Rear brake

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the previous help guys. My 1982 GS550 Katana is now back on the road after sitting in a mates garage for 6 years, new paint job and all.
I have a couple of questions:-
1) Is the front brake as crap as I think it is, pull most way back to stop, good pull required to get bite, or do I need to do more? I have bled and bled and bled it and nice clean fluid with no bubbles exudes from the bleed nipples. Any suggestions gratefully received.
2) The rear brake (yes I do have a thing about brakes - but I kinda think they are important) works well, but when I push down hard on it it feels like the back wheel steps out a bit to the right side, doesn't go outta control of anything but i can definitely feel a twitch to the side. I have new tyres on front and rear, wheel alignment looks good and there is no wobble when riding striaght or turning - ideas?

Thanks - its good to get the wind in my visor again and a grin from ear to ear!

[Anonymous]

get steel braided brake lines for the front

[moto_dan]

Rear stepping out, to the right, as you have described has been common on every bike I've ever ridden, but I never really gave it much thought as to why. Probably has to do with weight distribution, camber of most roads........????????? My gut tells me that in the back of every bikes mind they long to be a flat tracker

[Clone]

All my bikes have tried to "step out" to the right when I hit the back brake hard. I never thought it was a problem as I know it will happen so I don't sweat it. My brother also tells me that his bike moves out that way too.
The joyous time of bleeding the front brakes on a GS, get yourself an auto-bleeder, kind of looks like a cake icing gun, and do all the nipples on the front, my bike has four that I remember, each caliper and the forks. Have someone you can rely on constantly pour fluid into the master cylinder without making bubbles and pull a bunch of fluid through each nipple, that should firm them up.

[Anonymous]

My rear Brake Also "steps out" a bit under hard braking however the front brake works Excellent and I use it most of the time more than the rear

[daveo]

be careful when releasing rear brake as it's 'stepping out', to do so suddenly can result in the rear tire grabbing at an odd angle and 'high siding' you and your bike!

[Anonymous]

Thanks

Thanks for the comments guys.

It doesn't step out far but just a twitch sideways so i don't feel like letting off on the rear is even necessary, although I had considered the possibility of a high side hence decided to pop in a question.

Looks like i'll be headed for steel braided brake lines in the very near future.

PS an in-line fuel filter is cheap and stops rust clogging your carbs - I found out the hard way - had to push the bike home!!!

Cheers

[Katana]

Daveo is right , if a rear tyre when locked slides out to the side , releasing of that brake will create a high side effect. 8O
the fact that the bike is stepping out means your wheel is locked. this occurs because we put tooooo much rear brake on and not enough front!
That is normaly due to us treating the rear brake like a combined system in our car : one brake does it all.We panic or push it too much and create a skid thats no good as we havent got any grip!!
The rear brake becomes weaker through weight transfer to the front.
Thus if we are too aggressive with the rear we simply slide.
We as riders are generaly bad at braking due to our lack opf practice,and lack of knowledge of roadcraft . I speek with experience as I used to "slam" the rear brake on whenever I was in trouble :roll:
It all ended in tears of course.
try both brakes with a keener understanding of front brake as opposed to rear!

cheers katana

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the comments Katana
However I can categorically state that the rear wheel is not locked at this point, the step out happens as the rear brakes start to bite not at full pressure, and i can brake harder without it locking up. I use more front than rear anyway cause thats how I was trained.
I reckon its a gyroscopic effect due to the offset position of the brake disc, retardation of the moment of rotation at a distance out from the centre of rotation, may well induce enough of a force at a vector away from the tyre to make the rear tyre try and tip to the left, its stopped from doing this by body position swingarm etc. so bottom of tyre moves ever so slightly out to the right.

Thats my theory anyway - any applied mathematicians care to comment?