Wooden brakes?

[Spyke]

i've been reading a few forums about the hyosongs and people keep talking about the feeling of wooden brakes and i am curious about this feeling. so i thought i would ask a few questions about it.

question 1 what does the wooden brake feeling feel like?

question 2 what causes the wooden brake feeling?

question 3 what can be done to stop the wooden brake feeling?

thanks guys

[Toaster]

i've been reading a few forums about the hyosongs and people keep talking about the feeling of wooden brakes and i am curious about this feeling. so i thought i would ask a few questions about it.

question 1 what does the wooden brake feeling feel like?

question 2 what causes the wooden brake feeling?

question 3 what can be done to stop the wooden brake feeling?

thanks guys

1. Well, "woody" Go take a Honda for a ride, specifically the VTR1000F Firestorm (the only Honda I ever owned), those brakes are pure mahogany!!

2. Hondas.

3. Go buy a Suzuki.

[CM2005]

i've got a gokart with literally wooden brakes.

[James Deuce]

1. Wooden brakes = feels like squeezing a block of wood instead of modulating a brake lever for gentle, moderate, or hard braking. Often requires a hefty squeeze to actually get a reaction from the braking equipment.

2. Combination of brake line expansion, master cylinder ratios and brake pad material. Organic brake pads are standard on the Hyosungs and I find that they lack feel and power. The brakes are either on or off and squeezing the lever harder doesn't necessarily generate more power.

3. Can be fixed quite simply. Braided brake lines ($200 or so), scintered brake pads ($80 - $150 depending on brand), and a change of brake fluid. For those with a proper wallet a radial master cylinder would be the go also.

[laRIKin]

question 1 what does the wooden brake feeling feel like?

When you pull lever in brakes work but not very well and the hard you pull on the lever not much more braking is gained.

question 2 what causes the wooden brake feeling?

Can be brake pads, but I have found the wrong master to brake piston ratio.

question 3 what can be done to stop the wooden brake feeling?

Change pads some times does it, but I have found a smaller piston in the master cylinder.
By changing the whole lever assembly.

[Spyke]

thanks for the info guys its good to know these things.

i do like the hyosong, but if i got one i would have to do the mods to it to take it to the next level

maybe my bucket has wooden brakes because i keep getting out broken in the corners. or because im new to the sport.

[CM2005]

i got a braided line for my bucket from cycletreads for $70.00. helps immesureably.(sp*)

[laRIKin]

Braided brake lines help if your brakes a spongy not as much if they feel wooden.

Spongy is if the lever moves a lot and no extra braking.
Wooden is if the lever will not move much if pulled real hard.

Both do give you crappie braking.

[James Deuce]

Braided brake lines help if your brakes a spongy not as much if they feel wooden.

Trust me on this: Braided lines DO stop Hyosung brakes from feeling wooden.

[laRIKin]

Trust me on this: Braided lines DO stop Hyosung brakes from feeling wooden.

You could be right, I have never ridden a Hyosung.
And with that I will have to trust you.

Are you sure that you are not getting wooden and spongy mixed up? (not trying to be a smart ass about it)

But when I use to race, one of the guys changed to braided lines and then changed back to standard because he lost to much of the feel.

[CM2005]

my suzuki GP125 bucket got a new lever, and braided line, the brakes have great feel, and are progressive.

[James Deuce]

You could be right, I have never ridden a Hyosung.
And with that I will have to trust you.

Are you sure that you are not getting wooden and spongy mixed up? (not trying to be a smart ass about it)

But when I use to race, one of the guys changed to braided lines and then changed back to standard because he lost to much of the feel.

I've ridden 3 GT650Rs and 2 GT250s practically back to back, and the stock setup is not great. No feel, about 5mm of brake lever travel - absolutely wooden. Braided lines gave much improved lever travel along with progressive braking power. Scintered pads improve initial bite massively. If you need to demonstrate wooden brakes to someone get them to ride a stock GT650R (The stock brakes on the GT250R are much better for some reason) - if you want them to experience spongey get them to ride any Honda with an enclosed front disc.

[imdying]

Wooden just means the brakes feel dead with no real feedback. Usually a pad change is required, sometimes braided lines work too. These sort of things are best worked on piece by piece. Start with pads, they're cheap and easy to change. Lines are a bit of a gamble, imho they tend to make brakes feel even more wooden, but ymmv.

[Crisis management]

For those with a proper wallet a radial master cylinder would be the go also.

The technicality police are here........

Radial mount slave cylinder, yes, master cylinder...No


But I don't think it is all that feasible to convert the front end to a radial brake set up without a new front end (probably cost more than a Hyosung).

That will be $10.00

[imdying]

That will be $10.00

You would be well advised not to comment on things that you don't know enough about, seeing as you're charging and all.

Personally wouldn't bother going down the radial mounted master cylinder route till you've exhausted all other options. Worth a look if you're changing ratios of mcyl to slave, but given that those ratios are nearly always optimal from the factory (in the course of normal riding), it's a last resort.

/edit: Larger master cylinder bores will (generally) increase the 'woodeness', be very careful about changing ratios. Of course the trade off is less lever travel, if that's your thing.