Hi ,was out today and listening to cd ,not fully concentrating and had to brake firm but not over hard and rear wheel locked up very easily on my 07. has anyone got a problem with this as this is the second time it has happened to me.do i need to upgrade to 08 bike with ABS.
John
John, ABS has done wonders for the braking performance of the general population, but mere mortals can do almost as well providing they understand braking dynamics and practice proper technique until it becomes automatic. Of course, if your post was just a thinly veiled attempt to justify a new bike, please ignore my obviously misguided comment and do what you need to do.
Seriously, rear lockup is common on all bikes, not just '07's. When you apply the brakes weight shifts to the front and leaves the rear wheel lightly loaded, reducing traction. If you combine that with bumps, traction can be reduced to the point that almost any brake application would be enough to chirp the tire. The answer, other than ABS, is to practice panic stops until it becomes second nature to rely mostly on the front brakes and to just feather the rear to maintain stability. Find yourself a nice empty parking lot to practice, and gradually increase speeds and stopping efforts while maintaining full control.
Jerry
PS - I haven't quite figured out why H-D puts the same size brake on the rear of their bikes, and also uses the exact same pads. Years ago, rear brakes on bikes were much smaller than the fronts, and the shoes or pads were also smaller and less aggressive. If anyone makes a less aggressive pad to fit the stock caliper, that might help.
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Topic: Rear Brake lock up (Read 948 times)