6th gear....speed vs rpm

[OldF7Guy_imp]

Ok just got in from a ride. It is confirmed..again..my rear brake sucks. The rear brake on my wife's scooter is much, much better. 30 mph, 40 mph no front brakes, pull in the clutch, push the rear brake hard and slooooooowly come to a stop. Just a wimpy rear brake. I must have tried it 1/2 dozen times. One particularly hard rear pedal mash made the abs kick in one time, felt like a chain skipping a tooth on a sprocket. Not like in my car where it cycles several times..bang, bang, bang, bang..it was just one bang on the bike. Thank goodness for exceptional front brakes. Again, 10 mph or less the rear brake seems to feel good. Just not any good at helping haul it down from speed.

Can't wait until the rally to compare bikes with others. ( if I don't fix mine before then)

Not questioning you because I have a lot of respect for your opinion but what are you using as a point of reference? Your ST1300 maybe? I believe you.

Could you elaborate a little more? My 750 has tons better back brakes than my previous sportster but when you get to the limits you realize it was not as good as you thought or wanted. It locks up easier than you think it will.

Again, respect your years or riding and experience, but to have 2 years in a row that you think are lousy are pretty incredible and one wonders what you deem decent and where yoiur point of reference is on good brakes. THis matters to me because I want good brakes.

Hope this did not come off wrong. Its just an important part of the CB11 to me and I trust you to be honest.

No, I understand what you are saying, but obviously you can tell your Nighthawk rear brake was better than your Sportsters. An experienced rider can tell when a rear brake ( or front) is effective or not if they have ridden several bikes. I couldn't use the ST 1300 for reference because it has linked brakes so when you try and use rear only you also get some front. Skews the results.

I think if you've ridden enough bikes (and I have literally ridden hundreds) you know when the rear brake feels strong or doesn't. My 750 Nighthawk drum brake was better at slowing the bike (up to the point of lock up and skid) than either of my CBs, but the single front disc was rather weak. My wife's Majesty scooter has a great rear brake and will slow the scooter quickly, stronger than her front brake too. I have had 3 other experienced riders, my brother, my son and my sons father in law, ride my 13 and test the rear brakes and all said the exact same thing.."yea, not much there". Of course the Honda rep said it was fine. This is the first time I tested the 14s rear brake by itself. I really thought it was better than my 13, but it's not. Honestly, take it up to 30 mph, pull in the clutch, step hard on the rear brake and it just slows down agonizingly slowly. It just keeps rolling until it gets down to about 10-15 mph, then it starts to stop. To me it's scary, how ineffective it is. Thank goodness this motorcycle has outstanding front brakes.

Thing is, I'm not the only one who feels the rear brakes on their CB is ineffective. There were others in 13, and there are at least 2 others on 14s who also feel their rear brakes are not as strong as they should be. I may leave mine like this and let others at the rally ride it and compare, but by then I would be out of warranty, so I may go ahead and take it in and have them bleed the brakes and see if it's any better.

No, I understand what you are saying, but obviously you can tell your Nighthawk rear brake was better than your Sportsters. An experienced rider can tell when a rear brake ( or front) is effective or not if they have ridden several bikes. I couldn't use the ST 1300 for reference because it has linked brakes so when you try and use rear only you also get some front. Skews the results.

I think if you've ridden enough bikes (and I have literally ridden hundreds) you know when the rear brake feels strong or doesn't. My 750 Nighthawk drum brake was better at slowing the bike (up to the point of lock up and skid) than either of my CBs, but the single front disc was rather weak. My wife's Majesty scooter has a great rear brake and will slow the scooter quickly, stronger than her front brake too. I have had 3 other experienced riders, my brother, my son and my sons father in law, ride my 13 and test the rear brakes and all said the exact same thing.."yea, not much there". Of course the Honda rep said it was fine. This is the first time I tested the 14s rear brake by itself. I really thought it was better than my 13, but it's not. Honestly, take it up to 30 mph, pull in the clutch, step hard on the rear brake and it just slows down agonizingly slowly. It just keeps rolling until it gets down to about 10-15 mph, then it starts to stop. To me it's scary, how ineffective it is. Thank goodness this motorcycle has outstanding front brakes.

Thing is, I'm not the only one who feels the rear brakes on their CB is ineffective. There were others in 13, and there are at least 2 others on 14s who also feel their rear brakes are not as strong as they should be. I may leave mine like this and let others at the rally ride it and compare, but by then I would be out of warranty, so I may go ahead and take it in and have them bleed the brakes and see if it's any better.
Appreciate the reply. If both CBs were worse than your Nighthawk then something is up. I wish I had better front brakes. I had to literally stand on both one time full out and the weight transfer to the front and soft sprung NH got the back light and I was on/off with locking the rear. That is where abs could help. I was right at the edge but hung on to it and it could have been ugly.

Whats funny is that my old Sporster had a rear disc brake and of course the NH had a drum. I wonder how a drum can be so much better but it truly is. Similar weight ect or close. Keep us posted because like you brakes are as important to me as just about anything.