How good are your brakes?

[Baldini]

I don't understand.

I have a 2001 with stock breaks.

I can lock the front with two fingers and have the scars to prove it.

 

Stock breaks are more powerful than tire grip...with two fingers.

What more do you need?

 

Was this on a muddy dirt track in the woods or flat out into the hairpin at your local racetrack?

 

KB

[rbt1548]

To add to what was said earlier about ABS/ servo brakes on BMW, they do indeed give you very good braking, but that is one of the reasons I don't have mine now. I had a 2003 Rockster Edition 80 and the ABS failed whilst riding it last year, and when the ABS fails on that particular ABS unit you have virtually no brakes, as the servo fails too!, not too clever an arrangement when howling up to a roundabout!!!!, I ended up dropping down a few gears while pulling hard on the front brake and pressing the back brake, and made it round.

It seemingly is a known weak spot on the BM's ABS2 system. I took it in for a reading just to make sure it had gone, the front pressure should read between 12 & 29 bar, mine was reading 133 bar, I still have the print out, it was as if the abs was on all the time. Cost to fix?.........."£1400 for the parts + labour + Vat to you sir!" for some reason I luckily took out a warranty a few months before and it got fixed under warranty, but on riding it home all I could do was look at the red warning light to see if it was on and you can't ride like that thinking it might fail so I sold it right away.

 

Yes ABS may be a great advance in braking and may help you on occasion,(I had it on mt R1200ST and it was good), but things can become too complicated, especially if they affect other parts of the bike.

 

I'm happy with the V11's brakes, maybe not as powerful as some, but enough for me, you change your braking style to suit, same as you change your clutch style or method of changing gears when riding another bike as most are slightly different , after a wee while the new way becomes like second nature.

[MixxedupMedia]

The BMWs were/are not the servo assist type.

 

While I guess the ABS does give me some back-of-mind comfort when riding in heavy rain, I've been riding bikes for so long without ABS that I never rely on them. I learn the limits of each bike's handling and braking characteristics under various conditions until I feel comfortable pushing them to a reasonable limit on the street. In fact, ABS kicking in still startles me more than when I occasionally lock up a wheel on a non-ABS bike. And the expense of fixing an ABS system gone bonkers might just make me swear off them. But so far, knock on wood, no problems.

 

After a week of riding the Scura, it is becoming more "normal". It has been cold here ... but on a more balmy day recently, after getting the bike, tires and brakes up to operating temps, performance was better than on the colder days.

 

And what a strange feeling to hop on the GSA after several rides on the Scura! The BMW felt like a kite on wheels with a big ol' tiller for a handlebar.

 

 

To add to what was said earlier about ABS/ servo brakes on BMW, they do indeed give you very good braking, but that is one of the reasons I don't have mine now. I had a 2003 Rockster Edition 80 and the ABS failed whilst riding it last year, and when the ABS fails on that particular ABS unit you have virtually no brakes, as the servo fails too!, not too clever an arrangement when howling up to a roundabout!!!!, I ended up dropping down a few gears while pulling hard on the front brake and pressing the back brake, and made it round.

It seemingly is a known weak spot on the BM's ABS2 system. I took it in for a reading just to make sure it had gone, the front pressure should read between 12 & 29 bar, mine was reading 133 bar, I still have the print out, it was as if the abs was on all the time. Cost to fix?.........."£1400 for the parts + labour + Vat to you sir!" for some reason I luckily took out a warranty a few months before and it got fixed under warranty, but on riding it home all I could do was look at the red warning light to see if it was on and you can't ride like that thinking it might fail so I sold it right away.

 

Yes ABS may be a great advance in braking and may help you on occasion,(I had it on mt R1200ST and it was good), but things can become too complicated, especially if they affect other parts of the bike.

 

I'm happy with the V11's brakes, maybe not as powerful as some, but enough for me, you change your braking style to suit, same as you change your clutch style or method of changing gears when riding another bike as most are slightly different , after a wee while the new way becomes like second nature.

[rbt1548]

The BMWs were/are not the servo assist type.

 

Abs is one of those things where I think the concept is a good one but not to everyones taste, especially if when it fails it takes most of your braking power with it. BMW acknowledge there is a problem on that particular model, but still fit the same replacements, what's that all about???.

Anyway, would I have another ABS equiped bike?, probably, but one that was fully sorted, as for my V11 brakes, I know what I have to play with and am ok with it.

Happy New Year

 

 

To add to what was said earlier about ABS/ servo brakes on BMW, they do indeed give you very good braking, but that is one of the reasons I don't have mine now. I had a 2003 Rockster Edition 80 and the ABS failed whilst riding it last year, and when the ABS fails on that particular ABS unit you have virtually no brakes, as the servo fails too!, not too clever an arrangement when howling up to a roundabout!!!!, I ended up dropping down a few gears while pulling hard on the front brake and pressing the back brake, and made it round.

