Improving the feel of the rear brake

[TimeMachine]

Well I have talked about it long enough. The rear brake on the Tenere is a bit soft, lacking power and feel compared to the front which i rate very highly for a bike like the T7. In particular, it was the difference in feel and pressure required that had me frazzled. The front has a nice linear feel where the more pressure you put on the lever, the more power in the brakes. And it has plenty of power. The rear is not so good. I would press and press harder and still get only a little power. It was not until I stomped it would the rear braking power come on, and way too abruptly to control. I am a front braker anyway so with little power in the rear I tended to do most of the work in the front.

For ABS systems like fitted to the Yamaha, this actually works quite well. In the dirt, by not locking up the rear, the ABS system can accurately monitor the bikes speed and control the modulation of the front wheel. De-tuning of the rear brake may be a deliberate attempt by Yamaha to avoid issues with the ABS getting confused when both wheels lock up. 

I always considered a change of rotor was the go because I had so much success with my MT09 when I changed all the rotors, and combined with the HH pads it's brakes are stellar. My MT09 uses standard calipers and rubber lines and can stop on a dime. There was only one way to really know if this would work for the T7, use the same rotor as on my MT09. I checked the size and was in luck, the MT09 uses the same rotor size and same mounting bolt pattern. So here goes...

 

  

Edited August 23, 2020 by TimeMachine

[Matth]

Great idea! What tyres are shown in the vid?

[AZJW]

MotoZ Tractionator.  I believe it's the Desert HT.

[johnnygolucky]

Thans for sharing. i too have a question: what rally pegs are those on the 700? They look perfect. 

[TimeMachine]

1 hour ago, johnnygolucky said:

Thanks for sharing. i too have a question: what rally pegs are those on the 700? They look perfect. 

T7Rally.com pegs. They are lowered 35mm and back 15mm which gives my 36+ inseam some relief when sitting, and the transition to standing a lot easier. My only criticism is that they could be lighter at around 730 grams for the pair. Also fitting them can be tricky due to the heavy duty spring provided (but easy once you know how). 

 

https://t7rally.com/shop/ols/products/lower-rally-foot-pegs-stainless

 

Ben from @T7Rally is a supporting vendor on this site.

[johnnygolucky]

58 minutes ago, TimeMachine said:

T7Rally.com pegs. They are lowered 35mm and back 15mm which gives my 36+ inseam some relief when sitting, and the transition to standing a lot easier. My only criticism is that they could be lighter at around 730 grams for the pair. Also fitting them can be tricky due to the heavy duty spring provided (but easy once you know how). 

 

https://t7rally.com/shop/ols/products/lower-rally-foot-pegs-stainless

 

Ben from @T7Rally is a supporting vendor on this site.

Copy. I wondered. I have those exact pegs and the spring is a bugger but doable. My question  to you is how do you feel about the sifter now? And brake? I lowered the shifter as far as what is possible, and now with the lowered pegs I still have to lift my leg to shift both up and down which is a no go for standing riding off road. Im hoping someone design a lower and longer sifter lever as well as brake. 

[TimeMachine]

Just now, johnnygolucky said:

Copy. I wondered. I have those exact pegs and the spring is a bugger but doable. My question  to you is how do you feel about the sifter now? And brake? I lowered the shifter as far as what is possible, and now with the lowered pegs I still have to lift my leg to shift both up and down which is a no go for standing riding off road. Im hoping someone design a lower and longer sifter lever as well as brake. 

I lowered them as much as possible, and have got accustomed to it. If I had a choice I would lower the shifter a little more so would consider buying a different or adjustable shifter if someone developed one. The brake lever doesn't bother me, and quite like it a little proud compared to the peg.

[johnnygolucky]

1 hour ago, TimeMachine said:

I lowered them as much as possible, and have got accustomed to it. If I had a choice I would lower the shifter a little more so would consider buying a different or adjustable shifter if someone developed one. The brake lever doesn't bother me, and quite like it a little proud compared to the peg.

Agreed. 

[Yamajet]

I have a similar one on my Super Tenere- great add. This SW Motech is on order. 
 

Adjustable Gear Lever, spring lock mechanism integrated, Ténéré 700 (19-)

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Noble design, valuable aluminium, ergonomic and flexible - gear lever MADE IN GERMANY by SW-MOTECH.

 

[NeverMetThePope]

On 8/24/2020 at 1:05 AM, TimeMachine said:

Well I have talked about it long enough. The rear brake on the Tenere is a bit soft, lacking power and feel compared to the front which i rate very highly for a bike like the T7. In particular, it was the difference in feel and pressure required that had me frazzled. The front has a nice linear feel where the more pressure you put on the lever, the more power in the brakes. And it has plenty of power. The rear is not so good. I would press and press harder and still get only a little power. It was not until I stomped it would the rear braking power come on, and way too abruptly to control. I am a front braker anyway so with little power in the rear I tended to do most of the work in the front.

