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Braking proficiency??

Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
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Location
Houston
Hey guys,

Just put a pair of Galfer ss braided brake lines on my v-strom. The small diameter of the lines, compared to stock, surprised me. Wonder if the lessened expansion is due to high strength materials or to the smaller id.?

Anyway, the very first application of the brake, pulling out of the garage, took me by surprise. Made a more abrupt stop than I had expected.

Went to a vacant parking lot and spent about 1 hour practicing emergency braking, with a little slow speed maneuvering thrown in.

A stop from 30 mph took 3 parking space widths. 40 mph took 5 or 6 widths.
- Using the rear brake usually resulted in a rear wheel skid.
- Stopping distance did not seem to be appreciably more when using just the fronts. In fact, using just the fronts may improve my braking since there is less action to be mindful of.
- I did occasionally lock the front brake up momentarily…….towards the end of the braking maneuver. The lock up quit easily enough by lessening lever pressure.
- The tire leaves a lot of rubber on the concrete even if it is not perceptively skidding.
- I like the new brake lines.

Also, I mayhave killed myself in this exercise if not for the added control of having the front springs matched for my weight. Guess the gold valves helped some also.??

I am not interested in stunting. But…….can a stoppie be considered as a measure of braking skill?? If I cannot do a stoppie, does it mean that I’m not as proficient at braking as I could be?? The bike is a 500 lb v-strom.

Any advice would, as always, be appreciated.

Also, anyone know of a reason for not using valvoline synthetic, 3&4 brake fluid? The system is a dot 4 system.

Thanks,
Steve
 
:tab First, kudos for taking the time to head to a parking lot and practice. That is something we should all do occasionally! I have always read that best stopping distances include the use of both brakes. This being the case, I would assume that a stoppie, or being just shy of one, is not necessarily the fastest way to come to a stop. Under hard braking, you should also be trying to keep your weight shifted as far back as practical to help reduce the tendency to stoppie. This also lets you use the rear brake. Keep in mind though that max rear braking occurs early in the process until the weight shifts forward. Then you may actually have to reduce pedal pressure to prevent a lockup. Of course, this is all greatly affected by the geometry and weight of the bike in question. Many crusiers will stop quite fast because they are so long and heavy that the stoppie is pretty much a nonissue and they can get more use of the back brake.

:tab As far as synth fluid goes, I think the issue is boiling point and water retention. You generally want a high boiling point so the heat at the calipers does not literally boil the fluid and decrease brake effectiveness. I think that the synth does not absorb water as much as the regular stuff. This is a corrosive issue.

Adios,
 
I have synthetic brake fluid in the cutch system, no problems at all, but i been wary of using it on the brake system, I think that since I'm not that agressive I should stick with DOT 4.

Oh, and since I'm rebuilding the mighty (ugly looking) kaw, I "have" to use front brake lines of different lenght, so I'll be getting steel braided lines from galfer.

Um,Steve, I hope those lines will help you in avoidind bumping things with the Strom. :angel:

Sorry man, I couldn't resist...I'm working as hard as I can to get the kaw ready so we can go riding again.
 
You can safely switch from DOT 4 to DOT 5.1 (do not use DOT 5). You have to completely flush the system though to move to 5.1.
 
I use to do braking practice every few weeks but for the last couple of years I haven't because the parking lot that I once used is no longer empty on the weekends. Anyone know of a good place to practice in Houston.... particularly in the West Loop/SW freeway area?
 
That whole area is nothing but traffic, so I doubt there's anything around there. You'd be better off heading out to West Oaks Mall on Hwy 6 or the old Town & Country Mall on I10 at the West Belt.
 
Another area to try is the Summit/Compaq Center/ Greenway Plaza underground parking lot. There is also an above ground parking lot right behind the Summit/Compaq Center.
 
Tourmeister said:
:tab First, kudos for taking the time to head to a parking lot and practice. That is something we should all do occasionally! I have always read that best stopping distances include the use of both brakes. This being the case, I would assume that a stoppie, or being just shy of one, is not necessarily the fastest way to come to a stop. Under hard braking, you should also be trying to keep your weight shifted as far back as practical to help reduce the tendency to stoppie. This also lets you use the rear brake. Keep in mind though that max rear braking occurs early in the process until the weight shifts forward. Then you may actually have to reduce pedal pressure to prevent a lockup. Of course, this is all greatly affected by the geometry and weight of the bike in question. Many crusiers will stop quite fast because they are so long and heavy that the stoppie is pretty much a nonissue and they can get more use of the back brake.
,

As he said on the street always use both brakes and practice with them. Just short of a stoppie is the shortest braking distance and as was pointed out there will be almost no component of the rear in effect. So why do we always use both brakes on the street and many do not use both on the track. The reason is that we need to keep the habits as there are time when we will need both brakes. Examples of this is riding on gravel with street tires even in the rain at times... So practice with both brakes where it is not to much to do. The more you practice the less time will be used on thinking how to use both brakes.
 
I used a local highschool's parking lot on a w/e day. There was actually a security guard on patrol. He drove slowly right past me and didn't even acknowledge that I was there.

Yea, seems I'll need to practice alot more in order to coordinate the rear brake. Appreciate advice.

The part about exerting effort to keep your body weight back........it surprised me at how much effort, arm strength, was required just because I had not thought about it. Makes sense now. :-D


Steve
 
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