Very little front brake

[niagara135]

I picked up my newly aquired 83 venture yesterday. I had bought it knowing it had some exhaust work to be done and having some front brake problems, but supposably the brake problems were fixed. I was a little nervous getting on for the ride home being this is the first time I had ridden a bike of this size. Decided to take the back roads to start out to get the feel for the weight and manuverability of the bike. To my surprise when I came to a stop sign there was almost no front brakes. Since there are rubber hoses that look pretty old on the bike I think I will start with replacing them to steel braided lines. Until these are changed, I think the bike will have to sit.

[Gearhead]

Hello! These bikes have linked brakes. Here's how it works. When you step on the pedal, you get rear brake and the LH front brake together. The RH lever operates only the RH front brake. Thus, you will find that the pedal (what you think of as the "rear") has a ton of stopping power while the lever has relatively little. Of course, they should be used together.

 

Of course something could truly be wrong with yours. Is your lever real squishy or does it come back to the grip? First flush and bleed the system. If it persists it could be the lines. But if the lever isn't squishy, I don't see how the lines could be bad. Have the pads been contaminated with oil?

 

I improved the bite of the lever a little by installing EBC HH type pads, sintered, just on that brake. But mostly I had to get used to the fact that instead of the pedal being mostly useless in a very hard stop like many bikes, the pedal is where most of the braking power is.

 

Jeremy

[Rocket]

Since there are rubber hoses that look pretty old on the bike I think I will start with replacing them to steel braided lines.

 

That is a very good upgrade for the brakes & clutch.

 

Here is a link http://www.buckeyeperformance.com/p04.htm

[skydoc_17]

Hi Steve,

I Recently Purchased An 87' Vr With The Same Problem. The Left Front Caliper Was Frozen As Well As The Rear Caliper. Basically I Was Stopping On The Right Front Caliper! Not A Good Feeling!!! Not That Ss Brake Lines Would Be A Good Upgrade, But I Don't Think That Is Going To Solve Your Problem. Here's How You Can Tell: Take Your Bike For A Spin, It Only Needs To Be A Few Blocks, Activate Your Front Brake, Then The Brake Pedal, Do This 6 Or 7 Times To Warm Up The Rotors. Head Back To Your House. Shut Off The Bike, Get Off, And Lightly Touch All Three Rotors. (warning!!! If Working Properly The Rotors Will Be Very Hot!!!) I Think You Will Find That At Least One Of Them Will Be Bone Cold. In My Case, It Was Two Of Them. I Was Able To Get The Front One Working By Removing It, Removing The Pistons, A Light Hone To Remove The "gunk" Inside, Reassemble, Reinstall Caliper. On The Rear I Was Not So Lucky, It Took A Rebuild Kit And The Cleaning Of The Rear Master Cylinder To Get It Working Properly. I Also Removed All Of The Old Fluid And Replaced It With Dot5 Fluid.

Hope This Helps,

Earl

[Rocket]

Hi Steve,

I Also Removed All Of The Old Fluid And Replaced It With Dot5 Fluid.

Hope This Helps,

Earl

 

If you used dot 5 fluid.... Not the dot 5.1 which is supposed to be compatible with dot 3 & 4 (I have never checked it out). Prepare to do a complete rebuild of the braking system, as many of the seals are not compatible, will fail on you & maybe the lines too.............

[niagara135]

Hi Steve,

I Recently Purchased An 87' Vr With The Same Problem. The Left Front Caliper Was Frozen As Well As The Rear Caliper. Basically I Was Stopping On The Right Front Caliper! Not A Good Feeling!!! Not That Ss Brake Lines Would Be A Good Upgrade, But I Don't Think That Is Going To Solve Your Problem. Here's How You Can Tell: Take Your Bike For A Spin, It Only Needs To Be A Few Blocks, Activate Your Front Brake, Then The Brake Pedal, Do This 6 Or 7 Times To Warm Up The Rotors. Head Back To Your House. Shut Off The Bike, Get Off, And Lightly Touch All Three Rotors. (warning!!! If Working Properly The Rotors Will Be Very Hot!!!) I Think You Will Find That At Least One Of Them Will Be Bone Cold. In My Case, It Was Two Of Them. I Was Able To Get The Front One Working By Removing It, Removing The Pistons, A Light Hone To Remove The "gunk" Inside, Reassemble, Reinstall Caliper. On The Rear I Was Not So Lucky, It Took A Rebuild Kit And The Cleaning Of The Rear Master Cylinder To Get It Working Properly. I Also Removed All Of The Old Fluid And Replaced It With Dot5 Fluid.

Hope This Helps,

Earl

 

Sounds like a great way to see what is going on. Now that I know that the brakes are linked I understand why there was so much stopping power when I thought I was hitting the back brakes. This of course is totally different than my other bike. There is a very small amount braking using the front brake handle, but I just about have to be stopped and have to really squeeze the handle to feel any braking effect. On a brake system that is working as advertised, how effective is slowing or stopping when just using the front brake handle??

[bongobobny]

Hey Niagara, I see you live in my old home town!! I live in Arcade now and have lots of spare parts for 1st gen so if you ever need anything give a shout! We should go riding some time, but definately not this week until it warms up a tad...

[bongobobny]

BTW the braking system on the early 1st gens leaves a lot to be desired. You are going the right route to install SS lines. Rick at Buckeye Performance sells complete sets for all the lines for brake and clutch for a prety good price. He gives Venturerider members a nice discount.

[niagara135]

I'm up for a ride sometime, starting to get used to how this new bike handles now. I have to say I'm usually a fair weather rider with my other bike (90 Suzuki VX800), but I feel a little spoiled with the windsheild and fairing on the venture, the cooler temps have not stopped me yet. Just reading up on collector baffle noise in the forum, sounds like I may have another project on my hands.

[GeorgeS]

I would simply start by Rebleeding, and replaceing All the Fluid, in left and right systems.

 

Also, carefully examine Pads for wear, see what you've got left.

 

Rebleed, and new set of pads, may be all that you need.

[Marcarl]

If your brake fluid is old it will not react the same as fresh brake fluid. I change mine very winter, just to be as sure as possible.

[bobcat]

I would simply start by Rebleeding, and replaceing All the Fluid, in left and right systems.

 

Also, carefully examine Pads for wear, see what you've got left.

 

Rebleed, and new set of pads, may be all that you need.

 

 

I agree with George S....All else doesn't matter if your pads are worn down too far..Do the easy stuff first....

[Gearhead]

Yup, and if you need new pads, try the HH sintered pads. To answer your question, the front brake is not super powerful with one disc on an 800 lb bike, but it should not be as weak as you describe. Bleed, check the easy stuff, consider HH pads, then re-evaluate.

 

BTW, sintered pads have a reputation for being hard on rotors. So when I installed mine, I miked the rotor thickness in several places with a machinist's micrometer. After 1000 miles I miked it again and it measured the same. I should recheck it now. I did notice that the HH pads cause a dull, rougher-looking surface to appear on the rotor compared to the slick-shiny look made by regular pads, but no measurable wear.

 

And yeah, these bikes spoil you for weather protection. I love the heat outlets too!

 

Jeremy

[niagara135]

Since the weather han't been all that great and not looking to get any better any time soon, I decided to change out the front brake pads tonight. Going to get some hose tomorrow and bleed/change the fluid. With a little luck I should have good (or at least better) front brakes soon.