For ABS systems like fitted to the Yamaha, this actually works quite well. In the dirt, by not locking up the rear, the ABS system can accurately monitor the bikes speed and control the modulation of the front wheel. De-tuning of the rear brake may be a deliberate attempt by Yamaha to avoid issues with the ABS getting confused when both wheels lock up. 

I always considered a change of rotor was the go because I had so much success with my MT09 when I changed all the rotors, and combined with the HH pads it's brakes are stellar. My MT09 uses standard calipers and rubber lines and can stop on a dime. There was only one way to really know if this would work for the T7, use the same rotor as on my MT09. I checked the size and was in luck, the MT09 uses the same rotor size and same mounting bolt pattern. So here goes...

 

  

Out if interest, which aftermarket disc did you actually use? 

[TimeMachine]

31 minutes ago, NeverMetThePope said:

Out if interest, which aftermarket disc did you actually use? 

This one.

 

Rear Brake Disc Rotor for Yamaha MT-07 MT-09 Tracer XSR 700 900 ABS 14 15 16 17

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Racing Hooks. Handlebars & Clip ons. Oil Filter. Bling Kits. Moto Guzzi. ATV Radiator. Fork Air Bleeder Valves. Handerbar Riser.

 

31 minutes ago, NeverMetThePope said:

Out if interest, which aftermarket disc did you actually use? 

 

[NeverMetThePope]

Thanks!

[Mortaygo]

nice find.  Worth a look. 

 

How the he0ll are you getting 4ltrs per hundred.. I average 5.7ltr per hundred,  with my fuel gauge flashing at 200ks

[TimeMachine]

4 hours ago, Mortaygo said:

nice find.  Worth a look. 

 

How the he0ll are you getting 4ltrs per hundred.. I average 5.7ltr per hundred,  with my fuel gauge flashing at 200ks

Well you can take a look at how I ride (where I did the 4 L/100) here.

In general I dont use a lot of revs, lots of slower riding in the bush and dont usually travel faster than 100kph on the main roads to conserve my tires.

 

[Mortaygo]

7 minutes ago, TimeMachine said:

Well you can take a look at how I ride (where I did the 4 L/100) here.

In general I dont use a lot of revs, lots of slower riding in the bush and dont usually travel faster than 100kph on the main roads to conserve my tires.

 

Fair enough.  

Whats the accessory switch on the left side of the bar?

 

I see you have an ohlins shock, how's it and what's been done to the forks?

[Matth]

Wow awesome scenery! Im guessing you are a long way from help but what would you do if something happened like you got really stuck somewhere?

[TimeMachine]

28 minutes ago, Mortaygo said:

Fair enough.  

Whats the accessory switch on the left side of the bar?

 

I see you have an ohlins shock, how's it and what's been done to the forks?

The switch is for an LED spot/wide light I have mounted under the lower triple clamp. It is not wired to the bikes high beam or electrics, just to the battery.

I really like the Ohlins shock. Very plush and easy to adjust compression, rebound and preload without tools.

The forks have progressive springs to suit my weight, Ohlins 5/10 weight fork oil with an extra 40ml in each leg, and some preload spacers to get the sag right. I have the compression and rebound turned up to 1 click back from maximum damping and the front is harsher than the rear on small bumps, but the firmer front doesn't bother me too much and handles the bigger bumps reasonably well. This was just my first test setting and haven't adjusted them since replacing the fork oil. Worth noting also that I run lower tire pressures (22-24 on the dirt roads) which takes a lot of harshness out of the ride.

[TimeMachine]

23 minutes ago, Matth said:

Wow awesome scenery! Im guessing you are a long way from help but what would you do if something happened like you got really stuck somewhere?

Yeah, my riding has been quite remote lately and exploring rarely used tracks, but I have a Garmin Inreach on me so if I got into serious trouble I can text my son to come and collect me. The Inreach also has a feature that tracks where I am and shares it on a website, so if I was to fall unconscious he could look up the site and see where I was last recorded.

[Matth]

Thats a good system to use. Looks brill riding territory!

ride safe buddy

[imteetering]

Is the new brake rotor thicker than the stock one?

 

[TimeMachine]

3 hours ago, imteetering said:

Is the new brake rotor thicker than the stock one?

 

You got me there, so I measured them. The OEM disk and the replacement disk are both 5mm thickness. 

[imteetering]

Thanx.

[ahamay]

So, what is your verdict, timemachine, on your rear brake? Sorry, couldn't view the video. 

[afhaldeman]

For those interested, simply changing the pads makes a big and noticeable improvement as well

[kainic]

4 hours ago, afhaldeman said:

For those interested, simply changing the pads makes a big and noticeable improvement as well

What pads did you use?