Great ride! .... As usual
Talking about braking..Randy I believe there is some residual transfer of weight when stopping with the rear brake only (hard to deny physics) but nothing like the transfer of weight on the front end when the front brakes are applied. Which are why larger diameter, multi piston caliper dual discs are on the front, and smaller diameter single disc with fewer piston calipers are on the rear.
Ptero... Yes there is a big difference between " testing" and full emergency panic braking. Not disputing Keith Code's numbers, as I have heard other numbers as well, but whether the numbers are 90/10 80/20 70/30 whatever the numbers are, it is important that the rear brakes function properly. When guys tell me they never use their back brakes, only the front, I just have to wonder why they would give up that extra measure of braking voluntarily. Why would you give up even 10% (using Codes figure) of the braking power the rear brake provides? If rear brakes were not vitally important, why would MotoGP bikes have them? They could save weight and complexity by eliminating a disc, a carrier, a caliper, a hose, a master cylinder and fluid, yet as powerful as the huge front brakes on MotoGP bikes are, they still have rear brakes and I'm guessing when they hurtle down a front straight to a tight hairpin curve, the MotoGP riders use them. Braking hard with the front unloads the weight on the rear making the rear brake less efficient, sometimes to the point of lifting the rear wheel off the ground, but in a non emergency situation ( heck even in an emergency situation) using BOTH brakes is the most efficient way to stop, and both should be strong.
Strong brakes are more important to me than having 100 horsepower, or a motorcycle that will run over 100 mph. I rarely (virtually never) ride that fast, but I often have to brake hard. Several times in the last few days, once when I came around a corner only to find stopped cars in my lane due to a stopped school bus, and another when an old man obviously didn't see me and pulled out in front of me. I rely on my brakes saving my life.
I don't want my rear brake to lock up. I dont want my front brakes to lock up either. A skidding motorcycle is an out of control motorcycle (which is why ABS is such a good safety feature) but I want the strongest front and rear brake I can get prior to them locking up, or prior to the abs kicking in, whichever comes first.
The easiest remedy for brakes that are not as efficient as they should be are multi fold. # 1 bleed the system to eliminate any air in the system. #2 deglaze the brake pads # 3 clean the disc #4 replace the stock pads with a pad with more bite #5 replace rubber lines with stainless lines after that its replace disc, replace caliper, try better brake fluid, depending on how much braking power you desire.
