is an "aftermarket brakeline pressure switch?" I've never heard of such a thing... Do you have a link? Thanks! Randy | ||
| 14d |
The switch for the brake light on the rear brake is a pressure switch, activated by the hydraulic pressure of applying the brake. Switching to SS lines is known to cause problems with it. | ||
| Sloppy |
If you want more powerful breaking you needed to use a different master cylinder to piston cylinder ratio. The bike is designed so that you can be aggressive on both brakes without locking up the rear. With regards to "backing it in", it doesn't take much rear brakes to do it -- you use a clutch / engine breaking balance with heavy front front weight transition. Used to do supermoto on my XR500R until a kid T-boned me and cracked my hip... | ||
| Randymoser |
Ah, I just adjust the pedal out until the light comes on only when I give her some. I've really never even thought about it. Randy | ||
| Andymnelson |
I assume that you have done the following: - new pads - scuffed/cleaned the rotor - properly bedded the pads - rebuilt or at least cleaned the rear caliper - flushed rear brake fluid - refilled and properly bled the system Do this and you should be able to easily lock up the rear wheel. | ||
| Loki |
PM used to make an adapter to fit one of their four piston calipers. I have this set up on my RS. My S1 now has a two piston rear caliper on it. Of course I had to make my own caliper mount. | ||
| Texastechx1 |
i use mine to assist with light braking in hard corners... i think mine works great (stock 02 X1)... wonder if there may be some thing wrong with yours, i can lock up my real wheel fine. | ||
| Loose_nut_dan |
Only thing I haven't done is rebuild the caliper. | ||
| Maru |
My S2 has really good rear brakes and they are bone stock. My guess is that if your not happy with them, they are not working properly. | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Dan, a cheap fix would be too redrill the brake lever. Moving the master cylinder pushrod closer to the lever pivot point. If you can bring it in 1/4 of an inch that would in theory give you 25% more breaking leverage | ||
| Loose_nut_dan |
I think I need to rebuild the MC. When pushing on the brake lever, when it's on the stand, it looks like the MC piston isn't returning all the way back out. It's like the internal return spring is worn out. The first push seem good, but the second push has half the travel as freeplay, like the piston is sticking. It seem like the brake used to work good, but now it seems like it's almost non-existant. -Dan | ||
| Dave_02_1200 |
The front brakes on my Buells are strong enough to lift the rear wheel off the ground under hard application. I only use the rear to hold the bike in position while stopped on an incline with my hands off the bars. (Like at a stop light if I want to zip up my jacket, etc.) It's like my old RD 350 racebike. The rules required a rear brake. I shortened the lever to reduce leverage so I wouldn't hurt myself by locking a rear wheel braking into turns but it would still pass tech inspection. To me, a soft rear brake is a good rear brake (if the front brake is strong). | ||
| Skntpig |
^^^ What Dave said. It will take very little force on the lever to lock up the rear if you are using the front correctly. That huge rotor isn't just for looks. My rear wheel skips across the ground when I'm stopping hard. Engine braking is enough to get it sliding. Do a trackday or a roadracing school and mod the rider not the bike. I bet it will stop much better than you think stock. | ||
| Bikerjim99 |
I found an improvement of the rear brake of my S3 when I changed to Lyndall Gold pads. Seemed to be more responsive. | ||
| Skntpig |
+1 I love Gold! I actually run the gold up front and EBC black (hard less stopping power) in the back so I have a little less rear braking power than stock. | ||
| Jayvee |
I found an old PM mount for $40, and a 4-piston PM brake for $100 on eBay. Took the PM mount to a local shop for them to drill some holes in it, they wound up fabricating a whole new bracket for it instead. (Stupidly expensive, big, big mistake.) I still have the old PM bracket, but they lost the spacers. Anyway, replaced the rear disc with the early one with the holes (to match the holey front BrakeTech disc) and replaced the brake line with a SS braided line. I think I used Motor Factory brake pads. Anyway, plenty of back brake now, and 'only' cost me about a thousand dollars by the time they were finished with me. If I'd had any idea it would cost so much I would have just bought a kit, like that kit from England that hides a caliper behind the swing arm, for around $300 to $400. Sounds cheap now. | ||
| Limitedx1 |
Braking scalloped rear rotor, rebuilt master and caliper, new fluid, double h pads.......it has a very touchy feel and will lock up if you need to | ||
| Eshardball |
the stainless line should be enough |
