Rear brake performance.

[tw586]

Need some advice. I came from a cruiser with a large wide rear drum brake to the MT07 with disc. I find the brakes to be unusual, in that some times it feels good and other times it feels weak. I am by nature a rear brake rider most notability when coming to a stop at lights etc, I like to bilp the throttle on down shifts to reduce the severity of the engine braking when coming down the gears so I tend to use the rear more. I have played around with lever height and such to see if its the set up or me and the brake, My question is in comparison with other bike how do you see the rear brake, is it crap or good and what can I do to get consistency in my braking. Or is as I am becoming a better rider and getting used to the bike I am fining its limitations, I rode as a young man up until my mid 20s on sports bike and only got back onto bikes in my late 40s riding cruisers.Your thoughts Gents

 

[PedroPat]

As a GSXR 750 rider and ex club racer, rear brakes are for Moto GP guys and stop signs on a hill. Never really use it on the street or track. I'm just saying.

 

[Tommeke]

On a cruiser you're weight stays pretty much on the rear wheel. So it keeps braking.
On a naked bike like the 07 when you brake/slow down you're weight shift forwrd towards you're front wheel and the rear wheel wil not have enough grip to stop you. On a non abs bike it can even slip ( don't know if this is the right word butt I mean that it stops turning ) .
So an ideal braking patern is start on the rear till you're weight shifts than take over with the front and release the back.
I use my brake like the man above. And when I'm going real slow I also use only the rear ...

 

[Phil_B]

The rear brake on the MT is supposed to be good. I would agree and use it a lot when filtering and stop star in particular.

I had a similar worry with my front, had it checked and it was fine. I think i was just getting more confident.

Depending on how much you use the rear could it be getting hot??

Is it an ABS model? I've heard of ABS reducing feel.

 

[tw586]

in aussie we dont get the ABS and we dont get full power either (restricted to 50BHP ) and 655cc,

 

[Ralph]

Best rear disc brake I have come across though I have had bikes with better drum
brakes on the rear but they had pretty useless front brakes.

 

[Tommeke]

in aussie we dont get the ABS and we dont get full power either (restricted to 50BHP ) and 655cc,

Then be carefull using a lot of rear brake elswise u will skit (found the right word I think ) the rear wheel , especially on slipperry road

 

[spoonflames]

This is my first bike and i am a new rider, i learned on a 650 bandit and i can say the MT rear brakes are far better in comparison.
I notice they are really effective at slower speeds

Edited: I have the ABS model if that helps

 

[hahapik]

When riding in cruise/cool/chill mode, I don't use the front brake at all. Only if a child pops out a corner on the street, or if a cager tries to kill me.

The rear brake is nice, the engine brake is awesome (when arriving slowly at a red light, it's possible to stop only by using engine brake ^^). For track use, you'll maybe need ceramics. But as for me, the brakes are awesome.

Cheers.

 

[Deleted member 20]

Guess you have 80-90% stopping power on the front and 10-20% on the rear wheel. I use them accordingly since I don't like to slow down or stop until I really have to and then by I need all 100% ;-)
When blipping the throttle you should combine that with front braking.

I think both front and rear are good and the rear is as good or better than many other bikes, want more bite you can replace brake pads for Brembo SA/SP compound pads, as I just did on my TDM900 ABS with excellent result. I have not replaced the brake lines and I'm not sure if/how much that would further improve braking power, but better pads is a simple and inexpensive replacement, takes about 15 minutes to install.

 

[sdrio]

I don't use the rear much, at slow speeds I tend to only use the front.

I found the back felt spongy at first, but apparently that's something to do with the ABS - that said if I understand the comments about Aussie bikes, yours isn't ABS anyway. I've never had any problem with the brakes on mine though. Have never set off the ABS, so don't know how effective it is.

 

[xt660isgood2]

Have owned 20 plus bikes over the years (drum and disc) And must say the rear on the 07 is the best of the lot

 

[love2gro]

Stop using so much rear brake problem solved. Horrible habit to have

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Phil_B]

The rear brake is an excellent control device in my opinion, for slow stuff and certain situations. Let's not get into that debate though.

Worth checking with the OP, but since it's your first bike... you've not accidentally sprayed chain lube on it through the wheel by mistake or anything??

 

[DJP]

The rear caliper on the MT is the same one fitted to the Bandit 1250.

Oddly, the one on my MT has been very good, but the one on the Bandit was rubbish (and always seizing up).

FWIW, the Bandit was ABS and the MT isn't - and that was a deliberate choice on my part. I find that ABS brakes do indeed reduce feel - probably as a result of all the additional pipework.

 

[sdrio]

Might be stating the obvious here, but only using the back brake is unusual. As you slow, you'll tend to move/lean forwards, and the weight is transferred to the front wheel, even if you're just using the back brake. That's why the front has dual disks.

Unless the road is slippery, the front will stop you much better. The rear is much more likely to skid.

If you're just pootling around, it probably doesn't make much difference though.