What gives brakes bite

Hi right got two bike on a sv the other a z750. Both are running braided lines with EBC performance pads.

The sv has a lot more bite than the z on the brakes, both bikes will lock the front wheel and provide enough stopping to overload the front suspension.

What gives the brakes bite? There is a slight chance the z got some scotoiler 365 protector on the pads over the winter, can this cause a loss of bite but not overall power.

On a side note the z has a firmer lever than the sv, it has also got DOT 5.1 fluid in it because i bought the wrong stuff, can this cause a issue.

Could the suspension/geomerty diffrence between the two bikes be causing this. The z is very soft at the moment.

The other factor is the discs?

Thank You

[rictus01]

bite is probably the wrong term, it's feel you're after, it's a combination of the brake system and the front suspension mostly, geometry had an effect as well.

one of the know side effects of the spring upgrade on the SV is better feel to the brakes.

Cheers Mark.

The SV is 35 kilos lighter. Makes a big difference. Plus your SV will probably dive more when you hit the brakes, whichcan exaggerate the feeling

Rictus, I know what your saying the z definaly has less feel during braking, I sort of was spliting the intial bite and the feel during breaking into two but i see what you mean they are very similar if not the same thing.

ccurts, sound stupid but i hadn't though about the weight issue, apart from wheeling the bikes about by hand the Z doesn't feel any heavier, more power and a diffrent riding position hide the weight. Not sure if the sv has more dive on the brakes the Z's are very soft, have just ordered some new cartridges inserts and a new shock so that should be sorted.

Cheers for the relpies guys.

Can diffrent master cylinder/ calipers provide better feel without provding more power?

pads glazed.

Dot 5.1 is fine for road use. Dot 5 is race fluid and is to be avoided unless you enjoy bleeding brakes a lot.

Not sure on the technicalities (sp) of it, but you can get more bite by fitting a more aggressive compound pad.

Originally Posted by andyaikido

Dot 5.1 is fine for road use. Dot 5 is race fluid and is to be avoided unless you enjoy bleeding brakes a lot.

Not sure on the technicalities (sp) of it, but you can get more bite by fitting a more aggressive compound pad.

can you tell me more about the diffrences

I don't want to try and teach a dog to such eggs but the sv is lighter than the 750 and makes all the difference

Originally Posted by ccurts

The SV is 35 kilos lighter. Makes a big difference. Plus your SV will probably dive more when you hit the brakes, whichcan exaggerate the feeling

Oops ccurts beat me to it

A couple of times I have had to slap on the front brake hard while in Cardiff traffic and my bike went into skippy the kangaroo mode both times.. - bloody scary! I hope new hagon front springs will give me a better feel for it.