What did you do to your bike today?

Testing the very limit of your brakes is a good thing as then when you really have to on the road you know what to expect and how hard to push. Even more so on a non ABS bike as you need to know how hard to brake without locking up. ABS to be fair you just yank :p
 
Really? I can't say I agree. A few stops from 50mph should be enough to test the pads are fine and the lever working, I'd have thought.

If you pull the level with so much force that it bends the lever (!) and you go flying over the bars, what do you then tell the doctor/insurance/wife? "Sorry, I just wanted to see what would happen?"
 
EVH said:
Really? I can't say I agree. A few stops from 50mph should be enough to test the pads are fine and the lever working, I'd have thought.

If you pull the level with so much force that it bends the lever (!) and you go flying over the bars, what do you then tell the doctor/insurance/wife? "Sorry, I just wanted to see what would happen?"
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I didn't exactly go straight to slamming it on, I worked up a few times before really pulling it.

I'd sooner find out on an empty road knowing what I'm doing than when a car pulls out on me and I panic brake. Now I'm fully aware that if I need to stop I can simply pull that brake lever as hard as I possibly can.

The reason it bent part of the lever is because the hard brake line fouls part of the lever which I didn't realize, and neither did ASV it seems since they sent me a new one.

The initial problem I had after the brake pad change was air in the lines, the lever felt great until I didn't use it for a few mins and then it was come further back. Another bleed and some hard stops fixed that.
 
I'm an ABS convert. I actually don't like riding bikes without it now. I don't believe in the "removal of control" theory at all. In my mind ABS only does one thing- change the consequences when the human element fails, i.e. instead of locking up (and usually, falling off), you activate the ABS. I have failed, and failed hard, multiple times over the years.

It's definitely worth knowing how ABS feels so you don't freak out the first time it happens, but even with modern ABS the "best" way to brake is still to the limit of grip rather than the limit of ABS. I.e. just jamming the lever on is fine in an emergency, but you don't stop as quickly as braking to the limits of grip. Way better than locking up and falling off though :)
 
CGrieves said:
It's definitely worth knowing how ABS feels so you don't freak out the first time it happens, but even with modern ABS the "best" way to brake is still to the limit of grip rather than the limit of ABS. I.e. just jamming the lever on is fine in an emergency, but you don't stop as quickly as braking to the limits of grip. Way better than locking up and falling off though :)
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With a decent road surface, modern tyres and good technique it's tricky to find the limits of the front tyre whilst braking, more likely to lift the rear. Modern tyres are superb in comparison to what was available 20 years ago.
 
Foghorn Leghorn said:
With a decent road surface, modern tyres and good technique it's tricky to find the limits of the front tyre whilst braking, more likely to lift the rear. Modern tyres are superb in comparison to what was available 20 years ago.
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R1 has a gyro, if the rear lifts the abs kicks in.

As I said, was only to see what would happen and confirm my idea that I could slam on as hard as I wanted.

ABS is fantastic, no need to worry about rain/damp, sand (within reason), the rear overtaking the front. It's unlikely to even activate with the roads being the temperature they are here with the sun.
 
Any decent bike ABS system will be able to detect rear wheel lift/lock and compensate, even without an IMU. It's all in the spin rates!
 
Foghorn Leghorn said:
With a decent road surface, modern tyres and good technique it's tricky to find the limits of the front tyre whilst braking, more likely to lift the rear. Modern tyres are superb in comparison to what was available 20 years ago.
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Yeah totally agree, it's easy to forget how ridiculous tyres are now. I recently had to do a full-on emergency stop in the damp on the A40 that didn't even trigger the ABS, and that's on Roadsmart 2s! I'll probably get 7000 miles out of them, maybe more. I seem to remember my D207GPs lasting about 10 minutes back in the 90s :)
 
I had the Woolich ecu tune done a few months back on the MT09-SP. Made the bike so much smoother, run better with the full Akro(no baffle) and got a little bit of BHP gain out of it.

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Took it in today (Got drenched) to have the race tools added on as well:

 
Nice! Would be very interested to know what you think about the blipper on the road. It's probably my favourite feature of the S1000RR.
 
Auto Blipper is amazing, sometimes lazy......but amazing.

The 1290 one is pretty good, can use it in all gears at all speeds. 2nd to 1st can be a bit clunky if you are just pootling so I often just clutch down into first. When going a bit more aggressive being able to smash down a few gears whilst hard on the brakes is sublime.
 
Finally got my hands on a full size half decent jap 125
2005 Honda CBR 125 R rs5.

I am currently stripping down the fairings and front to sort out the wobbly clocks, and see if I can repair some of the fairing clips to save on buying new fairings.
 
First 6,000 mile service done on GSA today. Was 3c when I left my house, roads were fairly tricky in the Kent countryside, felt like a rally car at times the amount it was moving around underneath me on some of the roads, but the old bus took it in it's stride.

Left the dealer just before midday and dash was showing 12-14c on way home, not long now!


(Roads were a bit too slippy for some..)

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I was severely jealous on my drive home last night perfect riding weather loads of bikes out, then when I left the other half's this morning and had to scrape a couple of mm of solid ice off the windows I was happy I had the car :D
 
Oil change on the CBR and a little ride out before to get it warm.

Need to refit the plate the the Monkey too. It sheared the original mount along a small crack under all the flexing with the large plate on it.

Also, is it worth running red x through a carb bike?
 
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