10-29-2019, 12:49 PM
(10-29-2019, 02:15 AM)VLJ_imp Wrote: pdedse, it's not a pads issue. I switched to EBC HH pads a long time ago, and the squealing persists. For the most part, I've developed a habit on this bike of simply riding around the problem. I use my back brake now instead of the front brakes when rolling to a slow stop. This makes for an interesting dance, as I quickly alternate my left and right feet just before coming to a complete stop. It's generally only when I ride up in the mountains, on slower downhill switchbacks, that I still have to deal with the squealing.
This issue remains the only fly in my CB's ointment. Otherwise, it's still my favorite bike to ride, most of the time. I enjoy the Z900's superior speed, smoothness, and agility, and also its sound, but the Honda's ride quality is so good that I still tend to enjoy myself more on the CB. I also enjoy the sound, even if I slightly prefer the Z's meaner howl.
The main thing about the CB is that I enjoy the feeling it gives me. When I open the garage and see the two bikes sitting side by side, I love them both. Here's the difference, however. When it's a Z900 day, my mindset is one of getting to the right roads as quickly as possible, and riding them well. I want to be smooth, precise, focused. It's always another testing day, a mini Sepang or Valencia, both of the bike and myself. When it's a CB day, it's simply...MOTORCYCLE DAY! YAY! The CB feels more like an escape from my every-day working life. That moment when I get to fire up my red beauty and throw a leg over, yep, it always feels more like a proper day off. I don't feel singularly compelled to find a certain twisty road. Instead, just getting out there and enjoying the sensations of riding a smooth, wonderful motorcycle, is enough.
It's a different sort of satisfaction, and one I've grown to prefer, more often than not. I still love the occasional FAST DAY!, but now I look forward more to the simpler, purer MOTORCYCLE DAY! The world just looks and feels different to me—different, and better—from the saddle of my CB1100.
The CB brakes squeal when I least expect it, and when they do, it is for one or two sequential stops only. It is like they are cold and/or damp. I always use both brakes for typical stops.