Results on rear brake lock ups!!!!!

[Orrin]

:detective:I am following up on the thread I started a week ago and here are the results I promised to report.

 

13 rear brake lock ups were reported, 12 of those were due to emergency stops, and 4 of those 12 reulted in an accident and the bike going down.

That is a 33% probability of crashing when using the rear brake in an emergency. That to me is pretty alarming.

 

Almost all of the riders that locked up their rear brake felt that it was way too easy to lock up. One person brought up the point that the harder you stop, your right foot will press more on the rear brake due to the G forces generated in severe braking and weight transfer that takes place from rear to front. You have two forces working against you. 1. you moving forward on the bike, pressing on the rear pedal more and 2. weight coming off of the rear wheel.

 

My opinion is that it is a freaking miracle more of us don't crash when making an emergency stop, even when using the front and rear brakes properly. I suspect that this problem is not unique to just the Royal Star series of bikes.

 

I suspect that with HD making ABS avaiable as an option more manufacturers will be under more pressure to improve the brakes on our motorcycles. I certainly hope this will be the case.

[BradT]

I agree they seem to lock up pretty easy, that is what I really liked the linked brakes on the first gen.

 

I guess one thing we all can do is give a little more space (I am not blaming anyone just making the point of, be careful)

 

Brad