MyBB Motorcycle Owners Thread

[Trompie67]

@trompie
Update: Dropped my KTM off with them on Friday at 12H30. The wiring was a mess. Rats nest of NOTE. Previous owner had spliced so many of the wires and piggy backed off of so many wires. There was about 5 or 6 wires weren't terminated properly - didn't know what they were for or where they went.

Get a call at 11 today to say she's ready. Half expected they had the wrong bike in mind since I had only dropped it off on Friday. So I swung passed there an hour ago to make sure they had attended to everything... and there she was. 100% ready to go. Wiring is neat as a pin. Everything I asked for was attended to (and more - they noticed the wires on the engine temp probe were frayed and about to break loose - they sorted this out too).

Thanks again for the referral.

Very pleased for you that all got sorted!

 

[Trompie67]

Going by this second post I’m going to guess he applies track stuff to the road where it really isn’t possible unless something is wrong with your bike.

On the track as the brakes overheat it can happen.

But the real answer to that is to simply accept a road bike is not a track bike and pit in and let it cool, not change your entire riding happen for the 5% of the time you are at the track.

Or build a proper made for purpose track bike.

Umm, no.

I've owned and ridden many different bikes. Every single one of them you can pull the lever far enough back to touch your fingers if you are 2 finger braking. If you are unable to do so you are either a weakling or you are not engaging sufficient front brake.

I've also never had brakes overheat or fade on track or road. I'm not a national racer! :crylaugh: :crylaugh:

 

[SauRoNZA]

Umm, no.

I've owned and ridden many different bikes. Every single one of them you can pull the lever far enough back to touch your fingers if you are 2 finger braking. If you are unable to do so you are either a weakling or you are not engaging sufficient front brake.

I've also never had brakes overheat or fade on track or road. I'm not a national racer! :crylaugh: :crylaugh:

My RS the lever certainly comes closer than my other bikes and most bikes I've ridden from memory but never so much that it would pinch my fingers.

It has honestly never ever been a problem for me that couldn't be adjusted away.

Maybe you need to top up on brake fluid?

As for track fade I've also never experienced it on a bike, because they run near track components in that department anyway. But on "normal" cars it happens very quickly even as little as 5 laps you run serious risk of warping discs etc.

I did glaze my Street Triples pads on the track though. Easy enough to fix.

 

[SauRoNZA]

@trompie
Update: Dropped my KTM off with them on Friday at 12H30. The wiring was a mess. Rats nest of NOTE. Previous owner had spliced so many of the wires and piggy backed off of so many wires. There was about 5 or 6 wires weren't terminated properly - didn't know what they were for or where they went.

Get a call at 11 today to say she's ready. Half expected they had the wrong bike in mind since I had only dropped it off on Friday. So I swung passed there an hour ago to make sure they had attended to everything... and there she was. 100% ready to go. Wiring is neat as a pin. Everything I asked for was attended to (and more - they noticed the wires on the engine temp probe were frayed and about to break loose - they sorted this out too).

Thanks again for the referral.

That is both scary in the original condition and great to hear regarding the excellent service.

Any reason previous owner went so nuts? Fitted aftermarket accessories or let me guess one of those multi-map switch buttons?

 

[kfc4unme]

I use 2 fingers. Never had a problem with the lever touching my remaining fingers (even during hard emergency braking which I practice all the time) although I do have adjustable levers. My 2 fingers spend most their time on the front breaks whilst commuting - I think throttle control with 4 fingers on the brakes would be weird. Not to mention there would be way too much bite.

Regarding which brakes... One of the following(off the top of my head): engine braking, or engine braking + rear, or engine braking + rear + front. Not sure if this is good or bad, just what I do.
Always engine brake as I want to be in the correct gear for the speed. The rear is convenient. And obviously front when I actually need some braking force.

 

[Trompie67]

Umm, no.

*snip*

I've also never had brakes overheat or fade on track or road. *snip*

Was chatting about this thread last night & I remembered I have had brakes fade on track.

We were taking Ismael Vadi, Gauteng Transport MEC, his family & entourage around Kyalami for a publicity stunt. KMSA loaned us bikes, I (gladly) drew the straw for the ZX14. We naturally had to do a few "sighting" laps . 2nd lap out & by the time I got to clubhouse there were no brakes! Pretty scary. First & only time it's ever happened to me. No warning either, fine at sunset, nothing at clubhouse. Big heavy bike with lots of grunt & of course not the bikes intended purpose.

My RS the lever certainly comes closer than my other bikes and most bikes I've ridden from memory but never so much that it would pinch my fingers.

It has honestly never ever been a problem for me that couldn't be adjusted away.

Maybe you need to top up on brake fluid?

As for track fade I've also never experienced it on a bike, because they run near track components in that department anyway. But on "normal" cars it happens very quickly even as little as 5 laps you run serious risk of warping discs etc.