It seemingly is a known weak spot on the BM's ABS2 system. I took it in for a reading just to make sure it had gone, the front pressure should read between 12 & 29 bar, mine was reading 133 bar, I still have the print out, it was as if the abs was on all the time. Cost to fix?.........."£1400 for the parts + labour + Vat to you sir!" for some reason I luckily took out a warranty a few months before and it got fixed under warranty, but on riding it home all I could do was look at the red warning light to see if it was on and you can't ride like that thinking it might fail so I sold it right away.

 

Yes ABS may be a great advance in braking and may help you on occasion,(I had it on mt R1200ST and it was good), but things can become too complicated, especially if they affect other parts of the bike.

 

I'm happy with the V11's brakes, maybe not as powerful as some, but enough for me, you change your braking style to suit, same as you change your clutch style or method of changing gears when riding another bike as most are slightly different , after a wee while the new way becomes like second nature.

[Baldini]

...After a week of riding the Scura, it is becoming more "normal". ...

 

Stick with it! It's a big, heavy, soft lump & get's a little vague when you ride it outside it's comfort zone. Point & squirt is not it's style. Keep all inputs smooth, look a long way down the road & it might surprise you how well it will go & how good it can feel, even in nominally more capable company.

IME tyres & suspension set-up are critical if you want the best out of it, but I guess that's true of any bike. But particularly, Scura came with very soft springs front & back - many put in stiffer & anyone of average size would best to do this. It may already have been done on yours.

I've found stock brakes are adequate for my use (mostly quickish road, occasional track day) & IME, other characteristics limit performance before the brakes become an issue. I'm happy with Ferodo pads. Radial m/c has been reported by others to give a real improvement. Pistons can stick in caliper. I have one is a problem at the moment & haven't managed to source a rebuild kit.

 

KB

[rex007can]

 

Was this on a muddy dirt track in the woods or flat out into the hairpin at your local racetrack?

 

KB

 

It was going about 30 on the highway.

[Kiwi_Roy]

What are you riding.

Man the brakes on my V11 Sport are so good they are scary

It's dead easy to stand it on the front wheel.

[docc]

. . . Pistons can stick in caliper. I have one is a problem at the moment & haven't managed to source a rebuild kit.

 

KB

 

This is one of the significant issues with these brakes. It can lead to unpredictable braking (weak, fading, grabbing, pulsing). It remains good medicine to clean the pistons thoroughly as routine maintenance. In addition to regular fluid change (bleeding), chock the offside pads and observe how the four pistons move with lever pressure (don't squirt the things out of their sockets!).

 

You will likely notice one moving better than others and one, perhaps, moving not at all. Chock the mover and work the others in and out with alternate pumping, cleaning (with brake cleaner), and clamping back in. Make sure there is room in the reservoir for fluid to push the pistons all the way back in the caliper. Repeated cycles of this will usually get the pistons all moving uniformly. And with a great improvement in braking and "feel."

[savagehenry]

Love mine, NO complaints, so far just keep clean fluid in them yearly or so

[tikkanen]

Am breaking in my new Brake Tech cast iron rotors and so far they have done the job. Black coating has come off but that was expected. Good bite from the Ferodo pads, too.

 

Haven't done any emergency braking so far but all in all they worth the money spent.

 

Cheers

Søren

 

Brake Tech cast iron rotors

[guzzi323]

Am breaking in my new Brake Tech cast iron rotors and so far they have done the job. Black coating has come off but that was expected. Good bite from the Ferodo pads, too.

I'm glad to hear you got these. They are my current first choice for when I replace my rotors but I've never known of anybody who's used them. I like cast iron rotors and I like Brake Tech's design.

Please keep us (or at least me) posted on how you like them.

 

johnk

[gstallons]

The rotors on my 87 SE are cast iron. They rust with ANY moistture in the air. They will bring your bike to a halt !!! I will probably get some for the V11..........

[AndyH]

Slightly different tack here, but braking performance can be surprisingly strongly governed by lever adjustment.

 

When I changed over from summer to winter gloves last autumn, it seemed that braking performance had fallen off a cliff and I even locked the rear in my attempts to compensate and scrub off the speed in a hurry (that had never happened before on this bike).

 

Couldn't figure out what had happened and checked pads and disks etc... until I adjusted the lever in one click to allow for the thicker glove and the braking power came back. Another notch in was a bit too sharp in fact, especially for wet roads.

 

I don't recall adjustment being so significant (e.g. on my Ducati) but as everyone has observed in their different ways, you're stopping an elephant in a hurry, so unless you already have enormous hands it could be worth tinkering a bit with lever adjustment for the most ergonomic position.

 

AndyH

[Dan M]

Am breaking in my new Brake Tech cast iron rotors and so far they have done the job. Black coating has come off but that was expected. Good bite from the Ferodo pads, too.

 

Haven't done any emergency braking so far but all in all they worth the money spent.

 

Cheers

Søren

 

Brake Tech cast iron rotors

 

I've had AXIS (iron) on my LeMans for a number of years now. They do rust if it rains but clean up quickly after a few stops. With the stock pads, initial bite is not as strong but once hot, feel & modulation under heavy braking is excellent.

I'd recommend.

[Chuck]

I'm running EBC HH pads, and like them very much.. good initial bite and feel.