Braided brake lines

[Razortip2]

Was wondering If anyone has put braided Iines thur out ther beast, and if it did anything to slow the angry heavy bugger

 

[atomsplitter]

Was wondering If anyone has put braided Iines thur out ther beast, and if it did anything to slow the angry heavy bugger

I've put braided lines on about every old bike I've ever owned. The feel is superior and the pressure applied to the master cylinder isn't used to first expand the hose, then apply pads. It (pressure) all goes to the piston for better braking. That said I don't use rear brakes much since 85% of all brake force comes from the front, so front brake lines are far more important than rears for stopping power, i.e. you can skip doing the rear brake line if you want to save some cash.

For those wanting a tutorial on braking forces, just ask.....

 

[Razortip2]

I've put braided lines on about every old bike I've ever owned. The feel is superior and the pressure applied to the master cylinder isn't used to first expand the hose, then apply pads. It (pressure) all goes to the piston for better braking. That said I don't use rear brakes much since 85% of all brake force comes from the front, so front brake lines are far more important than rears for stopping power, i.e. you can skip doing the rear brake line if you want to save some cash.

For those wanting a tutorial on braking forces, just ask.....

Thanks for the info

 

[Rusty Bojangles]

I've put braided lines on about every old bike I've ever owned. The feel is superior and the pressure applied to the master cylinder isn't used to first expand the hose, then apply pads. It (pressure) all goes to the piston for better braking. That said I don't use rear brakes much since 85% of all brake force comes from the front, so front brake lines are far more important than rears for stopping power, i.e. you can skip doing the rear brake line if you want to save some cash.

For those wanting a tutorial on braking forces, just ask.....

Is this to say that an expensive european bike like the R3 doesnt come with braided lines stock?
Im also considering buying some but not sure with this in mind.

 

[1olbull]

I've put braided lines on about every old bike I've ever owned. The feel is superior and the pressure applied to the master cylinder isn't used to first expand the hose, then apply pads. It (pressure) all goes to the piston for better braking. That said I don't use rear brakes much since 85% of all brake force comes from the front, so front brake lines are far more important than rears for stopping power, i.e. you can skip doing the rear brake line if you want to save some cash.

For those wanting a tutorial on braking forces, just ask.....

85% sounds high to me.
What is your basis for this?

 

[TURBO200R4]

Actually it is 83.724%
I know because i get my info right out of my a$$

 

[Mongler07]

So on the more modern approach here, I use my rear brake 100% of the time and my front brake about 70% of the time. Its called low speed maneuvering. I dont have braided on my 1st gen rocket and it's fine. Going with some quality brake fluid is key every year. That and proper OEM pads. My 85 nighthawk on the otherhad got fron braided lines and the rear is drumbs on a stick...
Going aftermarket on these bikes is pointless for brakes. Skip the wasted $ and learn how to use 100% of your brakes. Progressive breaking, proper equipment and high end tires and you can still lock up the tires so anyone saying they dont use the rear brake is either too old school to learn new bikes since the 90s or cant low speed or had tried rear brakes!
The oem lines are more than adequate and the old school though that they stretch and loos pressure is a myth now at least in any bike past the 90s. The lines you have PM your rocket are infact hard core ... literally better than braided and they are the same efect and no cost!

 

[atomsplitter]

85% sounds high to me.
What is your basis for this?

It has to do with the weight shift during braking. Stomp on the rear brake alone and the forks dive as weight shifts to the front of the bike. This is the basis of so many rear wheel lock-ups on the older Rockets with non-integrated brakes. As the rear tire unloads the friction forces are overcome and the tire slides happily down the road. The more weight that shifts the faster the rear tire loses traction. If you've seen someone pull a stoppie the rear tire has 0% stopping power when it's dangling 2 feet in the air. On lighter bikes the weight shift is lower because less mass to start but the stopping force ratio is about the same. If you ride with a passenger you get the benefit of some of their weight over the rear tire but the forks will still dive on hard braking due to weight shift. The reason there are two disks in front is that's where most of the stopping power is. On my Speed Triple I can set the riding mode to unlink the brakes so I can use the rear brake alone. This is in TRACK mode. The purpose of this is to trim speed using trail braking technique and is employed by racers. It still shifts the weight of the bike and makes the steering heavier, however is used to trim speed while in the corner. If you watch any MotoGP racing you'll see prior to turn entry most of the riders are on the front brakes hard enough to skip the rear tire off the tarmac. Do that in a corner and you lowside.

If you use mostly rear brakes for stopping that's fine, but in an emergency situation using only the rear brake is where you find the bike gets loose and then applying fronts drops you on the pavement as most riders get completely out of shape. I had the experience of going sideways on my Rocket in 2009 while towing a trailer and stepped on the rear brake coming to a fast stop when the bike in front of me hit his brakes. I let go of the rear brake, straightened out and then hit it again as his bike was coming up fast and same result, went sideways as the trailer tried to pass me. I let go the rear straightened out and grabbed a handfull of front and it stopped with enough control to manuver around the bike in front of me. The people behind me had a pool going on how bad the wreck was going to be, me I had a pool growing in my undershorts during the event. After that I never touched the rear brake again with a trailer on and stopping was easy and controlled. After that experience I have shifted my braking technique to mostly front and use the rear to assist in speed reduction.

 

[Tripps]

The figure I've seen most often for front vs rear brake stopping power is 70/30, 85 sounds a little high.

 

[Mongler07]

if you are not using your rear brake, you are riding wrong its literally the MOST useful part of the braking system when you know how to use it.
at least on my bikes and im a big guy, it feels like the front is only good for like 60% of the braking power when ONLY used, but combined its a LOT more, like 80%