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Front brake?
- Thread starter Iroc-z
- Start date
Pandorasglocks
XS650 Enthusiast
I have been riding around for a week with no front brake on a mostly stock 650. I still have enough stopping power for everyday stuff but in an emergency I wouldn't trade that front brake for anything.
cooltouch
XS650 Addict
I wouldn't even get on a bike that didn't have a functioning front brake. Suicide waiting to happen, IMO.
Trebor13
XS650 Addict
no frontbrake is better then a bad frontbrake.
atleast you know it doesn't work.
atleast you know it doesn't work.
yamchop
XS650 Addict
i dont run a front brake and there is no way i'll stop quick if i had too. unsafe yes but it looks cool. i'm planing on putting it back on soon. theres just no way to stop quickly
BigJimmyW13
XS650 Guru
You could always do front and rear disk tied into just the foot brake.
I'm not going to even lie. I don't even use my rear brake lol
I'm not going to even lie. I don't even use my rear brake lol
cooltouch
XS650 Addict
I do. Even with my BMW R100RS, which has an excellent front brake, adding the rear brings the bike down noticeably faster. One advantage I've found to balancing between the two is front dive can be reduced when the rear is applied. This can be useful when setting up for a tight turn.
cooltouch
XS650 Addict
I haven't ridden an XS with rear disk, so I can't comment on their effectiveness. My '81 has a rear drum, and I've always found it to be quite adequate. Saved my bacon a couple times in panic-stop situations, in fact, where I had to grab a whole lot of front brake and stomp on the rear at the same time to avoid cellphone-yacking soccer moms.
By "Ironhead" are you referring to a pre-86 Sportster?
My '88 BMW R100RS has twin front disks and a rear drum. The guy I bought it from told me that he'd owned another R100 that had disks all around and that the rear disk may as well not even have been there, it was so bad. All I have to go by is what he told me, but that old Beemer's rear drum actually works surprisingly well, especially when used in combination with the front disks. Still, I wouldn't dream of depending on its rear brakes alone.
By "Ironhead" are you referring to a pre-86 Sportster?
My '88 BMW R100RS has twin front disks and a rear drum. The guy I bought it from told me that he'd owned another R100 that had disks all around and that the rear disk may as well not even have been there, it was so bad. All I have to go by is what he told me, but that old Beemer's rear drum actually works surprisingly well, especially when used in combination with the front disks. Still, I wouldn't dream of depending on its rear brakes alone.
Yah, '76....Thinkin of changin the rear wheel out to an 18 so I'll prolly look into a disc for it too.
The PO put the disc setup on my 650, dunno what it came off of (bout the only thing on the bike that works right...)
I don't see the sense of a disk rear brake. You can lock the rear drum easily enough, which you don't want to do anyhow, and the disk would be harder to maintain, especially if you oil your chain as sloppily as me!
bloodthirstysystem
XS650 Addict
ride slow through intersections!!
i'm thinking about getting rid of my back brake. just jam the boot in the tire like a bmx bike, pretty sure i could lock the wheel up like that
i'm thinking about getting rid of my back brake. just jam the boot in the tire like a bmx bike, pretty sure i could lock the wheel up like that
man! my rear drum must be all kinds of weak. i pump the foot brake when someone is following in the hopes that the flashing red gets their attention then i just kinda ride the rear and pump on the front disc up until i get close to stopping. the rear surely helps slow faster but i practically have to stand on the bitch to get it to stop with just rear.
When you try to maximize your stopping by using front and rear both (or if you use just front) the weight shifts toward the front, which is what makes the nose go down.
At that point it's real easy to skid even a drum rear because there's less weight on it than usual.
The extra weight on the front makes the front harder to skid, which is why they put a strong brake there. If you do skid the rear and it's an agressive stop, you're in danger of having a high side crash. At that point either of two things can cause the crash; either the rear slides out to the side more than the front wheel will turn to keep the bike going straight and the bike flips, or the second thing, if you make the mistake of getting off the rear brake to stop the skidding out to the side, the rear straightens up so quickly when it starts turning again that it bucks you off.
The rear can go out to the side even when you were braking in a straight line because the rear of the bike wants to go faster than the front, since the weight transfer is giving traction to the front, and the rear is skidding giving it comparatively little traction. The way to straighten it up is to get off the front brake for an instant, which makes the front of the bike want to go faster than the rear, dragging the skidding rear back into line. Some people even recommend pressing harder on the locked rear at that time to make sure it doesn't start turning when releasing the front causes weight and traction to shift back toward the rear for an instant.
At that point it's real easy to skid even a drum rear because there's less weight on it than usual.
The extra weight on the front makes the front harder to skid, which is why they put a strong brake there. If you do skid the rear and it's an agressive stop, you're in danger of having a high side crash. At that point either of two things can cause the crash; either the rear slides out to the side more than the front wheel will turn to keep the bike going straight and the bike flips, or the second thing, if you make the mistake of getting off the rear brake to stop the skidding out to the side, the rear straightens up so quickly when it starts turning again that it bucks you off.
The rear can go out to the side even when you were braking in a straight line because the rear of the bike wants to go faster than the front, since the weight transfer is giving traction to the front, and the rear is skidding giving it comparatively little traction. The way to straighten it up is to get off the front brake for an instant, which makes the front of the bike want to go faster than the rear, dragging the skidding rear back into line. Some people even recommend pressing harder on the locked rear at that time to make sure it doesn't start turning when releasing the front causes weight and traction to shift back toward the rear for an instant.
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Tech7
XS650 Junkie
My bike has front and rear disc. I don't have any problems at all. Feel nice. Not sportbike nice, but adequate. I don't have any problem at all with the rear trying to lock up either. I think they look pretty cool too. I'm using an aftermarket rear master with a stock front caliper on the rear.
Attachments
Visegrippe
lurker extraordinaire...
just relaying what was taught at my driving school (mandatory here): basically the front brakes are used for stopping, slowing down is done with the rear. so in theory, if you have no front brake for the majority of driving you'll be fine, untill you try to actually stop...
gentlemanjim
More Wrenchin than Ridin
BigJimmyW13
Excellent suggestion. I had a Moto Guzzi with linked brakes. Foot pedal acuated the read disc and the left fron disc. Worked great.
BigJimmyW13
XS650 Guru
Just made me think of on of Gordon Scotts chop.
I bike without a front brake is very dangerous...............you might get away with it for a while, but eventually you will run into something solid and experience pain.
Disc brakes are always superior to drum brakes. I have disc brakes front and rear and stopping power is excellent. I had to make a panic stop this year and thankfully I had discs front and rear.
Disc brakes are always superior to drum brakes. I have disc brakes front and rear and stopping power is excellent. I had to make a panic stop this year and thankfully I had discs front and rear.
Moto Guzzi does this? I have one we bobbed out in the shop right now. I will have to check that option out.
