| Author | Message | ||
     Dmac |
2001 lighting,rear brake will not stop bike.Tried bleeding brake but didnt notice any air in line.Any help ? Thanks | ||
| Leftcoastal |
"2001 lighting,rear brake will not stop bike." Never gonna happen, use the front brake. Numerous attempts have been made to make rear tuber brakes more functional. Some riders have had better results than others, most ended with what started with. I was told that the rear brake is used to "set up the suspension" for cornering. Maybe someone will explain that one to some of us neophytes. | ||
| Trojan |
I was told that the rear brake is used to "set up the suspension" for cornering. That is just insider code for 'useless brake won't stop the bike, so use it for something else!' The other one I once heard from a H-D dealer salesman was 'The rear brake is intentionally weak because the front is so good, and we don't want to see people crashing because the brakes are too fierce' ....absolutely true believe me  | ||
| Jayvee |
If the rotor is clean, get better pads? Lyndall works real good on the front of mine, haven't tried it on the rear. Next would come a Stainless steel braided brake line. (I put there on all my bikes anyway.) The next step is replace the caliper. {Oops just wasted the new Lyndall Gold pads!} There's several kits that change out the single action caliper to a two-piston, or a four piston one. They start at about $240 or so. Some combination of these should definitely improve the situation. I use the rear brake a lot when I have a passenger, for example. | ||
| Akbuell |
Kind of everyone is correct here. I learned on bikes that had decent rear brakes; in our case the rear brake is not very powerful. Given the weight transfer involved in hard braking, not much remains for the rear tire to do. Since you have bled the brakes, one suspect is eliminated. Check your brake shoes. I have found one pad worn twice as much as the other. The problem was/is the caliper 'floats' on the mounting bolts. In my case, the caliper was 'stuck'. Cleaned everything up, added never seize to the bolts where the caliper rides on them, replaced the pads, checked to confirm that the piston was in good shape, and put everything back together. That's about all you can do. And yeah, other than holding in place at stop signs, ect, and settling the chassis at corner entry, not much back there. Hope this helps, Dave | ||
| Ratbuell |
Funny...I can lock up every rear Buell brake that I have. Tuber, xb, and 1125. Normal (aggressive) pressure on the peg does it whenever I want it to. Progressive feel, easy to modulate, plenty to stop with and more than enough to slide around with. | ||
| Dmac |
Well I also have a 2002 Lighting and the rear brakes on both dont seem to do much of anything.Does anyone have a thought of what would be a good brand replacement caliper? | ||
| Littlebuggles |
I had to practically stand on the rear brake to lock it up when my bike was new to me in the spring of 2001 (1100 miles on it). I put a generic shop built braided line on my rear brake in 2003 and did feel like there was an improvement then, line failed eventually so along with a rebuild of the caliper and master due to the lining of the line bunging everything up I swapped out the other parts. (I run gold pads, an XB style braided line with associated brake light switch and other hardware). My mods have improved feel, but function never got a whole lot better. Improved feel that also gives me a better sense of control. I've found this useful for slow speed maneuvers in parking lots and heavy traffic that require dragging the rear brake for smoother bike control... and taking off at hills as mentioned above. American Sport Bike used to sell a multi-pot rear brake, don't recall the brand. European parts retailers seem to carry them as well. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
I like my XB's brake, in comparison it seems more functional. Rear caliper is the same, it just runs a metal line, I suppose the master is also the same though the lever may differ some in length. | ||
| Two_seasons |
I'd call Al at American Sport Bike and see what he has to offer. Al knows these bikes! | ||
| Triman023 |
Ratbuell has a gigantic right leg. I am going to work on mine. Anyone know of parts to use to rebuild the caliper? Mine is never been re built and it could probably use it. My rear brake is very weak, I dont use it. | ||
| Two_seasons |
American Sport Bike has all the parts you need to rebuild your brake calipers. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Yup, got my kit from Al, had a couple new o'rings and a new piston to replace the possible corroded one. That's pretty much it. | ||
| Akbuell |
Inspired by Ratbuell's comment, I tried locking the rear wheel while on the way to the state inspection station. Took firm pedal pressure, but wasn't too bad. Inspired by this thread, I checked the rear brake pads on my other X-1, and discovered the dreaded uneven pad wear. Took about 30 mins to unstick the caliper. Now to get replacement pads ...... | ||
| Cupcake_mike |
On my 99 m2 the rear brake sucked...I put new pads, braided line, rebuilt the caliper and master, bled it about 100 times, it still sucked. I ended up putting a NOS m/c, that I got off ebay for $35 (think it was from an xb), and it actually works now...takes all I got to lock it up, but I don't really want to do that anyway. | ||
| Al_lighton |
Well, the caliper and MC have to be working properly, that's a given. But a lot of times, the thing that keeps a tuber rear brake from working right is a stuck bubble at the switch. The line goes up from the MC, then hits the switch, then goes downhill to the brake caliper. A small air bubble can hang at the switch and the bleed fluid just flows underneath it. You can pump a quart of brake fluid through the thing and not get any bubbles out at the caliper bleed port, but still have a really weak brake. You can solve it by bleeding with a vacuum pump, but you don't need one. If you remove the rear caliper and elevate it so that the brake line goes up from the switch, it's much easier to get that bubble out. You need to put a rotor simulator to pump against so you don't eject the piston, and an extra hand is a good thing, but it will usually bleed up in no time if the fluid is going uphill to the caliper. Al | ||
| Ratbuell |
Disuse is also a great way to make it not work. USE the rear brake. It's there for a reason. The more you use it, the better it will work. Al's advice is golden. I do have a vacuum bleeder, so I "cheat" lol, but raising the caliper is a great easy way to take care of it. (Message edited by ratbuell on May 30, 2013) | ||
| Triman023 |
Called American Sport Bike, the Brembo caliper is obsolete and there is NO rebuild kit. You can replace it with a caliper from an older Buell, theoretically. The best thing to do is to clean it up and get the bubbles out of the system. | ||
| S1owner |
You can put s nissin on you will need the mount also but tgey will not fit PM wheels I found out the hard way on that one | ||
| S1owner |
By the way I have the full setup with pads for sale! http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/21/ 713229.html?1369839343 | ||
| Essmjay |
I am using the Nissan with PM wheels on my S2. Maybe the compatibility problem is about your bike, not the wheels. | ||
| Loki |
There is a PM 4pot conversion out there. Have done it twice, converted my former '92 RS and my 97 S1 to it. | ||
| Fahren |
I just thought I would throw in a cool quote by Mario Andretti :- ) | ||
| S1owner |
Shane Could you send me a picture of your mount as that is were the problem is the standard mount does not have enough space on the wheel side so A couple pics might help me figure that out. Stock mount on the left you can see the ofset diffrence  | ||
| Rick_a |
I find tuber rear brakes to be perfectly adequate. My only complaint with the ol' Brembo set up is that the pads are tiny and wear quickly. | ||
| S1owner |
S1 extreme brake bleed  |