I did glaze my Street Triples pads on the track though. Easy enough to fix.

Fluid level is fine. Fluid gets replaced every 10,000 km's in any case (every 20 hours on the dirt bikes).

On the Triumph's I found EBC Double-H pads to be the bomb for both road & track.

 

[Trompie67]

I use 2 fingers. Never had a problem with the lever touching my remaining fingers (even during hard emergency braking which I practice all the time) although I do have adjustable levers. My 2 fingers spend most their time on the front breaks whilst commuting - I think throttle control with 4 fingers on the brakes would be weird. Not to mention there would be way too much bite.

Regarding which brakes... One of the following(off the top of my head): engine braking, or engine braking + rear, or engine braking + rear + front. Not sure if this is good or bad, just what I do.
Always engine brake as I want to be in the correct gear for the speed. The rear is convenient. And obviously front when I actually need some braking force.

When commuting I cover the brakes with 3 fingers constantly.

The brakes "bite" does not depend on the number of fingers on the lever either. That is a function of the brakes themselves.

Engine braking will not be an issue when doing an emergency stop. The important thing to remember is to gear down as you are braking & to be in first gear, clutch in, when you get to a standstill.

Engine braking during normal riding is rarely an issue unless you are riding hard. Both front & rear brakes should be used at all times during normal riding conditions, remembering to gear down to be in the correct gear to accelerate if necessary.

Different bikes also have different engine braking characteristics - V-Twin vs. triple vs. inline 4 etc.

 

[SauRoNZA]

On the Triumph's I found EBC Double-H pads to be the bomb for both road & track.

Was also a fan of those on my Buell.

The stock pads were way too soft.

 

[faniebraai]

Umm, no.

I've owned and ridden many different bikes. Every single one of them you can pull the lever far enough back to touch your fingers if you are 2 finger braking. If you are unable to do so you are either a weakling or you are not engaging sufficient front brake.

check this morning on my NC, nope can't crush fingers

 

[Trompie67]

I often hear this advice but it simply
isn’t true.

The physics are the same. Cruisers still have a massive front brake and a little rear one for this very reason.

Cruisers are simply heavier and therefore don’t brake as well. Using less front and more rear will make that even worse. Their weight distribution and transfer remains the same.

But I’m sure you’ll argue this to death, science be damned.

Having actually a cruiser around a track as ridden quite a few in the real world I can safely say the rear brake won’t get you very far. No actually it will get you much farther than you wanted to be because it doesn’t stop.

Does their rear brake generally work better than say a sport bike does? Sure because they are heavy as hell. Does that mean the front brake shouldn’t be used as the primary? Certainly not.

Incorrect. On most cruisers the rear disc is either the same, or almost the same size as the front discs. So hardly "little". For example a V-Rod has 300mm discs front & rear, compared to say an R1, which has 320mm front & 220mm rear discs. Cruisers carry much more weight on the rear wheel than sport bikes, so the rear brake can and does play a larger role in braking. Obviously front brake must still be used, but instead of say 80-90 front & 10-20 rear it is more in the region of 70 front & 30 rear. Assuming one knows how to brake effectively of course. Stamping on the pedal will lock any rear wheel up!

Then your brakes are setup wrong or not maintained properly.

Adjust your levers accordingly.

You can certainly learn to maintain the same level of control with four fingers.

It’s just way more likely you’ll grab a fist full while in a panic, so not really worth the risk.

My brakes (and levers) are set up correctly and in 100% working condition. Nothing wrong with them. Practice is what avoids grabbing a handful in panic situations. Not the number of fingers used!

Exactly why I said it’s there for control and not for stopping.

It’s efficacy in reducing anything over parking lot speed is near pointless.

You've just stated one of the biggest fallacies in motorcycling!

Rear brake is also for stopping. Numerous tests have been done showing the difference between using just front brake or front & rear. Front & rear used simultaneously is better every time.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Incorrect. On most cruisers the rear disc is either the same, or almost the same size as the front discs. So hardly "little". For example a V-Rod has 300mm discs front & rear, compared to say an R1, which has 320mm front & 220mm rear discs. Cruisers carry much more weight on the rear wheel than sport bikes, so the rear brake can and does play a larger role in braking. Obviously front brake must still be used, but instead of say 80-90 front & 10-20 rear it is more in the region of 70 front & 30 rear. Assuming one knows how to brake effectively of course. Stamping on the pedal will lock any rear wheel up!

On the V-Rod specifically you are somewhat correct in that it runs a 300mm disc both front and rear. However the front has two discs with 4 pistons and the rear only one disc with 2 pistons furthering my point that the physics remain the same.

I already illustrated you can get more rear braking out of a cruiser due to it's weight, so you are basically just underlining my point.

