Now My Dumb Linked Brake question

You get on a VFR800, never having ridden one, and not knowing of the LBS. Are you aware that there's a little something different about the brakes, or does it just feel normal?
Actually, if all goes well, I'll know the answer in about a month- I'm just curious.:smile:

 

it feels normal, a tad less dive on the front end.
you really have to stand on the rear pedal to lock it up, so if you want to lock up the rear to put the bike down its not gonna happen.

 

seemless 98% of the time

 

I've never been able to lock up the rear on my '04. I have zero problems with my LBS.

 

IMHO they're totally seamless. Regardless of some of the LBS-bashing threads around (there seem to be plenty), I appreciate having them on board. I like 'em even better with ABS. LBS was also fitted to the XX.

 

There's a very good reason for that PJ. The 6th gen. bikes are equipped with two Proportional Control Valves in the rear brake system. Those Proportional Control Valves are basically used as flow restrictors.

By controlling the amount of hydraulic flow to the rear brake system you can regulate the amount of pressure that can be built up in the system.

By regulating the amount of pressure in the rear brake system you can limit the amount of clamping force that the rear brake caliper can provide to clamp the brake pads against the rotor.

What Honda did here was to partially neuter the rear brake and make it less powerful than it ultimately could be which makes it "less easy" for you the rider to lock-up the rear brake during heavy brake applications. That's what they were trying to accomplish.

This applies only to the 6th gen. bikes PJ because Honda completely revamped and simplified the Linked Braking System when they built the 6th gen. bikes.
The Linked Braking System on the 5th gen. bikes is a completely different animal.

 

I was un-aware that the linked brakes between the 5th and 6th gen's were all that different.

 

Love the LBS. I almost never hit the rear brake as a habit on all of my bikes. However, in hard braking situations I use it for a little extra help. On other bikes, the rear locks up easily, VFR NEVER. I think LBS actually saved my ass a couple weeks ago when I almost rearended a car that stopped super short in front of me. I grabbed all the front brake I could and hit the rear brake as hard as I could. I was ready for the rear to slide out and at the very least crash into the guy's trunk. Nope, I came to a nice, straight stop, tapped his bumper, and then traffic started moving again...

 

The basic operations of the 5th and 6th gen. Linked Braking Systems are very similar my friend,but look closer and you'll see they're not the same at all.
The way they're plumbed and what they were designed to do are markedly different.
The 5th gen. design is more of a clusterf:censored:k.
The 6th gen. design is more steamlined and simplified.

Here's a diagram of the 5th gen. LBS.



Here's a diagram of the 6th gen. LBS.

 

I love it. My 5th gen is the best stopping bike Ive had. You nail both brakes at the same time and these heavy bitches stop right now.