10000 Miles

maurice said:

I still after all this don't know if you use both lever AND pedal when braking.
Some have said just using lever is fine, manual, as I pointed out repeatedly, says otherwise. Just curious.

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With the front lever doing 60/40, u get maximum weight transfer on the front double discs which do have the most stopping power, just like on a car. Cars always put the
larger discs on the front wheel for that reason. I think the manual is a little ambiguous in its explanation. A for instance would be coming into a corner at speed, you would want
to feather the front brake lightly, AND use additional light braking for the rear to stay out of a slide situation. Using just the rear brakes in a hard corner will cause the
back end to want to come around on you.. Not a good feeling. By using both brakes lightly, you change the equation from 60/40 to closer to 50/50 if u add additional rear braking.
If this wasnt the case, you would be able to bleed the entire system using just one caliper at the rear.
I think this thread got started because of poor tire wear on the rear. Using a lot of rear braking causes double wear leaving the front tire nearly perfect which isnt a good idea
as you should replace both front and rear at the same time. Its expensive but thats what they recommend. A front tire with 25% wear, and a brand new rear tire at 100%
isnt a good combination in wet conditions, as one tire with the least tread depth will kick out first.
They only put grooved tread on tires for wet conditions. Factory Racing bikes use super soft slicks.
During a race notice they ALWAYS put on two tires no matter the wear.

sonnie said:

With the front lever doing 60/40, u get maximum weight transfer on the front double discs which do have the most stopping power, just like on a car. Cars always put the
larger discs on the front wheel for that reason. I think the manual is a little ambiguous in its explanation. A for instance would be coming into a corner at speed, you would want
to feather the front brake lightly, AND use additional light braking for the rear to stay out of a slide situation. Using just the rear brakes in a hard corner will cause the
back end to want to come around on you.. Not a good feeling. By using both brakes lightly, you change the equation from 60/40 to closer to 50/50 if u add additional rear braking.
If this wasnt the case, you would be able to bleed the entire system using just one caliper at the rear.
I think this thread got started because of poor tire wear on the rear. Using a lot of rear braking causes double wear leaving the front tire nearly perfect which isnt a good idea
as you should replace both front and rear at the same time. Its expensive but thats what they recommend. A front tire with 25% wear, and a brand new rear tire at 100%
isnt a good combination in wet conditions, as one tire with the least tread depth will kick out first.
They only put grooved tread on tires for wet conditions. Factory Racing bikes use super soft slicks.
During a race notice they ALWAYS put on two tires no matter the wear.

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That's what I think. I thought initially you were saying just use front lever since linked.

maurice said:

That's what I think. I thought initially you were saying just use front lever since linked.

Click to expand...

Maurice, on a normal stop at a light or stop sign i do use only the front.. Corners and a panic situation
i think both would give more stopping power. I got 9k miles from my first set of Cobra Chromes doing that.
There are a lot of folks who only get 3 or 4k miles on their rear tires with a bike with this much torque using back brakes
when they shouldnt..

maurice said:

I still after all this don't know if you use both lever AND pedal when braking.
Some have said just using lever is fine, manual, as I pointed out repeatedly, says otherwise. Just curious.

Click to expand...

I learned to use just the front brakes for the wrong reason... I took a passenger too early in my riding career and was afraid of dropping the bike. Now I use both out of habit as I've learned she is much more stable coming to a quick stop. A slow stop is fine to just use the front brakes... But again, I know in an emergency I will instinctively brake however I normally do... Hence both now.
-MIG

sonnie said:

Maurice, on a normal stop at a light or stop sign i do use only the front.. Corners and a panic situation
i think both would give more stopping power. I got 9k miles from my first set of Cobra Chromes doing that.
There are a lot of folks who only get 3 or 4k miles on their rear tires with a bike with this much torque using back brakes
when they shouldnt..

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I wouldn't assume causal relationship here. Too many other variables.
I got 13,800 on my first set of chrome using both brakes every time.
Maybe talk about brake pad miles?

I grew up on dirt bikes in the 70’s and 80’s. My habit is to use both brakes regardless of linked and/or ABS brake systems. I like Tourbo’s post about how the ABS will over rule the linked ratios. It makes sense. It also seems to me that if the rear is providing little braking power compared to the front it should not suffer excessive wear due to braking. If braking is causing tire wear then the front should go first since that is where all the force is. I ride all my bikes similarly and have always gotten more mileage out of rear tires on other bikes. I’m convinced it is the torque that kills my rear.

My wife says I do use a lot of brake. I know I do. When you pour the torque on coming out you and hold the power on you had better get on the binders hard or you won’t make the corner. Ask Steel how we ride. Or Warp or DHarvey or Craig or Scot in Exile.

Keep in mind I’m not complaining. In my neck of the woods it is a badge of honor to get low mileage on tires. It means your scrubbing rubber during spirited riding.

maurice said:

I wouldn't assume causal relationship here. Too many other variables.
I got 13,800 on my first set of chrome using both brakes every time.
Maybe talk about brake pad miles?

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Have 31k miles on the pads, and they still look pretty good. Was thinking of changing tire brands, but the Cobra's do pretty well with the wear
and seem to give good traction in the corners.

we get a new fleet of Honda's every year to teach with, most everything has ABS now, i'll pull the ABS fuse on students who rely on it, it is a good feature, but it will make your stop longer, then if you don't use it. When we teach threshold braking (emergency braking) i have my junior demonstrate a rear brake only stop, and front brake only stop, and a stop with both brakes. With rear brake only, your going long, with front brake only, it will be shorter, but still a bit long, with both your stopping distance is greatly reduced. I try to get them to lose the concept of 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, they don't have a pressure gauge on their hands or feet, just use the d@$m brakes, you were given 2, use 2.
Apply them both easy but firmly, if ABS kicks in back off slightly, if the rear tire manages to lock up, release and re-apply gently, most importantly, LOOK UP, LOOK STRAIGHT, if the back end locks up and starts to swing back and forth, (for those of us with non ABS rides) for the most part, as long as you are looking up and straight, the bike will still go straight.
Once they get the hang of it, then i'll teach them to pull the front brake slightly, and the front of the bike will drop, once that happens, now gently but firmly pull the front brake, this sets up the front of the bike for a solid controlled stop, and it will shorten your stopping distance even more, especially on these bikes, I have had to use the techniques in emergency situations to make that fast stop, they work and work well.
Think of it like squeezing an orange in your hand to get the juice out, you made a hole in the bottom, now if you squeeze for all your worth right away, yes, juice will come out everywhere, no control and make a mess, if you gently apply pressure to get the juice started out of the hole, then you can start applying greater pressure, and the flow will remain in control, it works the same for your brakes. It is an interesting technique to learn, because you have to train yourself to feel the drop in the front end, and hesitate for the fraction of a second it is going to take for that happen, to then fully apply the brake.

i have put the rear brakes to hard several times and my 07 has never stayed straight always had to ease off fast or suffer the consequences.
my main goal is to keep my a$$ of the pavement.

TURBO200R4 said:

i have put the rear brakes to hard several times and my 07 has never stayed straight always had to ease off fast or suffer the consequences.
my main goal is to keep my a$$ of the pavement.

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odd, my touring and harley will slide the backend back and forth in a rear end lockup, but as long as I look up and straight ahead it always just keeps going that way, the second I look away, or look down, I have to work on saving it and stopping it, but at that point, that is all on me and my fault, by looking down, I'm telling the bike I want to go down, and if I'm not careful it will happily go down, but I did add in previously, "for the most part", but like I'm sure most of us have seen, it doesn't always work out as smoothly or quite the way we would like. YAY CRASH BARS