adjustment II

I don't see anything wrong yet.
how about a pic of the pedal fully depressed.

If the objective was to not be a jerk, I think you may have failed.

e most common setup is to have a lever on the right handgrip to engage the front brake and a pedal near the right foot peg to engage the rear brake. Standard motorcycle brakes are hydraulically actuated to clamp down on the brakes rotors. The front brakes supply about 70% of the motorcycle's stopping power (car brakes are similarly proportioned. One common misconception is that using too much front brake can flip the rider over the handlebars. Despite the greater braking capabilities of a motorcycle's front brakes it is very difficult to make a flip a bike based on braking alone. To stop a motorcycle in the shortest distance possible, it is important to use both front and rear brakes in unison. Danger can arise when misuse of the brakes locks a wheel and causes the tire to skid. When skidding, control over the motorcycle is compromised.

    To avoid a tire skid, motorcycle brakes should be applied firmly but smoothly. Progressively applying the front brake allows the weight of the motorcycle to shift forward, giving that tire extra traction. It is important to avoid abrupt application of the rear brake because as the weight shifts forward, decreasing weight on the rear tire makes it easier to lock up. In the event of a skid, a rider only has a split second to react so knowing the proper procedure is key.

    A motorcycle's front tire is mainly responsible for steering the motorcycle. If the motorcycle's front tire locks up during braking, there will not be traction to facilitate steering. If your motorcycle's front wheel locks up, you should immediately release the brake and then reapply less abruptly.

    A motorcycle's rear tire is mainly responsible for powering the motorcycle. Despite the fact that bikes only have two wheels, they are pretty stable as long as it is under power. As long as the rear wheel is driving the motorcycle, its rotational force will keep it upright and the wheels in line with each other. If the rear wheel locks up during braking, it will naturally drift out of line with the front wheel. If you release the brake and allow the rear wheel to spin under the power of the engine again, it will try to snap it back in line with the front wheel. This can cause a motorcycle to high side and can throw the rider off. High side crashes can be one of the most dangerous situations a motorcycle rider can encounter. If your motorcycle's rear wheel locks up, keep pressure of the brake. It is better to allow the rear wheel to skid than to risk a high side crash.

    In most braking situations, the rider should downshift as speed decreases to keep the road speed synched up with the engine speed. In emergency situations, keep the clutch squeezed in and focus on braking. Before coming to a stop, however, make sure to shift all the way down to first gear. Normally, it is a good idea to keep the motorcycle in gear with the clutch in at stoplights. With the bike in first gear, the rider has more control and can get the vehicle moving quickly if necessary.

    The best way to make sure stopping on your motorcycle is as safe as possible is to maintain a safe following distance behind the vehicle in front of you. By keeping an adequate space cushion between you and other vehicles, you can avoid the need for sudden breaking altogether. In wet or slippery conditions, increase your following distance even more since traction available for braking is reduced.

For more information check out our Motorcycle Brakes Page




Why would anyone just accept a thirty percent decrease in stopping power knowing that idiots regularly turn left across the paths of motorcycles??

After I cut grooves and eliminated about 1/3 of the contact surface, I could modulate ankle pressure and Feel the difference in braking.
Before that, the pressure difference between
I can tell the rear brake is slowing me down
And
The rear tire is sliding
was so tiny I couldn't safely use the brake.
Adjusting the pedal so low that my ankle just couldn't produce enough pressure at that angle didn't seem like an acceptable answer.
Cornering angles, time to go from normal riding position to flexing the ankle down against the boot fighting me, I just want the pedal to be up and brake engaging with minimal travel, and requiring enough pressure that I can feel it and increase or decrease and actually be in control of the brake. So, I took a bunch of the shoes out. Worked tons better. If I hadn't sold it, I would have taken more at the next tire change.

I didn't say that you shouldn't use the rear brake.....I do use mine for all the routine stops, and when braking hard in an emergency.  I also use my front brake in unison with the rear brake.

My comment on the rear brake is that the road racer friends have told me they hardly use any rear brake.  I am not sure why, as I have never done any paved track riding....my belief is that it can result in a sliding rear tire  (followed by a low or high side dismount).

oldNslow:

Now that you mentioned the heavy front brake that the road racers are using....I remember several slow motion shots in the "Hitting the Apex" movie where it showed the back tire was just skipping off the pavement when they where doing heavy braking.  The back tire would just touch the ground for an instant and then bounce back up in the air and float about 1/2" off the pavement for a long time (in slow motion).

I know that having dual front discs is a fad on most street bikes.....but they really do need both those discs on the real Moto GP bikes!  Most of us will never need the kind of brakes that it takes to slow down from 150+ mph repeatedly for an hour or more.

Almost ANY sport bike is capable of a 'stoppie' so in a true 'max braking' scenario, on a sport bike you might not use the rear brake, since the tire might not be on the ground
I quite often in regular riding use only the front brakes for normal stops, because even the Savage can outstop most production cars by a handy margin and I prefer not wearing a car on my rear tire
When I want full braking power however I have no issues with the rear brake
Also consider that if you downshift aggressively the engine itself can break the rear tire loose, so if you're using a lot of engine braking, say, slowing for a turn, adding MORE braking force to the rear tire might not be the brightest idea