linked brakes

glenn.1

glenn.1

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My '13 lc has linked brakes 70% front 30% rear....got me wondering ..... if while braking using the front brake lever only... i then apply the rear brake... does that cancel the link between them or does it add to the 30%..... its just that i seem to go through the rear pads faster than the front ones.... i do however use the rear brake pedal when braking
thanks
 
Applying rear brake adds to it. The GS does go through rear brakes quicker than the front. Normal
 
I read on the BMW website that the way the linked brakes work was if you applied the front brake it also applied the rear, however if you applied the rear on its own it didn’t apply the front.


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a bit of an assumption .... i remember some training years ago , the ideal braking pattern was 70% front 30% rear... i assumed the algorithm was based on that...
 
Obviously there's more breaking power with the twin front disks so you think logic would dictate that they would wear faster BUT....Go figure....they don't!
I still use the rear and tweak the front, it's an old habit from when I first learnt to ride a bike in the dark ages :rob
 
Jacal said:
Obviously there's more breaking power with the twin front disks so you think logic would dictate that they would wear faster BUT....Go figure....they don't!
Click to expand...

It does seem weird .... I'm fairly sure that the rear pads don't have as much wear material on them as the front
 
I don't touch the back brake pedal in normal riding. The balance seems really good to me - it certainly pulls up well in those butt clench moments dealing with the unanticipated when on a 'spirited ride'.

In terms of wear, if its 70%on the front split between 2 discs, that's 35% each, and 30% on the back. I would expect them all to wear at roughly the same amount. If you use additional rear brake then obviously it will wear more.
 
so would it be safe to say .. under normal circumstances don't use the back brake...in-fact if you think about it .. under what circumstances would you use the back brake ... when things get hairy.. pull harder on the front... i think !
 
glenn.1 said:
so would it be safe to say .. under normal circumstances don't use the back brake...in-fact if you think about it .. under what circumstances would you use the back brake ... when things get hairy.. pull harder on the front... i think !
Click to expand...

I use it filtering, slow manoeuvres etc. It’s there for a reason and two brakes are better than one.

In my biking past I had a Honda X11 with linked breaks and that was interesting. A bike with the handling capabilities of the last trolley in Sainsbury’s with breaks that both came on and unsettled the bike more.
 
If you have a Nav V or VI go and look in the menus and find the bit where you can find out how many times you have used the front and rear brakes (yes it is in there).
Normally the rear is used half as much again as the front even if you never touch the pedal.
When the front brake lever is used the rear is activated first, this helps with the balance of the bike. If the front brake lever is used gently, as when riding in slow moving town traffic, the lever is not pulled hard enough to activate the front brake hence the higher rear brake pad wear.
 
The info on the Nav6 had me baffled for a while until I realised whenever I touch the front brake the rear was activating too.
Its surprising how much work the rear brake is doing when your riding in traffic so its no surprise the rear pads wear out so quickly.
 
I use the rear brake when cornering at speed, it helps settle the bike and evens the weight distribution.


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I rarely use the rear (apart from slow riding stuff) mainly because there's so much travel on the pedal, it's awkward to use.
 
ChazzyB, I had the same issue with my last GS. Mentioned it at the first service and was told it was normal. Didn't mention it at the second service and was told they'd fixed it. The fix didn't last long. It's not a problem on my new GS.
 
funny that ive rode a tl1000s f many yrs only used front brake until disc warped on day 2 of 10 day euro alps tour so used rear to death...
had a new gsa lc for a yr and use rear then front brake seems to work well f me as its such a big heavy beast
 
On my first GS he rear brakes did not last until the first service and the dealer said the computer showed I was using them too much. That was the result of nearly 50 years driving "normal" bikes, i.e.no linked brakes. Since then I have let the bike sort it out and after the GS, a GSA and a GTL I almost never touch the rear lever and have no rear wear problems ands no problems stopping the bike ever.

One story though. At the start off a holiday my GS with the old servo brakes gave the "brake failure" warning when starting. Stopping and restarting normally fixed it but it got worse as the holiday wore on. When the brake warning came on the bike went into emergency brake mode which is BMWs way of saying you are now riding a fully loaded two up bike with no f**king brakes. i got used to grabbing a handful of front and stamping on the rear to stop the bike but returning to hotel one night I did not notice the system reset OK while driving and the warning had gone out. I then had to stop quick when traffic lights changed, grabbed everything but now had my full servo brakes back which resulted in my wife taking off over my back. A trip to a BMW dealer the next day found the problem was just a sticky brake light switch. The bike's system saw the switch as showing the brake was being applied so refused to complete the brake test.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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