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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
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Message started by 1st2know on 03/29/14 at 14:40:20

Title: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by 1st2know on 03/29/14 at 14:40:20

I commute on surface streets in suburban rush hour in rainy conditions. I found out that if I go about 1/2 mile or more without braking, my front brakes don't respond well if I should need to brake unexpectedly.

I suspect what's happening here is that rain water from the road is getting kicked up by the many car tires and layering my rotor with a thin layer of viscous road gravy.

I've read that what I should do to minimize this phenomenon is to apply the brakes on these stretches to wipe the rotor.

That's doable, but is there a way I can keep this road gravy off my rotors?

Perhaps a forward facing mud guard that blocks the spray?

Would carving a pattern in my rotor help?

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/29/14 at 18:35:08

You MITE jack up the responsiveness by running some water grooves in it, but that would take some machining.. Being awake & laying a finger on the lever every so often & making it pull down a little would be sooo much easier AND its a sure fire answer,,I know it took me a while to learn to lay a foot on the brakes & get the water out after I Oooozed a car thru a deep intersection, but now, its just second nature,, You can feel when they start working easy enough,, I never spotted the decreased function on the bike, maybe because if it was raining I was goin EEE ZEEE on those brakes.. Nothing turns the gravity on as fast as a front wheel that isnt rolling.

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by schleppy on 03/30/14 at 06:27:34

This actually happens to most vehicles, bikes just seem to be worse.

What I do is try and tap the the front brake from time to time to "dry" up the disc and pad. That seems to help a little.

Outside of that, a vented/drilled disc may be better, with a better pad. I'm not sure if those things exist for the LS650 though.

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by shorty on 03/30/14 at 06:34:20

surprised I haven't felt the problem, I'm in rain often and since it's warm here I just ride through it.. maybe the warmth is drying the brakes??

just squeeze lightly like others have said

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by 1st2know on 03/30/14 at 12:21:27

I think I'll try to fit a pair of cut down wiper blade to the front of the rotor. I'll angle them down to try to push the mud towards the ground. It should be something that's easy to remove and re-install.

If that doesn't help, I may also try to fashion a mud guard out of coroplast . That may be tricky to get stays to hold the thing in place at 50mph without it collapsing in to my spokes, causing an unexpected braking event :-[

This is an election year, which inspires me to think of new uses for the coroplast 'vote for me' lawn signs that litter the landscape. They're waterproof, moldable, they take a thousand years to deteriorate, and they're free. :)

(photos forthcoming)

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by Oldfeller on 03/30/14 at 14:53:01

Water wipe off effects only last for a rotor rev or two -- most of us really don't notice the effect of rain on the rotor/pads as it is gone just that quickly.

I have noticed the steam coming off the rotor after stopping after a hard ride in the rain up in the mountains. Being warm, the rotor had stayed dry the whole time.

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by Dave on 03/31/14 at 04:53:47

If you still have the stock pads, try some EBC organic pads before you make some wiper bladey thing. The stock pads are not great pads....the EBC organics are better.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/10070/i/ebc-organic-front-brake-pads?WT.ac=RichAutoComplete

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by shorty on 03/31/14 at 04:59:19

I'm sorry but the idea of building a wiping device is kinda hard to swallow

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by Steve H on 03/31/14 at 15:28:54

Wonder what would happen to the wiping thingies when the rotor got good and hot...say like in the twisties in the mountains? I'm thinking meltdown and rubber pieces crudding up your brake pads and sticking to the rotor.

Title: Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Post by 1st2know on 03/31/14 at 19:00:37

Yeah, and for that reason, easy on/easy off is important.
I would want easily remove/disengage this contraption before any freeway speed riding.

The problem I'm having is on surface streets, with a lot of other traffic kicking up mud. I can see it all over my bike, windshield and my helmet. It's not the water, it's the thin mud-mist that quickly layers the rotor that seams to be the problem. I'm losing about 10ft of stopping distance going down hill. Uphill is not a problem.

An old-school bicycle brake caliper might fit (side pull) - where I mount the wipers on to the calipers, engage them when it's raining, and remember to disengage when I get to where I'm going. I would mount these in front of the caliper to reduce the chance of this contraption getting sucked in to the caliper. The fork tube looks like a good mounting platform, with a hose clamp holding this in place.