'16 GTR - brakes a bit 'meh'?

[Jason P]

Juts been for a test ride on a nice 16-plate GTR at a local dealer. Lovely bike - very impressed by it's performance, how well it handles, even it's near 'flickability' for such a hefty bike.

The one thing that put me off - well not put off per se, but surprised me, was the brakes. Lousy rear (barely unable to slow me at all, dragging my feet would've felt better) and the front was not what I expected. I was certainly expecting better than my old 1150GSA which was a barge but stopped well (non Servo before you ask). This just felt like a whole lotta effort for not a lot of reward. It stopped okay, but nothing to rave about. And I've heard a lot of raves about the brakes on these bikes. Tried it in both linked and unlinked modes.

Any opinions/comparisons? Am I expecting too much, do 'they all do that sir?' or might there be an issue with the bike? It looks like it has aftermarket discs (kind of serrated wavy) and I've no idea re pads. Bike has done a shade under 10k.

Ta!

Jason

[nightrider]

I find the brakes work well from high speed ,but are a bit wooden from 40mph down to a stop ..

[Jason P]

That's what I found Nightrider - just underwhelming at round-town speeds, seemingly needing a haul to bring her to a halt. One corner on a B road that I went into a little hot, whereas normally I'd use a dab of trailing rear brake to bring the bike into line, this didn't work on the GTR. At all. That was a little worrying. I like a rear brake strong enough to lock up if I so choose...

[O.C.]

I never had any real problem with front brake performance...however I am on record as saying that the rear brake is about as effective as the rear drum brakes on my 1970s Kawasaki Triples....it seems to be a Kawasaki 'thing' I'm afraid     

[BigAlan]

I never had any real problem with front brake performance...however I am on record as saying that the rear brake is about as effective as the rear drum brakes on my 1970s Kawasaki Triples....it seems to be a Kawasaki 'thing' I'm afraid 

Rog, and a Multistrada, I reckon the pedal and rear brake are only there to meet the regulations.

[Longtom]

The lousy back brake makes it hard, in my experience, to slow ride properly and balance it against the clutch, have to keep dabbing a foot down. Thought it might be me losing the' touch' so it's helpful to read the opinion of others' on the rear brake. Though, of course, I might actually be losing the touch too...

[Davio]

It's definitely the bike. The brakes on these bikes are superb. I fit EBC HH pads. The front brakes on their own are excellent from any speed, slow or fast solo or with pillion and fully loaded with camping gear. In linked mode the rear is very smooth and provides gentle retardation but in conjunction with the front the stopping power is immense. I spend an hour and a half every two months and remove the brake pads and clean the pistons etc. from front and rear brakes. Just FYI, the GTR is a pleasant gentle comfy bike if you keep the revs under 5k. 5 to 7.5k and its interesting, Keeping it in 2nd gear in the twisties red lining it is just amazing. You totally forget about the size and weight of the bike. It's ridiculously easy to ride very quickly. There's a great video of a group of German guys an GTRs riding the Alps. Cant find it at the moment, I'll post it when I can. 

[craigv78]

Love the brakes on my 08 GTR - much better than previous honda Blackbirds I've owned. (linked brakes on 97 Carb-Blackbird used to lock the back wheel regularly when progressive front braking - 01 injection model was better but still felt a bit snatchy)

My other bike, however (08 VN900 Custom) with its feeble single disk front and very very feeble single disk rear, requires special dispensation and written permission from the Queen to be able to stop at any speed. Love the bike, but the lack of brakes are scary on the motorway with the amount of tw*ts around, that was the reason I went for the GTR as my commuter bike.

[Nitty Gritty]

Hi Jason P,
I've a newish Oct 17 plate. I found the rear a little stiff pedaled with little stopping power to start with. As time has gone by (just coming up to 2000 miles} the rear is behaving as you would expect, pedal moving freely, stopping strongly with rear brake only and easily controlling balance when crawling. So I think there is an issue with the test bike, might just need a bit of using.
As an easy fix (not stripping and looking) with previous bikes I have been known (when one fingered braking has required an extra digit or two to get the desired effect) levered the pads back towards the caliphers and then pumped them out again. Worked for me, I assumed it removed crud building up on sliders, pins and pistons.
Use it often enough and it everythings working as it should, it'll stop quick enough.
Regards
Nitty Gritty

[Jason P]

Thanks all... it chimes in with what I've read on the US forum, most think they're great with a few thinking not so good. I'm going to test ride an older one soon to see how that fares. I'll report back!

[smokin]

From my experience when I purchased a new 2014 GTR1400 I found the brakes to be very ordinary until they were bed in,which is the case with all disc brakes.But having said that after fitting metal sintered pads after they were bed in braking performance at any speed was out standing compared to OEM pads.

[Robbieben]

I have a 17 GTR, same bike, and when the bike was new the brakes were not brilliant, however after 1200 miles or so they did improve, I've now fitted EBC HH Sintered to the front and EBC Organic on the rear and they are very much improved.

[Rynglieder]

It is really difficult to know unless you can get your hands on an identical machine and see if the performance differs. Perhaps there is another forum member local to you who may lend you his ride for 15 minutes?

The brakes on mine have never given any cause for concern and were certainly good enough to save the life of an indecisive Cornish rabbit last month. Is it not the case that 2010 onwards models have linked brakes but not the earlier ones? If so, riders of earlier models will get a different perception. I really must re-read my handbook, I seem to recall it is adjustable for riding under load – are you set up right?

In comparison my Z1300 is truly awful, but fortunately it has usually run out of fuel about the time you need to stop.

The 2009 (ABS) Z1000 seems the best I have for brakes but it is probably the case that there is a lot less of it to stop; I never ride that with a pillion or luggage.

The GSX1400 is adequate although there is not the reassurance of ABS and I have suffered judder from the front on ocaisions, sometimes dealt with by freeing the bobbins but ultimately by replacing the discs which had warped. The brilliant thing about the GSX is that you can avoid touching the brakes at all a lot of the time, just roll off the throttle and the big torque lump takes the speed off that you need or A road bends.

Given the above and other factors, I always take the first few miles away from my drive fairly steadily so that I reacclimatise myself to how what is under me is going to behave. Likewise, perhaps what you have is different to what you rode before and just takes a little adjusting to. If not you might have to start spending a bit of pocket money but hopefully the ride is worth it.

Stay safe.

Pete.

[Jason P]

Thanks for that Pete, I'm comparing it with my Harley Road King. It's a late Evo model, so only single pot brakes. Needs a fair handful to stop it, but stop it does. Locking the back brake is possible (quite a feat on a large machine!) and it'll stop with some authority using both, if your input is 'positive'!

I just expected the GTR to be in another league, and it wasn't. I have no yardstick to judge it by, but I expected a bit more two-fingers-brick-wall style braking, not needing a fistful to haul me down from not silly speeds. And the non-existent (or massively ineffective) rear was a worry. This on a 9700 mile 16 plate bike.

Hoping to compare with another soon.

[Rusty]

Its a while since my 11 plated GTR was stopped by me but I always found the brakes to be pretty bloody good !