07-30-2018, 02:09 AM
(07-29-2018, 12:06 PM)Calcb_imp Wrote: Of all the bikes I’ve owned, I like the CB1100 front brakes the best. I’ve had bikes with some pretty impressive hardware, Brembo monoblock, radially mounted, blah blah blah, but it’s the CB with the humble, well-designed axial-mounted caliper that has the best feel when properly bled.
No slack, immediate response and very linear ramp-up. The bike with the second best front brakes was my old CB500x (neither had ABS). I’m thinking Honda must do something with the master cylinder to make the front brake feel so good, and it is frustrating that other bikes with supposedly “better” brakes don’t actually feel any better.
Side note—I feel a similar way about the front forks too. Despite not being inverted, they work better than a number of “fancier” fork setups I’ve had, though they don’t quite stand out as much as the brakes.
The ABS brakes on my CB500XA saved my life. I was on a 4 lane highway when a woman behind me in the other lane beside realized she was going to miss her exit. Instead of slowing down and changing lanes behind me, she speed up and headed right for me. If I had not spotted her out of the corner of my eye, she would have run right over me.