New Adventure brakes

[mermoto]

The front brakes on my Adventure seem to be considerably lacking. I have the Servo assisted ABS units and seem to remember the ones on my old 1150RT were excellent, in fact a bit too powerful at low speeds. In contrast the GS seems severly lacking at the moment. I can hear the servo being activated but the brake severly lacks bite and needs two fingers and a very strong grip to bring the bike to a stop which is particularly noticable at slow speed and coming to a standstill. All the indication lights appear OK so does it have a problem? Its due the first 600 mile service on Friday. Any thoughts

Mermoto

 

[Twotter]

Don't ride till Friday ???

 

[trotsky]

Hmmm.

Having taken on an adventure with servo brakes after an 1100 I get the feeling that I'm throwing out an anchor when I use the brakes, especially at slow speed.

It might just be the change of weight disribution and such, but I think I'd go with Twotter on this one and add saying "these brakes feel very poor" as soon as practicable after taking your helmet off at the dealer. I haven't heard anyone with servo brakes complaining about the actually stopping effect when they work.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

The front brakes on my Adventure seem to be considerably lacking. I have the Servo assisted ABS units and seem to remember the ones on my old 1150RT were excellent, in fact a bit too powerful at low speeds. In contrast the GS seems severly lacking at the moment. I can hear the servo being activated but the brake severly lacks bite and needs two fingers and a very strong grip to bring the bike to a stop which is particularly noticable at slow speed and coming to a standstill. All the indication lights appear OK so does it have a problem? Its due the first 600 mile service on Friday. Any thoughts

Mermoto

You bought the wrong Adv..............if you wanted decent brakes, you should have bought the non-ABS version like me.
Brakes are superb on mine, with plenty of feel and feedback

 

[Wizard]

I have came very close to doing stoppies on mine the first few red lights, which is quite an acheivement considering!!!

 

[wildernessrob]

Ive just received my new 1150Adv, and I had the same thoughts about the front brake, it does the job with a firm squeeze. But my expectations had been distorted by a new 1150RT, that I road tested in 2001. That was so fierce, it almost had me over handlebars as I wobbled across the forecourt of L&C,S. I take it that the system has evolved since them!

 

[mermoto]

Ive just received my new 1150Adv, and I had the same thoughts about the front brake, it does the job with a firm squeeze. But my expectations had been distorted by a new 1150RT, that I road tested in 2001. That was so fierce, it almost had me over handlebars as I wobbled across the forecourt of L&C,S. I take it that the system has evolved since them!

So can I expect these brakes to improve with time or is there any kind of tuning that can be performed on the Servo to match the stopping power of the old RT?

Mermoto

 

[Jason P]

mermoto,

when I test rode a new ADV a couple of weeks ago, the servo brakes were impressively fierce (though lacking in feel I thought) so I'd say there may be a problem with yours from the way you describe it...

JP

 

[mermoto]

The front brakes on my Adventure seem to be considerably lacking. I have the Servo assisted ABS units and seem to remember the ones on my old 1150RT were excellent, in fact a bit too powerful at low speeds. In contrast the GS seems severly lacking at the moment. I can hear the servo being activated but the brake severly lacks bite and needs two fingers and a very strong grip to bring the bike to a stop which is particularly noticable at slow speed and coming to a standstill. All the indication lights appear OK so does it have a problem? Its due the first 600 mile service on Friday. Any thoughts

Mermoto

OK, so now I have covered a few hundred miles and had my first service. I was told the brakes are fine and are different to what I had on my 1150RT being less severe. I have to say I think they still lack efficient braking and need a very strong grip to make the bike slow down So, is there something wrong with them?? can they be improved? is there any adjustment to increase the servo action earlier on in the lever travel? Any suggestions please techies?

Cheers

Mermoto

 

[Ste@SSB]

No adjustment as far as I know ... try the brake lever in a different position (you adjust it by pushing the lever out and turning the little numbered dial)...

 

[Warthog]

Mermoto:
It all sounds very suspicious to me...

I made a point of avoiding the servo assisted brakes and bought the 1150gs with only ABS, as I had tried my dad's R1150R with S-A brakes and they were quite aggressive in the pitbull-with-a-banger-up-its-@rse sense of the word when you're on the go, but there was no braking with the ignition off, which almost led to my dad dropping his at a standstill!

My point is that on my bike, a firm, but not particularly strong, grip on the lever really scrubs off the miles very quickly so with assisted version, I'd expect that sort of braking to have you pulling the clocks from your lid after a tug on the anchors.

Could the brakes need bleeding? A little air in the system? I hope you get it sorted as there's nothing worse at spoiling your fun than having doubts about if you can count on your Bavarian Steed!

 

[mermoto]

I have the lever set wide as I have long fingers. The lever doesnt feel particularly spongy either though I will re bleed the brakes just in case there is some air causing the problem. As I mentioned earlier the servo can be heard operating as soon as you squeeze the lever slightly, however there is no braking effect on the wheels until you pull it in about another 5mm then there is very slight braking. As you continue to squeeze the lever in, the tone changes and the braking improves slightly but at this point I would expect them to be significantly powerful, they aren't. The lever has to be pulled considerably harder for the braking to become strong and stop the bike quickly. The only way I can compare it is to say that on other bikes with good brakes you would only need moderate pull on the lever to make it stop and with only one finger. These brakes need two fingers with a very strong pull to get the same effect. Having experienced the tremendous brakes on the RT I know they felt like overkill at slower speed but it only took a short time to adapt ones style to achieve smooth progressive braking. My GS brakes feel like there is nothing at all with a one finger light touch, mild with a moderate touch and a strong two finger pull for rapid retardation. Fine if you ride a moped but not up to this machines agility.

Puzzled Mermoto

 

[MikeP]

I think you really need to do a comparison with another similar aged bike, if you come down to Princetown there should be enough to try.

Mine's an 04 Adv with Servo/ABS and compared to the early, similarly equipped bikes, my brakes are less 'aggressive'. Much less like an on/off switch and allow more modulation than the earlier examples I've ridden.

I'm not sure if BMW changed the system on the later bikes?

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

Contaminated discs or pads? Polish or protective wax lately? WD40 on the pins?

 

[skywalker]

I have the lever set wide as I have long fingers. The lever doesnt feel particularly spongy either though I will re bleed the brakes just in case there is some air causing the problem. As I mentioned earlier the servo can be heard operating as soon as you squeeze the lever slightly, however there is no braking effect on the wheels until you pull it in about another 5mm then there is very slight braking. As you continue to squeeze the lever in, the tone changes and the braking improves slightly but at this point I would expect them to be significantly powerful, they aren't. The lever has to be pulled considerably harder for the braking to become strong and stop the bike quickly. The only way I can compare it is to say that on other bikes with good brakes you would only need moderate pull on the lever to make it stop and with only one finger. These brakes need two fingers with a very strong pull to get the same effect. Having experienced the tremendous brakes on the RT I know they felt like overkill at slower speed but it only took a short time to adapt ones style to achieve smooth progressive braking. My GS brakes feel like there is nothing at all with a one finger light touch, mild with a moderate touch and a strong two finger pull for rapid retardation. Fine if you ride a moped but not up to this machines agility.

Puzzled Mermoto

I STRONGLEY ADVISE YOU NOT TO CARRY OUT BLEEDING THE BRAKES, unless
1.] you know what you are doing
2.] you have or have access to the necessary equipment required to perform this task.