Any way to boost stopping power?

[delusionz]

My brakes are mushy, a tight yank on both brakes doesn't pull me back as fast as I would like and I have to also change down quickly which can cause rear wheel skids in the wet. If it wasn't for me obeying the 2 second rule I probably would have rear ended a couple erratically stopping cages by now.

Anyone have any suggestions that are both safe and legal?

Cheers

Forgot to mention the bike is an 07 GPX250, Will take this up when I go for my 1st service but incase they cant/wont do anything I'd like to know what I can do.

[Cajun]

flush the brake fluid system with new flloyd?

but in turn if it hasn't even gone in for its 1000km service the pads might take a bit of time to bed in.

One thing you can try, one night before you go to bed, zip tie your brake lever hard on, and release it the next morning and see how you get on

[SARGE]

My brakes are mushy, a tight yank on both brakes doesn't pull me back as fast as I would like and I have to also change down quickly which can cause rear wheel skids in the wet. If it wasn't for me obeying the 2 second rule I probably would have rear ended a couple erratically stopping cages by now.

Anyone have any suggestions that are both safe and legal?

Cheers

Forgot to mention the bike is an 07 GPX250, Will take this up when I go for my 1st service but incase they cant/wont do anything I'd like to know what I can do.

braided lines for sure ..also try a bleed.. if you want to spend a bit .. change your master cylinder to a smaller unit ( i went from a 16 mm to a 14mm and its like dropping the anchor)

[ManDownUnder]

Good q - I'm sure the raciong fraternity will know the tricks traps in and out.

[FROSTY:Me]

Delusions.Im making a fairly HUGE assumption in saying you apear to be a new rider. --If Im wrong Im sorry.
I'd STRONGLY suggest you get an experienced rider to ride your bike before making any assumptiions.
You may not have a problem at all or you may have glazed up the pads
One think I have noticed with this last generation of GPX's is that the front suspension is really soggy causing massive front end dive under heavy front brakes followed by a premature front end lock up.
There is one other point---are you refering to DRY braking or braking in the wet or when the bike is still cold ??

[delusionz]

Delusions.Im making a fairly HUGE assumption in saying you apear to be a new rider. --If Im wrong Im sorry.
I'd STRONGLY suggest you get an experienced rider to ride your bike before making any assumptiions.
You may not have a problem at all or you may have glazed up the pads
One think I have noticed with this last generation of GPX's is that the front suspension is really soggy causing massive front end dive under heavy front brakes followed by a premature front end lock up.
There is one other point---are you refering to DRY braking or braking in the wet or when the bike is still cold ??

Been riding for 7 months now, have had my current bike for a couple weeks so far. A particular occasion I had in mind was yesterday (5 July) afternoon, the sun was out and the road was dry, I had been riding all morning and a car turning into the gas station next to BK on manukau road stopped in the middle of the road instead of getting her dumb ass off to the median.

Btw I mean to say my brakes aren't bad, They're probably normal for what they are, But I could use some more stopping power to pull me in a bit further back under emergency braking

[avgas]

What tyres you running? as that made all the difference to me on light bikes

[delusionz]

Last night I read an article about a guy in america that has the same bike as me and he wasn't satisfied with his brakes either so he replaced the brake hoses with braided stuff and it made his braking more "linear" he says he had a drop off in pressure after half way it was still the same pressure applied but after the change he had a pickup in braking power past half way. However I read something about it in these forums and they say they don't comply with WOF standards or some shit!

[delusionz]

What tyres you running? as that made all the difference to me on light bikes

Dunlops
Front: 100/80-16
Rear: 130/80-16

[FROSTY:Me]

Dude --to clear up one thing. A braided line WITH The correct compliance numbers ain't gonna give any problems.
But I'd strongly suggest you do other stuff first.
1)Sort out the soggy front end so the forks arent bottomed out in even moderate braking.
2)Fit a better quality front tyre
3)Try a different set of brake pads

[delusionz]

Dude --to clear up one thing. A braided line WITH The correct compliance numbers ain't gonna give any problems.
But I'd strongly suggest you do other stuff first.
1)Sort out the soggy front end so the forks arent bottomed out in even moderate braking.
2)Fit a better quality front tyre
3)Try a different set of brake pads

Cheers for the advice, The bike sinks as soon as I get on it actually, Someone else commented on this with the same bike, But there was nothing they could do about it and couldn't afford aftermarket suspension.

[avgas]

How new are the tyres? how confident are you on the brakes?
You can do things like caliper upgrades and the like.....but it wont affect the fact that its too scary to grab the brakes.....im not shitting you - i once rode a bike where i refused to use the front brake due to fear.
If the tyres are fairly new, rough them up a bit with some sandpaper.
Also a simple thing you can do overnight is to pull the brake lever hard into the handlebar, cable-tie it then leave it overnight. In the morning, pump the brake about 10 times and go for a ride. This helps with air-pockets in the lines and cylinder.
When were the brake pads looked at?

[delusionz]

How new are the tyres? how confident are you on the brakes?
You can do things like caliper upgrades and the like.....but it wont affect the fact that its too scary to grab the brakes.....im not shitting you - i once rode a bike where i refused to use the front brake due to fear.
If the tyres are fairly new, rough them up a bit with some sandpaper.
Also a simple thing you can do overnight is to pull the brake lever hard into the handlebar, cable-tie it then leave it overnight. In the morning, pump the brake about 10 times and go for a ride. This helps with air-pockets in the lines and cylinder.
When were the brake pads looked at?

Everything is brand spankin new, Haven't even had it's first service yet, It's just on 350kms, I'm pretty sure everything is normal for what it is, But I'll definitely bring this up at the first service and see if they think I could do with some extra stopping power

[moT]

in the last 10 years brakeing distances havent changed by much or at all if your bike can get the rear wheel in the air it can brake 100% the only way you can make that better is to shift your weight further back on the bike dont push down on the handle bars while brakeing as it makes the center of gravity further forward the idea is to support your weight with your legs and keep your arms bent this makes the center of gravithy further near the rear which helps keep the rear on the ground which means you can brake more special pads braded lines only make a slight difference special pads mean there is a more smooth predictable brakeing application but hardly improves stopping power braided lines are used so when the line heats up it does not balloon up and reduce stpooing power this only happens under extreme and constant brakeing. my best recommendation is to practice emergency brakeing brake to the full without the rear comeing up (just on the limit) and brakeing tequenique all the other fancy equiptment is not really needed

[moT]

although make sure your suspention does not bottom out under full load thats bad and a decent front tyre is reccomended just make sure its hot before you attempt to brake hard a good 5min ride will make it hot