It's there for aesthetics and cost saving more than anything else. Maybe a little bit for cooling. It also plays into the underlying weight of the bike needing more to get the same efficacy.

Doesn't really support riding any differently because it's a cruiser. The physics still remain the exact same, the variables just change slightly.

If anything the differences in sizes etc should amount to you riding exactly the same as any other bike because you don't need to adjust for it...the bike has already been adjusted for it.


Many other cruisers run a single or double front 300mm with a single 180mm at the back or even drums in the not too distant past, the same ratio as most other bikes really.

My brakes (and levers) are set up correctly and in 100% working condition. Nothing wrong with them. Practice is what avoids grabbing a handful in panic situations. Not the number of fingers used!

Certainly correct, but it's harder to teach a newbie that way.

The risk is higher to grab more brakes when using all fingers by default.

You've just stated one of the biggest fallacies in motorcycling!

Rear brake is also for stopping. Numerous tests have been done showing the difference between using just front brake or front & rear. Front & rear used simultaneously is better every time.

No fallacy stated at all, just taken out of context.

I was never in the "front brakes only" camp and didn't state that anywhere. I fully agree in using a combination of both.

The response was related to people pushing the rear brake as the primary or even only source of braking which is completely wrong as it messes with the weight of the bike. Which is fully in agreement with your 80/20 and 70/30 split which I even mentioned myself earlier.

Sure taking that post in singularity seems easy to take it like that, but that's taken outside of context and not following the rest of my posts on the topic.

Believe it or not we are in the same camp here, so relax.

 

[Trompie67]

Perfectly relaxed, it's still early

I think we're saying the same thing, just talking at cross purposes. so all good.

My worry with threads like these is when newbies come across them & then take the advice literally. The potential for misunderstanding is high, especially because so few people value their lives enough to get proper training.

 

[FNfal]

Only time I use my back brake is told hold the bike still at a traffic light. And if I'm braking harder than usual I might touch it a bit.

ABS FTW.

That is pretty much how i ride , but the ABS actually teaches you bad habits , when you get on a bike with no ABS things get interesting until you are used to no ABS again .
ABS and slipper clutch FTW .

 

[skeptic_SA]

That is both scary in the original condition and great to hear regarding the excellent service.

Any reason previous owner went so nuts? Fitted aftermarket accessories or let me guess one of those multi-map switch buttons?

From what I can tell - the bike went down and the fairing housing the speedo got ripped off - severing a lot of the wires in the loom. Rather than take it to a reputable place he decided to fix it himself. Because electrics are easy electricity and flows like water so even a plumber can do it right?

To his credit he did manage to get everything working. When I tested the bike every electrical competent worked. It was only when I stripped her down that I saw how shoddy the wiring repairs were.

 

[Hosehead]

Anyone seen the ghost squad recently on their different unmarked pan euros? I haven't seen any all year and saw the first uniformed metro on his pan euro overtake me on the n2 heading on a long run towards Somerset West but that was a while ago.
Have they thinned the metro bike unit?

 

[SauRoNZA]

Anyone seen the ghost squad recently on their different unmarked pan euros? I haven't seen any all year and saw the first uniformed metro on his pan euro overtake me on the n2 heading on a long run towards Somerset West but that was a while ago.
Have they thinned the metro bike unit?

They are mostly in Lexus IS-F’s now.

Had too many crashes and crap on bikes I reckon.

I still see one around Kuilsriver regularly.

 

[Trompie67]

Anyone seen the ghost squad recently on their different unmarked pan euros? I haven't seen any all year and saw the first uniformed metro on his pan euro overtake me on the n2 heading on a long run towards Somerset West but that was a while ago.
Have they thinned the metro bike unit?

Not sure about CT, but in Jozi we were asked to help train Gauteng Provincial Traffic members back in 2010. Rather scary - some of them had never been on bikes before............ We declined after meeting with them.

We were using DL650's over world cup, and subsequent to that recommended them to JMPD instead of the BMW's they were dropping all the time. They've now got a fleet of DL650's - lovely little bikes.

Saw this a while back - love to know how these plonkers expect respect when they ride unroadworthy (and stupidly unsafe) bikes like this.

 

[UrBaN963]

This morning on the N1 between William Nicol and Rivonia, saw one of these in the very right hand shoulder (bike lane) leading a pack of other bikes. Had his siren on and everything, though he was only doing about 70

 

[SykomantiS]

The shoulder is not a bike lane... Neither is the emergency lane. One of my pet peeves, to be honest.

 

[UrBaN963]

The shoulder is not a bike lane... Neither is the emergency lane. One of my pet peeves, to be honest.

I know that man, but if you have ever driven that piece of highway in peak traffic, you will have seen many, many bikes in that "lane". It is a smooth, clean, wide stretch of tar which definitely suits a bike.