Linked Brakes

[Hitcher]

Q: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
M: Well, I was told outside that...
Q: Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
M: What?
Q: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!!
M: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I'm not going to just stand...!!
Q: OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.
M: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
Q: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
M: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
Q: Not at all.
M: Thank You. (Under his breath) Stupid git!!

[Blackbird]

M. Python

Wonderful stuff :hbd:

[SPORK]

Your time's up!
No it isn't....
Yes it is! It was up 5 minutes ago!
That's peposterousous! (can't spell)

Got to love Monty Python! My cousin has the entire boxed set, it's wicked eh, wicked.

Your wife, is she a goer? Eh? Does she go? Eh? knowhaddimean knowhaddimean?

[Big Dave]

And don't forget the Mighty ST1300. Linked brakes are wonderful. Fuck the "purists".

So were they linked on this ST1100 I hired in Oz?
Purist that i am I didn't notice.

(I still prefer total control.)

[Hammer]

No issues with them on the birdl. Honda seems to have done a good job on them. Just takes a bit of getting used to. I am happy to stay with them as long as I have the bird.

[vifferman]

you can (apparently) brake mid corner and the bike won't stand up as much.

Yup.
Mind you, I used to brake in the corners on my last few bikes anyway. How much it stands up depends on steering geometry and tyre profile, but the linked brakes don't cause much weight transfer, so that helps.
Practising braking in the corners is a good idea so you get a feel for what the bike does.

(I still prefer total control.)

It is total control. You still have control over retarding your speed, and you still have control over whether you are braking mostly with the front, or mostly with the rear. There is less attitude control, in that you are less able to make the front forks dive, but you are still able to settle the bike before a corner by using the brakes (either lever), but it's not necessary to do so.

The only situation where the linked brakes could be a liability is on slippery surfaces where you are going slowly and carefully and don't want to lose the front end. But then the amount of force applied to the fron disks if you brake gently with the rear should prevent that happening anyway.

[Hitcher]

So were they linked on this ST1100 I hired in Oz?
Purist that i am I didn't notice.

(I still prefer total control.)

I don't think that the ST1100 has linked brakes. But I am sure that if I am wrong on this, some purist will correct me.

Has Subaru got you on commission? Apologies to The Motels...

[Big Dave]

Hmmm - I know what it is - not purist - minimalist.

My favourite bike is still my Thunderbird and it doesn't even have a fuel guage. No bodywork, no 'features' - just motorcycle. 2 instruments and a neutral light. That's also why I like Bonnevilles and Thruxtons and Z1000's and Wide Glides - just motorcycle. Cool.

No nerdy techno babble or adjust on the move suspension settings and screens and linked brakes will i countenance till I'm at least retiring age.

[Big Dave]

Has Subaru got you on commission? Apologies to The Motels...

Don't tell me the time.

[enigma51]

Tried a vfr with linked thing and freaked me out I take it you can get use to it but did not feel right for me. There is a guy at work who has a vfr and he says he likes the brakes being linked so I take it is a question of trying it and see if you like it.

[The Stranger:Me]

Ok so that is not just my imagination.
I had fealt that there was less nose dive when you hit the picks with the linked brakes.
I generally try to achieve smooth transitions and appreciate this characteristic of the Blackbird.

[SARGE]

Ask Ixion how superfluous ABS is.

me too... ABS on a bike is a waste of weight

[PhoeniXX]

Linked Brakes...Love em.
Brought my Blackbird a month ago...first week i hated those damn brakes but once you get use to them you will not want to be with out them.
Check out this site http://www.superblackbird.info/ lots of talk in the fourm about the brakes.

[vifferman]

Tried a vfr with linked thing and freaked me out I take it you can get use to it but did not feel right for me. There is a guy at work who has a vfr and he says he likes the brakes being linked so I take it is a question of trying it and see if you like it.

Yes, indeed.
Going from the VTR1000 with an almost useless back brake, and reasonable front brakes (new pads, braided lines) to the VFR, I did, as I said, find the first week or so a bit weird. But after that, when you see how it affects the attitude of the bike, and feel the extra bite when you brake hard with the front lever AND the brake pedal, you do appreciate the way they work. I suspect that people who disable the linked brakes are probably unable to adapt to different things very well.

[Biff]

I don't think that the ST1100 has linked brakes.

I don't believe the ST1100 has linked brakes as standard, but have been available, as an option, since '86.

The ST1300 (known as the Pan European in parts of the world) does have them as standard I believe.