Improvement 1000 SFC rear brake?

[Andy J]

"So how many times do you see the back wheel in the air compared to WSB etc Clem???"
err......... plenty of times, as in loads and loads, and very often fresh air under both tyres, plenty of pics around to prove both.
CLEM

Yes, but were they braking or going over the jump at Ballacryre?
For me, forks compressed hard and back wheel in the air indicates pretty hard braking (al la Toprak in WSBK). Both wheels in the air indicates no braking - unless they have air brakes attached....

 

[Laverdalothar]

Today I took the time to look a bit deeper into the issue. Had bought me a rear master repair kit at OCT, as I was sure the issue was there. It is btw. a PS12, which has something like 12.65mm piston diameter, so a bit more than a 1/2 inch Jap, but not critically more. That made me think, as with the 1/2" on the Jota, everything is working fine...

So - put the bike on the lift started to losen the screws on the master when suddenly I thought - what if the problem is actually the (used, 36 years old) GSX-R caliper...? As I anyway first pump out the caliper pistons to a certain degree when I exchange the master so that enough fluid is in the caliper that I can send back up to the master when I re-install it to get rid of all air, I checked how the pistons are moving. Or better: one not.

I blocked the moving one to see if then the other one would be moving, removed also some air that still was in the caliper by the 2nd bleeder so that finally, the second piston started moving. Great, I thought. At least, until I tried to push it back in... No freaking chance!

OK - so, what to do... Getting a repair kit for the 36 years old GSX-R 1100 caliper on a Saturday is impossible. Scratched my head a while until the spare caliper sprang to mind that I had bought for the Motoplast project years ago and that was still on the shelve. Took it out, removed the unnecessarry mounting point, cleaned it, put in new brake pads and mounted it to the 1000 SFC, bleading it thoroughly several times. Everything else put together again and test drove it up and down the road.

It was defenitely better than before, but still not as I wanted it though it improved after several braking attempts. So - back to the garage, master repair time! It made a creaky sound anytime you pushed the food-lever, so I thought it's best to be repaired, too.

Replacying the piston is really straight forward and no big deal, as long as you have some tools that you need (see the brake master repair guide in the Wiki-Section).

Master back on the bike, bleeding it again several times until now air comes up anywhere. Bike off the lift, testdriving it up and down the street several times - works! Not blocking the rear tire really like on the Jota, but it definitely is now stopping the bike! Might improve over time once the new brake pads have seated correctly. We'll see if it improves. Currently happy with the results so far.

 

[Andy J]

Good to hear you’ve managed to make some improvements Lothar.
I had a ‘heart-in-the-mouth’ moment yesterday on the mountain section of the TT course whilst out riding my ‘Should-have-been-a-Jota’, which had I been on the SFC1000 probably would have had a different outcome.
I was blasting up the mountain mile when I spotted in the distance a car that wasn’t travelling very quickly. Initially I thought, no real problem until I saw he was coming up behind a cyclist ‘crawling’ up the hill. I still didn’t think it was going to be an issue, the car would pull around the cyclist and by moderating my speed a bit I could then pass the car after he passed the cyclist.
Unfortunately, the car driver, who was ‘R’ plated (meaning a newly passed driver limited to 50mph max speed) ‘bottled’ the pass and dropped back behind the cyclist as there was, still some distance away, a small van coming in the opposite direction.
I then went from a rolling off to a full on emergency stop mode. Fortunately, the SHBAJ has some pretty impressive braking ability, but still I had to use both front and back brakes pretty hard to bring the bike up to a virtual halt behind the car. On the SFC1000 I guess it may have resulted in a hospital visit.
I suppose I should make more allowance these days that, generally, car drivers think they can’t pass a cyclist unless they completely move into the other carriage way, which is just ridiculous; and too many car drivers make erratic manoeuvres when being passed by a bike or don’t maintain a steady speed.
On the recent Distinguished Gentlemen’s Run, a friend, on his old AJ, was following a Porsche driver that kept speeding up then braking unnecessarily, to the point my friend, trying to maintain a steady speed, decided to pass said Porsche driver who, just as my friend started to speed up to make the pass, braked again resulting in the AJ, which definitely doesn’t have modern braking prowess, rear ending the car. Of course the accident is considered to be my friend’s fault, and the erratic driving of the Porsche driver will go unpunished.
I thought people, when they are taught to drive, are told to maintain a steady speed, but be prepared to slow down or stop if the need arises to prevent an accident, not slow down and cause one. And definitely, don’t deliberately brake test vehicles even if they are annoyingly sitting on your bumper as that’s a sure fire way of causing an accident.

 

[chrisk]

We in Qld, and I think too the rest of Australia, have a new provision to the laws that allow us to cross the centre lines, be they dotted or solid, too allow for a one metre space between our vehicle and a cyclist.

However, there are busy sections of road where I travel weekly where on both sides of the road, that have a white fog line, 300mm of bitumen and a 1.5mt drop (either side of the road) a cyclist, usually from another country, take their lives into their own hand on those stretches.

Don’t get me wrong, I like cyclists, but not smashed up ones on my bull bar. The mess and paperwork…..

Here’s a picture of such a section I took last week

 

[Tippie]

What do they do wrong? Cycle outside the white unbroken line? If it is wide enough and it is clean enough of gravel and shit I always ride in that narrow bit. Yesterday numerous cars almost hit me with their mirrors despite there being no oncoming vehicles, small battery cars seem to be the worst for it. I avoid roads frequented by trucks as they often tailgate and although the first one has seen me, the followers haven't.

 

[piranha-bro2]

I try to avoid (when cycling) busy roads full stop, but on minor roads with that setup I also ride the narrow strip. If the narrow strip disappears you just have to check behind and move out, but always as far left as poss. Most roads have enough room to allow cars to give you space but not easy for large trucks like CKs. 99.5% of the time I ride smart ... and stress-free.