Home
Forum
Search
Login
Register
Merch
Donate
Welcome, Guest. Please
Login
or
Register
::
View Members
SuzukiSavage.com
›
General Category
›
Rubber Side Down!
› Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
(Moderators:
verslagen1
,
Dave
,
Serowbot
)
‹
Previous topic
|
Next topic
›
Pages: 1
Front disc brake responsiveness in rain. (Read 94 times)
1st2know
Senior Member
Offline
Currently between
Savages
Posts: 295
Seattle, WA
Gender:
Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
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?
Back to top
Kaw VN1700, V-Strom 650, Coal powered Chevy Spark.
IP Logged
justin_o_guy2
Serious Thumper
Offline
What happened?
Posts: 55279
East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #1 -
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.
Back to top
The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.
IP Logged
schleppy
YaBB Newbies
Offline
SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!
Posts: 35
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #2 -
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.
Back to top
IP Logged
shorty
Serious Thumper
Offline
be careful out there
gentlemen
Posts: 547
southern NM
Gender:
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #3 -
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
Back to top
motorcycles have been my main transport since 1974
IP Logged
1st2know
Senior Member
Offline
Currently between
Savages
Posts: 295
Seattle, WA
Gender:
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #4 -
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)
Back to top
Kaw VN1700, V-Strom 650, Coal powered Chevy Spark.
IP Logged
Oldfeller--FSO
Serious Thumper
ModSquad
Online
Hobby is now
"concentrated
neuropany"
Posts: 12671
Fayetteville, NC
Gender:
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #5 -
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.
Back to top
Former Savage Owner
IP Logged
Dave
YaBB Moderator
ModSquad
Offline
SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!
Posts: 18097
Camp Springs, Kentucky
Gender:
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #6 -
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....
Back to top
Someday I will be old......But not today!
IP Logged
shorty
Serious Thumper
Offline
be careful out there
gentlemen
Posts: 547
southern NM
Gender:
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #7 -
03/31/14 at 04:59:19
I'm sorry but the idea of building a wiping device is kinda hard to swallow
Back to top
motorcycles have been my main transport since 1974
IP Logged
Steve H
Serious Thumper
Offline
SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!
Posts: 1223
Spartanburg, SC
Gender:
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #8 -
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.
Back to top
87 LS650, 2005 Ninja 250, 2009 Yamaha C3, 2001 Honda Reflex. On 2 wheels since 6/80.
IP Logged
1st2know
Senior Member
Offline
Currently between
Savages
Posts: 295
Seattle, WA
Gender:
Re: Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
Reply #9 -
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.
Back to top
Kaw VN1700, V-Strom 650, Coal powered Chevy Spark.
IP Logged
Pages: 1
‹
Previous topic
|
Next topic
›
Forum Jump »
» 10 most recent posts
» 10 most recent topics
General Category
»» Rubber Side Down!
- Technical Documents/Reference
- The Marketplace
- The Cafe
- Politics, Religion (Tall Table)
- Forum Upgrade Issues / Tests
« Home
« Home
SuzukiSavage.com
09/23/24 at 16:18:56
›
General Category
›
Rubber Side Down!
› Front disc brake responsiveness in rain.
SuzukiSavage.com
» Powered by
YaBB 2.2
!
YaBB
© 2000-2007. All Rights Reserved.