5th gen brake conversion to separate brakes

just take a look at Casey Stoner, he has to be the best rear brake rider there is.

 

It's a free country and Sport Rider can say what they want, but every racing coach I've heard of will tell you no rear brake. I've been involved with Keith Code's California Superbike School for many years. If a student is caught using the rear brake they are reported immediately. This will result in them getting flagged into the pits for a "talking to". This applies to all levels from beginner to expert, though I must admit that you never have a problem with the advanced guys as they have alreaedy learned.

Keep in mind, I prefaced my comments with "from the standpoint of aggressive riding". If you stay within the speed limit all of the time then you won't be pushing hard enough for front-vs-rear to make much difference.

 

Just to clarify:

I'm not talking about stopping distance - I'm talking about braking going into a corner. Straight up emergency braking? Sure, use both... but you have a hand and a foot for that job, you don't need linked brakes to help you out. Going into a corner hard and grabbing a lot of brake on a linked setup would be scary to say the least.

 

funny I use my brakes up to the apex of the turn in some cases.
I have also been told by many racers that the use of the rear brake in a turn will help "fix" you line.
I brake harder then most..

 

There is basically no need to de-link a VFRs brakes unless you're building a track only bike. Unless you're one of those guys that cannot leave well enough alone, has decided that you need to turn a VFR into a CBR or GSX or whatever, or have convinced yourself that you know more than a team of Honda engineers.

You will get flagged in for a talking to for being too aggressive period at CSS early on, the idea is to do the drills, not see how fast you are. Later on you can talk aggression. Dont ask how I know this. No one on a BMW S1000RR is being flagged in for locking the rear tire up. No one that signs up to ride that bike cares very much about the rear brake, and wont get flagged in for using it unless thats all youre using.

Bottom line, if you absolutely must delink a VFRs brakes, go for it I suppose, but it really isnt for 99.9% of the people that ride one, and they wont be able to use what they did if they did it.

 

Okay well I guess we just have two different schools of thought about using the rear brake,and I'm okay with that.
That's your point of view and I can accept it Jamie. The world would be a dull place if we all thought the same thing anyway.

I'm not trying to start a fight here my friend,but there is something I would like to remind you about.

In 1992 at the Circuit von Drenthe in Assen Holland Mick Doohan had a heavy crash during a practice session where he seriously injured his right leg. The doctors in Holland did such a botched job of repairing the injuries to his leg that at one point he very nearly had to have it amputated. Ultimately he had to have the bones in his right ankle fused together.
Subsequently he helped to pioneer the technology of the bar-mounted thumb brake. A bump lever that he operated with his left thumb to actuate his rear brake because his right foot no longer pivoted at the ankle. Mick went on to win 5 consecutive 500cc premiere class Grand Prix Roadracing World Championships after that. Using the rear brake never seemed to bother him any.

Sorry about history lesson. Once again I'm not trying to be a smartass or anything here,I'm just sayin'. :yield:

BTW-I agree with you about the linked braking system,I never saw any advantage to it.
I completely removed the LBS system from my 6th gen. but not for the reasons you're thinking.

 

BOGUS!
Look at a racer, do they use their rear brake? Why yes, yes they do.
All the top racers use their rear brake. Although there are different styles of using it.

And if the rear brake was never of any use as you suggest, they why wouldn't full on sport bikes, who advertise a 3oz. savings in an alternator, just lop off the rear brake all together? Since there would be significant weight savings there. Between the pedal, the plumbing, the fluid, the caliper, caliper bracket and for unsprung weight the disc itself. All together you are talking several pounds.

 

And yet people manage to do it every day successfully. And you have more than one person here who has done a track day on their, linked, bike.
If it were truely a problem, and even remotedly dangerous, it would have been sued out of existence long ago.

 

You realize some racers actually use their rear brake in the corner to slide the rear end out and turn quicker?

 

+1 on the Mick Doohan reference

 

My point exactly or kind of anyway, if you want to do it to say you did it successfully, well then by all means have at it and kick ass, hell, you can to do it just to prove you can if want to , its your bike.

I'm just tired of guys always talking about it like its somehow keeping them from passing Rossi in that last corner. Oh, if only my brakes were de-linked I'd be such a great rider.

C'mon.

The VFR is a sport tourer, and some use it quite effectively as a track day weapon, linked brakes and all.

Oh and yes.....+1 on the Doohan reference also :thumbsup:

Interesting how this thread has progressed from a guy that thinks his bike might be running wide because his brakes are linked to a full blown discussion of how a very advanced rider might trail brake a corner to correct a slight offline. When the fellow that starts this thread gets to that point, I doubt he'll be on a VFR

 

I did my first proper riding course last week at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney. I kept running wide on a particular corner all day (turn 2) which is a hairpin that seened to just keep going. The instructor kept calling me 'throttle happy'. Too early on the gas which stuffed up my entry to the next corner. I just wanted to tell everyone that....

At the pedestrian speeds I was travelling the linked brakes were great. Have a great deal of respect for Doohan et al for the speeds they could/can ride.

 

Hmmm... Note to self: Don't mention linked brakes unless I want to witness an argument...

One thing's certain: my observation about there being many different opinions on how to ride a bike has just been reinforced.

Well, it's x-mas eve, I have the day off work, the weather's beautiful outside, and I can see the bike sitting outside beckoning me... So, I guess I'll go and do some housework to keep the wife happy...

 

Hello again everyone.

The bike has come back from the suspension specialist. Because I now have linear rate springs with a stiffer rate than the initial rate of the standard springs, the front end doesn't move around as much as it did before. I can see how this might stop the poor mid-corner behaviour if I touch the brake pedal part way around a bend. However, I have to say that I don't really know for sure... That's because I haven't needed to try that sort of thing since getting the bike back. The bike now feels like it's on rails, and I'm cornering faster, more confidently, and more safely without needing to resort to mid-corner corrections with the brakes - and that includes corners where I've needed to make corrections to my line. All I have to do is look where I want to go, and the bike simply goes there!

Thanks everyone for the advice, especially to those who said it could be a suspension issue. Problem fixed!

Cheers,
Danny

 

thats awesome. good job.

 

I come from a background of riding moto for thirty years. Where going into turns too hot is a normal thing, although being on the street is a different thing, the look on my face is still the same(if you know what I mean). These linked brakes are good for sure. But where will it end? Will we some day just have a master lever to control the front and rear. It is disappointing to me to know that alot of members on here are learning how to ride a street bike with these linked brakes. Sure you can you separate the front and rear, in your mind, but the bike is doing something different. One of these kids someday will try to hot rod there buddies cbr whatever and forget that the bike does not have linked brakes, or worse, a more experienced rider. I asked my dad about this, who has been a rider forever, and he says no way would he ever ride one. He says you lose the basic fundamentals of riding, and I have to agree. Unless all bikes made from now on are made with linked brakes, the laziness of some of these kids will just continue. I don't mind it so much because I have been doing it the other way for so long in all kind of situations. I call it laziness, but I do love my vfr. That mod just might be in works for me in the futre, but I will get some time on this bike first. I guess my biggest gripe is that people are learning to ride with linked brakes, and not really learning how to separate front and rear depending on situation. My two cents on the fence.

 

Good to see, hope it helps

 

I've been reading this post with great interest and have one question. WHY LINKED BRAKES TO BEGIN WITH HONDA? Surely by the time we are old/experienced/affluent enough to want a VFR we know when we want to use our front, rear or both brakes.