| Author | Message | ||
     Miketa |
New to BadWeb and the information/advice is great. I have 1998 S3T and the rear brakes have never been very good. Unable to lock up, even if I tried. I have replaced the caliper with a PM 4 piston and also replaced the master cylinder with minimal if any improvement. I have been told by some the rear brakes were designed that way to prevent sliding the rear wheel out. I have had other bikers ride my bike and tell me there is something wrong with the rear brakes. Any comments/ help appreciated. Thanks in advance. mt | ||
| Buellistic |
The REAR BRAKE is there to "SLOW YOU DOWN" and not lock up the rear wheel ... The FRONT BRAKE is what stops you, "SO" be careful not to lock it up !!! | ||
| Miketa |
Yep, did that once; very painful | ||
| Thejuicer |
The rear brake on my x1 is the same way, working as intended. | ||
| Jayvee |
I have the PM 125x4 caliper on the rear, and it will easily lock the rear. If yours doesn't, definitely something wrong. Did you buy it new? Might be sticking pistons? Did you replace the Master with the same diameter, or the same exact one? I didn't change mine at all. Brake pads? You didn't specify anything about them. Bled right? I could feel the stiffness just stepping on the brake pedal. For me, I'd rather have too much brake than not enough. I practice using it a lot. Ideally I'd like to able to make the back end 'step out' on purpose and still be under control, sort of like a dirt bike power-slide in reverse. One idea suggested to me, if it's too much brake don't bleed it quite so well. Another suggestion was to cut some of the pad off with a dremel. And to move the pedal down so it's harder to tromp on. Something else just occurred to me, I changed to a braided stainless line, before, and it made a noticeable improvement, one could leave it rubber to reduce brake effectiveness just slightly. I would never go back to stock, although I agree 4-piston is overkill. It happened to be what I found cheap on eBay, and no Master Cylinder change required. I would like to use a 2-piston, either PM, Brembo, or Grimeca. But this is all I could find that I could afford. (Message edited by jayvee on June 18, 2010) | ||
| Miketa |
Bought it new, professionally installed. Still running the stock PM pads. I agree I would like to have more brake in the back. I read in the PM catalog that a 9/16 bore size is needed for the 125x4. I asked around and no one could tell me what the stock Buell rear master bore size is or what the bore size is on any other bike (I asked around at various part counters of metric bikes). When the new caliper did not give me much improvement I replaced it with a master from a Honda VFR 800. It looked bigger and the mounting points were similar. But, no real improvement. I have not changed the brake lines, that is a good thought. | ||
| Nukeblue |
there prob isn't anything wrong with your brake. i've had three tubers & they all had very weak rears. once i got the xb i almost dumped it when i first rode it from the rear locking up! | ||
| Zenbiker |
I don't know if you ever did a Buell Demo Ride, but they tell you that (on the tubers as least) they a have a Gran Prix style braking system. Meaning that the back brake is not designed to lock up the tire or do that much as far as breaking, it is to 'squat' the bike prior to braking or a corner entry. So, I don't know how much better it will get. I just replaced my rear master cyl. and it locks up now, I kind of like it the way it was before the rebuild. | ||
| Redefine420 |
My M2 won't lock up the rear. I like it that way. | ||
| Eshardball |
Change to a braided steel line and it will provide additional & Predictable braking. It will lock but as everyone has stated, was not intended to be used like that | ||
| Jayvee |
Well I don't want to be a broken record, but it's the BUELL caliper that is designed to be weak. The Performance Machine 125x4 is a four-piston monster, and it will easily lock the rear wheel, whether you want it to or not. So something's definitely wrong, but I can't say what it might be. |
