Cruiser front brakes

[ophic]

I've had the (mis)fortune to ride a few Jap cruisers in my time:

Suzuki GZ125 Marauder
Honda VT750 Shadow
Suzuki LS650 Boulevard S40 (or Savage as they're better known)

Now the 125 had a single disc up front but had quite reasonable stopping power.
The other 2 also have single discs but imho have such little front braking power that they're borderline dangerous.

The Honda Shadow I overhauled the brakes myself - there was no air in the lines, and I changed the pads for sintered HH. Slight improvement. Not much.

I get that I'm used to sportsbike type SV brakes, which aren't ranked as the best in the world and mine could use an overhaul anyway, but they're still 10 times better than the 2 bigger cruisers.

Could it be that the forks being raked out more gives a much more spongy feel as you're basically just squashing the forks at first? Or is it the weight distribution and you just have to use the rear brake more (which is excellent on all 3 bikes, despite being drum brakes). The GZ125 had fairly normal geometry iirc, unlike the other two, which might explain why it's front brake was better.

Just to get them out of the way already:
Cruisers hah!
Leather chaps etc
Hardly Drivable

They're my Mrs' bikes OK? Honest guv.

So are they just universally terrible or is it because of the suspension or does no-one care because they're cruisers or something else? Is there something I can do to improve it?

[Blapper]

Originally Posted by ophic

Is there something I can do to improve it?

Sell it.

[SV650rules]

Apparently due to fork geometry and weight distribution the weight does not transfer to front wheel of cruiser to the extent it does on a sportbike, and wheel will lock up easier, so no point in fitting big brakes, and the weight staying on rear wheel makes rear brake more effective on a cruiser.

Nothing really to do with braking but this is a laugh.... image vs reality check for different bikes

https://rideapart.com/articles/guide...cle-categories

[ophic]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

...and wheel will lock up easier...

That's definitely overcompensated for in the rubbishness of the front brake. You really can't lock up the front wheel unless you've got hands like Arnie. Or ride on ice.

Funny article. There's always a missing category - bikes for people with really short legs!

[DuncanC]

It is also partly as jap cruisers are "copies" of Harleys which have traditional safety bicycle useless front brakes. I think the idea is that a good front brake can lock the front wheel which is "unsafe" Whereas a big brake can be controlled when it locks. Remember the laws of physics weren't invented in America so they can't be important.

[SV650rules]

Talking about Harley brakes, tester says the back brake is 'super-strong' but front is mushy

http://lanesplitter.jalopnik.com/har...n-m-1729350316