Spirited Riding on R18B

[R18Squid]

Had five plus hours on the bike at the weekend, three of which were in torrential rain Those in the UK know the current awful weather situation.

I digress.

Prior to (and partly during) the rain, I was giving the R18 some berries, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Now I appreciate she is a big girl, and with 110kg of me added, that’s half a tonne stop, however I found the brakes to be lacking in bite. Am I alone it my thinking?

 

[Alan neill]

Had five plus hours on the bike at the weekend, three of which were in torrential rain Those in the UK know the current awful weather situation.

I digress.

Prior to (and partly during) the rain, I was giving the R18 some berries, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Now I appreciate she is a big girl, and with 110kg of me added, that’s half a tonne stop, however I found the brakes to be lacking in bite. Am I alone it my thinking?

I agree with you but she always stops I find after a couple of hard stops the brakes are much better

 

[Anibal]

Had five plus hours on the bike at the weekend, three of which were in torrential rain Those in the UK know the current awful weather situation.

I digress.

Prior to (and partly during) the rain, I was giving the R18 some berries, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Now I appreciate she is a big girl, and with 110kg of me added, that’s half a tonne stop, however I found the brakes to be lacking in bite. Am I alone it my thinking?

My old M1800R used to stop in a heartbeat and she was only 60lbs lighter I would say.
Having said that a few weeks ago I had an episode where the traffic on the motorway suddenly stopped to a halt and I had to apply the breaks quite firmly and to be honest I managed to stop safely without any wobbles or skids from 70mls per hour.
Once the breaks wears out a bit I think the performance should improve. Also, the wet weather plays a bit on the performance.

 

[BobW]

Had five plus hours on the bike at the weekend, three of which were in torrential rain Those in the UK know the current awful weather situation.

I digress.

Prior to (and partly during) the rain, I was giving the R18 some berries, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Now I appreciate she is a big girl, and with 110kg of me added, that’s half a tonne stop, however I found the brakes to be lacking in bite. Am I alone it my thinking?

Here is a cut and paste of my earlier reply for an identical conversation. FWIW



"I've enjoyed many miles on my R18 Classic to include extensive touring across the US and while I would have greatly enjoyed some of your touring upgrades (suspension, petrol capacity, etc.), my overall satisfaction and enjoyment mirrors your assessment.

As to the brakes, I have had many Brands to include multiple BMWs equipped with no ABS, "whizzer"-power assisted with ABS and several models with the current ABS system. All this said, for some reason the brakes on the R18 have intentionally been designed with a "weaker front and more powerful rear" bias and my salesman mentioned this to me when cautioning if I get the big girl in a maximum braking situation I should be familiar with intentionally and strongly combining the rear brakes with the fronts as compared to the "normal" set up. We speculated that it is not uncommon for traditional "cruiser-bagger" riders to rely more heavily on the rear brakes so this was done as a feature "they" would embrace.

Guessing as to why being set aside.

I have adjusted to the R18 fully and do practice maximum braking using the rear so as to keep my muscle memory and reactions sharp. I find for me their added braking is more critical when needed and they really deliver when called upon. It may be worth a try if you're not already doing so as your heavier TC being fully loaded for a trip and with pillion would likely benefit greatly and hopefully confidence and fun factors see increases too!

Safe travels and enjoy "

 

[Noelpolar]

I ride a BMW r nine t as well as a R18..... it is quite amazing how different the required brake "application" is between these 2 bikes. On the R nine t forum several have test riden a 18 and made negetive comments about the brakes. I made a comment over there that the R18 brakes are in my view good (I ride fast in the hills where I am.... and I practise emergency stops from time to time)..... however I did also explain how different they are from the r nine t system..... and moving between bikes can be a bit of a challenge as such.

For me.... the r nine t brakes are sensitive to light lever pressure after initial travel.... and with a bit of give as more pressure is applied..... whilst the r18 brakes have some lever travel then firm up and don't give much from that point.... and require firm unyeilding pressure from that point as well... sorta need much a stronger grip pressure then r nine t to get heaps of braking.

A r nine t rider on that forum commented that he had a loan r18 for a week or so.... agreed with my comments.... and added that he had locked up the front brake on his r nine t when he returned to it a couple of times.

In short.... I am amazed how quick the r18 stops... but you need to give it a handfull.... I strongly recommend doing a series of front "lock up" stops to get use to how much pressure is needed to get to the "abs" to activate... using proper technique off course... ie getting the front wheel loaded before max braking. I do this quite a bit on dirt roads on my r nine t and am always surprised how much stopping power there is (makes me feel like I am girly dirt rider).

It would be interesting to see what different pads in the front would do for initial bite.... but I do find the brake lever is well shaped for the effort required.... and I am a 2 or 3 finger braker.... as I always ride with those fingers on the brake.