well it's been a while since i poked around here. <well since deeney and
the Llama incident>. Well as things would have it i scarcely ride dirt
bikes anymore and did pick up a 2001 road king. so far the upgrade of
the chain tension-er is the only issue that has attacked my wallet. it's
been 25+ years since street riding and so far so good. I've spent some
time getting used to the extra 500+ pound of bike by doing figure 8's in
the parking lot, & other slow speed maneuvers ect. i did try some quick
stops and tested out the braking capabilities, which are impressive for
a "older" gentleman's bike. any advice or things to look for on a older,
but well maintained road king would be great.
john
I've never been totally impressed with stock Harley brakes.
I've owned a
couple and rode a couple more. My 97 FLHT improved with some kevlar
brake pads. (My personal favorite Harley. Maybe my favorite bike of
all time.)
My wife's 92FLSTF ultimately got a larger bore front brake cylinder.
My old AMF/Frankenstein FX definitely needed better front brakes and got
a larger bore front master. The rear worked ok, but I had a weird lock
up on it once like it wasn't retracting fully. I bled pressure along
side the road with a glowing red hot brake, and it never did it again.
That bike definitely taught me to always carry a toolkit on my bike. LOL
The '03 Road Glide Patti replaced her Fatboy with had just barely
adequate brakes but they felt really soft spongy. I actually took it to
the dealer and complained, but they said that was the way they were
supposed to be. I did some panic brake tests on it and was concerned my wife's hand strength would not be adequate, but I could hard stop it
with the front lever nearly touching the grip. If I had a finger behind
it or even some fringe of a glove I would not have been able to get full braking.
Really though the 2002 VRSCA had decent brakes. Lousy lean angle and a tendency to go straight really well, but decent brakes. LOL.
Just my opinion. I felt all three of my Goldwings(75/75/84), four
Shadows, Magna, Heritage Special, CL350, GN250, 1600 Mean Streak, etc
etc etc all had better brakes than my Harleys except for the VRSCA.
The newer Brembo brakes as supposed to be even better. I have no
idea who made the 2000-up 4-piston ones, but may have it in some notes somewhere...If Brembo made shitty brakes when it's well known they're
making the newer calipers, they'd be in trouble (I don't know if
there's actual Brembo branding on them, haven't looked up close.)
Phil
On 9/9/2021 6:51 PM, john wrote:
well it's been a while since i poked around here. <well since deeney
and the Llama incident>. Well as things would have it i scarcely ride
dirt bikes anymore and did pick up a 2001 road king. so far the
upgrade of the chain tension-er is the only issue that has attacked my
wallet. it's been 25+ years since street riding and so far so good.
I've spent some time getting used to the extra 500+ pound of bike by
doing figure 8's in the parking lot, & other slow speed maneuvers ect.
i did try some quick stops and tested out the braking capabilities,
which are impressive for a "older" gentleman's bike. any advice or
things to look for on a older, but well maintained road king would be
great.
john
I've never been totally impressed with stock Harley brakes. I've owned a couple and rode a couple more. My 97 FLHT improved with some kevlar
brake pads. (My personal favorite Harley. Maybe my favorite bike of
all time.)
My wife's 92FLSTF ultimately got a larger bore front brake cylinder. It
got a lot of stuff though. It was a show bike AND a daily rider. I
still have take off parts and take offs of dress up parts that were
replaced with fancier ones from that bike. I remember when my wife
decided to put on some new fancy handle bars the night before a run.
About 11 at night she came in the house almost in tears that it wasn't
going to get done. I went out and strung wires until 3:00 am before I
took it for a test ride, but we went on that run. I went straight home afterwards for a nap, but we went. LOL.
My old AMF/Frankenstein FX definitely needed better front brakes and got
a larger bore front master. The rear worked ok, but I had a weird lock
up on it once like it wasn't retracting fully. I bled pressure along
side the road with a glowing red hot brake, and it never did it again.
That bike definitely taught me to always carry a toolkit on my bike. LOL
The '03 Road Glide Patti replaced her Fatboy with had just barely
adequate brakes but they felt really soft spongy. I actually took it to
the dealer and complained, but they said that was the way they were
supposed to be. I did some panic brake tests on it and was concerned my wife's hand strength would not be adequate, but I could hard stop it
with the front lever nearly touching the grip. If I had a finger behind
it or even some fringe of a glove I would not have been able to get full braking. She rode it to work everyday for about 3-4 years before she decided it was just to much for her anymore. She never hit anybody, so
it was probably ok.
Really though the 2002 VRSCA had decent brakes. Lousy lean angle and a tendency to go straight really well, but decent brakes. LOL.
I've heard that dirt bikes tend towards softer front brakes (never been
a dirt bike rider myself), because a lockup is a higher risk in dirt
than on the road. I can see where a dirt rider might like the brakes on
a Harley.
Just my opinion. I felt all three of my Goldwings(75/75/84), four
Shadows, Magna, Heritage Special, CL350, GN250, 1600 Mean Streak, etc
etc etc all had better brakes than my Harleys except for the VRSCA.
OH WAIT A MINUTE. The Paughco 750 Savior Springer definitely did not
have better brakes. It really didn't have better anything except for
cool factor sitting in front of a road side tavern. LOL.
I just realized... I have to sit back and actively think about it and
I'm not sure I can remember every bike I've ever owned anymore. Well
not all the details. Used to be be I could recite the make, model,
year, and engine details of every one. Well, I've been fortunate to own
a lot of motorcycles.
Thanks for listening ya'all. Have a round of the good stuff for thoseraising a glass of maker's mark your direction.
who want and a glass of milk for the rest on me.
Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
<snip>
I've never been totally impressed with stock Harley brakes.
With good reason. But they did get much better....let's go down
the list!
<redacted>
If you still have that bike, put a few tie-wraps around the brake
lever and front grip (put a rag between the tie-wraps and the grip if
the grip is made of rubber or foam), and tighten them as much as you
can. Leave it overnight. Thank me in the morning.
Phil
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