Always felt the rear brake on my CB was a little powerless. Tonight I tried several times to lock it up. Could not do it. At one point I was running down a long straight road at 50 mph, no other vehicles in sight, so I pulled in the clutch and crushed the rear brake pedal. It just slowly slowed me down.
So even though I bought a bike without anti lock brakes, I got one anyway lol
Might be a different story in the rain or a patch of sand.
I've felt the same way about my rear brake and thought it just needed to be adjusted. Do you think this is by design? That rear disc should easily be able to lock the rear wheel even on clean dry pavement.
Chip
In the days before I bought my CB1100 I read up on break-in procedures the new bike would need. I've had disc brakes on my cars for many years and thought I understood them fairly well - I was wrong!
There's a variety of opinions on how to best "bed-in" new disc brakes. You can find them with the Google search " Motorcycle disc brake bedding in ".
I read a lot of them and had the most confidence in [url=http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths]this one .
Quick summary (but read the references before doing it yourself): The brake system must be heated uniformly to a high enough temperature to burn off the resins from the pads and transfer an even layer of pad material onto the surface of the disc.
(BTW I have non-ABS) I found a two lane road, a couple of miles long that only had long driveways letting on to it. The terrain was flat with few trees so I had good visibility. I did a series of 8-10 fairly hard stops with the clutch pulled in from about 45 or 50 mph down to about 10 mph, immediately accelerating back up to 45 and braking to 10, never coming to a complete stop or locking up the rear. I did this separately for the front and the rear brakes and I did two sets of each.
The rear brake heated up much faster than the fronts because of its much smaller surface area and being out of the direct wind stream. The paint on the edge of the disc turned to ash and the surface of the discs are discolored. I couldn't get the front brakes hot enough to burn off the paint on the edge of the discs but they worked much better than before I bedded them in.
I can easily lock up the rear brake on dry pavement and both front and rear engage gently but can haul me down quickly and smoothly from any speed. They don't make any noise.
I did a minor panic stop tonight on the way home from work and momentarily locked up the rear tire and it surprised me just a tad. It never got outta shape on me though.
(07-11-2013, 02:27 PM)Greg_imp Wrote: [ -> ]In the days before I bought my CB1100 I read up on break-in procedures the new bike would need. I've had disc brakes on my cars for many years and thought I understood them fairly well - I was wrong!
There's a variety of opinions on how to best "bed-in" new disc brakes. You can find them with the Google search " Motorcycle disc brake bedding in ".
I read a lot of them and had the most confidence in [url=http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths]this one .
Quick summary (but read the references before doing it yourself): The brake system must be heated uniformly to a high enough temperature to burn off the resins from the pads and transfer an even layer of pad material onto the surface of the disc.
(BTW I have non-ABS) I found a two lane road, a couple of miles long that only had long driveways letting on to it. The terrain was flat with few trees so I had good visibility. I did a series of 8-10 fairly hard stops with the clutch pulled in from about 45 or 50 mph down to about 10 mph, immediately accelerating back up to 45 and braking to 10, never coming to a complete stop or locking up the rear. I did this separately for the front and the rear brakes and I did two sets of each.
The rear brake heated up much faster than the fronts because of its much smaller surface area and being out of the direct wind stream. The paint on the edge of the disc turned to ash and the surface of the discs are discolored. I couldn't get the front brakes hot enough to burn off the paint on the edge of the discs but they worked much better than before I bedded them in.
I can easily lock up the rear brake on dry pavement and both front and rear engage gently but can haul me down quickly and smoothly from any speed. They don't make any noise.
Well after reading your post I went and googled and read a LOT about motorcycle pad break in. Just like oil, filters, tires, and octane ratings, there are certainly a diverse group of opinions out there. Many mirrored yours, just as many said drive it easy just normal use. This included opionions from brake parts manufacturers. Ying yang, synthetic v dino, oem v fram, 87 v 91 lol
All I know is mine are not working as I feel they should ( not nearly as well as the back brake on my ST which I rode last night as a comparative vehicle) and that this bike was not broken in any differently than the dozens I bought before it. So I may just swing by the dealer and talk to my service manager today and see what he recommends.
Ferret,
I thought it was just me and the way it was designed. If your dealer has a solution, please post it and I'll talk to to mine about whatever he says. My dealer is having a grand re-opening tomorrow (new ownership and all) so I'll talk to the service manager and see what he says.
Apparently at least 3 of us with you, Chip Beck and myself.
I'll head down there in an hour or so ( just took a break from cleaning gutters) and will let you know what he says.
Ok heres what my service manager said.....
Me: Hi B. J., wonder if you'd have time to test ride my bike?
SM: Your new one? What's the problem?
Me: It's the rear brakes. They don't seem to be working very well. They won't stop me, they will only slow me down, very slowly.
SM: Does it feel like a bleed problem ie: loss of pedal pressure.
Me: No
SM: is there any discoloration in the rotor
Me: No, they just won't bring the bike to a stop, they will only slow it down.
SM: In all likelihood your pads are glazed, they need to be removed, laid on a flat piece of glass covered in sandpaper and glaze removed.
They couldn't do it today or tomorrow. Since I am leaving on a trip with it Monday, I will deal with it when I get back home.
(07-12-2013, 03:12 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Ok heres what my service manager said.....
Me: Hi B. J., wonder if you'd have time to test ride my bike?
SM: Your new one? What's the problem?
Me: It's the rear brakes. They don't seem to be working very well. They won't stop me, they will only slow me down, very slowly.
SM: Does it feel like a bleed problem ie: loss of pedal pressure.
Me: No
SM: is there any discoloration in the rotor
Me: No, they just won't bring the bike to a stop, they will only slow it down.
SM: In all likelihood your pads are glazed, they need to be removed, laid on a flat piece of glass covered in sandpaper and glaze removed.
They couldn't do it today or tomorrow. Since I am leaving on a trip with it Monday, I will deal with it when I get back home.
Mine is like that too. I am starting to think they are made that way so the Back end won't lock-up. Jayimpalaman