Unified braking system - does yours work?

Yamaguy55

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Mine functions very well, and so does the ABS. Almost undetectable, but if you have your foot on the rear brake pedal while you grab the front, you can sense the pulsing, more so under heavy decel with downshifting.
 

SpeedStar

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I tried mine from cold today. Went out without touching the rear brake and did three accel and brake with the front only and checked the rear disc temp. It works as described.
 

Combo

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I was never a ABS fan, but I have got to tell you this Big XT stops just fine and way better than I thought it would. :) I don't think I could ever change from using both brakes at the same time and don't believe I want to. I could just see me hopping back on my KLR and running up someones tail pipe because I only used the front brake in a quick stop. :eek: Old dog new tricks........I don't think so but I am a believer of ABS now. Good job Yamaha! :)

The TCS is on par with the brakes. When I picked mine up from the dealer to go home we had a nice shower and the roads were wet. A good time to test the traction control. I dumped the clutch in TC1 and the thing just launched, twisted the right hand hard in 2nd and hooked up again. I could not have launched the FJR as fast as the XTZ in the same conditions.
This is good stuff for sure. 8)
 

Koinz

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I had servo assisted linked abs brakes on my BMW. They were fantastic. Just have to watch out for people behind you that can't stop as fast. I had a Harley almost run into me from behind once and he was riding two up.
 

troll

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I would suggest reading up on this brake system and how to use it. Full braking potential is realized by applying both front and rear brakes, hand and foot master cylinders. The UBS actuated by the hand/front brake is a proportioned application of the rear brake. Full braking capacity of the rear brake is only fully used by full application of the foot brake lever. Worth reading up on, it is a very suphisticated system.
 

GrahamD

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troll said:
I would suggest reading up on this brake system and how to use it. Full braking potential is realized by applying both front and rear brakes, hand and foot master cylinders. The UBS actuated by the hand/front brake is a proportioned application of the rear brake. Full braking capacity of the rear brake is only fully used by full application of the foot brake lever. Worth reading up on, it is a very suphisticated system.
It is and one that many reviewers totally failed to understand. Once the TCS and D-Mode were thrown into the mix, I think they stopped listening. OR it was neveer explained to them. I would assume that a few reviews were done as if none of it existed.
 

markjenn

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troll said:
I would suggest reading up on this brake system and how to use it. Full braking potential is realized by applying both front and rear brakes, hand and foot master cylinders. The UBS actuated by the hand/front brake is a proportioned application of the rear brake. Full braking capacity of the rear brake is only fully used by full application of the foot brake lever. Worth reading up on, it is a very suphisticated system.
If by "full braking potential", you're talking about stopping in the shortest distance, weight shift causes the rear brake to be almost completely ineffectual. I doubt you can stop a S10 quicker using both levers than just using the front alone.

- Mark
 

Koinz

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markjenn said:
If by "full braking potential", you're talking about stopping in the shortest distance, weight shift causes the rear brake to be almost completely ineffectual. I doubt you can stop a S10 quicker using both levers than just using the front alone.

- Mark
Interesting comment - The BMW bike stores information regarding when and for how long the ABS is actuated. The Front wheel rarely recorded any ABS activity, whereas the rear was more prominent. So to your point, The ABS should allow the wheel to spin for a more controlled stop. Of course, this is on Paved Roads, all bets are off on un-paved trails.
 

troll

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markjenn said:
If by "full braking potential", you're talking about stopping in the shortest distance, weight shift causes the rear brake to be almost completely ineffectual. I doubt you can stop a S10 quicker using both levers than just using the front alone.

- Mark
Anybody interested should get a copy of the service manual, I found one to down load and don't remember where now. There is a lot to know about this bike. And yes, Yamaha suggests that the highest braking potential (read; stopping in the shortest distance) comes with using both hand and foot brake. The ABS then manages wheel skid which sustains the highest braking/friction between both front and rear tires and the surface you are riding on.

this bike stops on a dime ???
 

markjenn

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troll said:
Anybody interested should get a copy of the service manual, I found one to down load and don't remember where now. There is a lot to know about this bike. And yes, Yamaha suggests that the highest braking potential (read; stopping in the shortest distance) comes with using both hand and foot brake. The ABS then manages wheel skid which sustains the highest braking/friction between both front and rear tires and the surface you are riding on.
I read the note in the manual you are referring to: "Both the brake pedal and brake lever must be operated from maximum braking effect". It is a bit of an odd statement as there is nothing else in the service or owner's manual which speaks to when to use both or either under various situations. They may just be stating the obvious - that if you want to get both wheels to ABS lockup as quickly as possible, then use both as hard as you can. I don't interpret it as a general admonishment that you shouldn't use the front brake by itself in normal day-to-day operation.

The physics of motorcycle braking are also that the front wheel carries nearly all the braking force during emergency stops so what you do with the rear doesn't matter much.

With respect to my bike, except for special situations, I plan on using the front brake lever only as a matter of course. Yamaha built this bike with this sophisticated UBS and ABS system to allow this and I plan on taking advantage of it.

- Mark
 

troll

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markjenn said:
The physics of motorcycle braking are also that the front wheel carries nearly all the braking force during emergency stops so what you do with the rear doesn't matter much.

With respect to my bike, except for special situations, I plan on using the front brake lever only as a matter of course. Yamaha built this bike with this sophisticated UBS and ABS system to allow this and I plan on taking advantage of it.

- Mark
Agree with you completely Mark. I have always used front brakes on bikes for all general braking with the exception of emergency/panic stops or extremely slippery conditions - even without unified brakes or ABS.
 
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