Does anyone know the real reason why, dealer in are offering us to change the front brake system? I have not done it yet (no dealer in my state), so I am wondering how much of a change is it?

-- Olivier Thomas (okthomas@tir.com), July 12, 2002

Answers

They are supposed to be of a higher spec because people complained that the stock ones were to soft. I had it done and I noticed that they bite a bit harder, but I didn't have a problem with them in the first place. Once I got used to them (compared to how hard and fast my R1 brakes) they were fine. The newer ones took a little getting use to but now as with the originals they are fine. I was the rear brake was stronger though.

The brakes are should be covered under warranty. There should be no cost to you at all. I dropped my bike off and picked it up without spending a dime

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), July 12, 2002.

Funny thing, I thought that the new calipers were because there was some air that built up in the old ones. Does anyone have part numbers to compare old to new? That would be a good check.

My new ones have not been impressive to me yet. They seem to either still have air in them, or the pistons are hanging up a bit under braking making initial feel not so good. Every time I have the pads worked back into the caliper and the brakes bled, they work good though. Not the same initial power as my R1, but I do believe they are slightly easier to modulate.

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), July 13, 2002.

If that was why then they still have a problem, because I went out on my Senna today only to learn I had no rear breaks and the front were a little "soft" also. I had to get them bled and then things were fine. It seems like every 1100 miles or so I had to do this with my Strada and its kinda of funny that I'm almost at 1100 on the Senna an had to do the same thing.

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), July 14, 2002.

I've found that my rear brake is just about worthless. It will hold the bike on a hill when you are stopped, but just barely. I can stomp on it when going in a straight line and I would probably slow down faster Fred Flintstone style. I figure you could probably save a few pounds of unsprung weight by just getting rid of it...

My fronts are starting to show signs of their previous behavior, kinda mushy initially but then they get bite. I'm going to work the pads around a little and see if I can improve it.

Haven't been riding much, it's been raining. Doesn't rain much in the desert, but when it does, we get our share.

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), July 18, 2002.