Took the new 14 for its first ride, a 220 mile loop into some great inland roads. A couple issues, the rear brake is almost non existent. At first I thought it was because the pads had not been bedded in, however, after a full day of aggressive riding, I never found them. Is this a common trait of the Gen2 Bike? I also noticed that she ran very hot, I noticed temps as high as 228, grant it, it was during some stop and go traffic. Other than those two issues, everything else was phenomenal, motor, tranny, clutch are so smooth. I am going to love this bike long time.??

after a full day of aggressive riding, I never found them. Is this a common trait of the Gen2 Bike?

The rear brake on the Gen1 was not very powerful. If I brake hard, The rear skims the ground anyway. The fronts are very good.

The Gen1 makes a lot of heat too. I don't know the exact temp since it's just a bar gauge. it will run a little cooler after it breaks in. A full system will make it run cooler but it's always going to make a lot of heat.

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I got my 2012 and the rear Brake was terrible. I got new Pads, sanded them rough and "NO Better", Oh well, I will never lock up the rear tire. As Rook said, the fronts are great. The rear brake is for stop signs.

The rear is for scrubbing off speed in the middle of a corner. Yah, kinda weak.

ominousone

Haven't used back brakes in many years, track or street.
Get ball of foot up on peg and forget about the back brake.

228 sounds pretty hot to me. I routinely ride in temps 100+, 110+ and
usually see around 218 +/- at its hottest in traffic.

Maybe break in leading to hotter temps?

Boil over probably around 240-245, I wouldn't worry about it
to much, but if breaks 230 I'd probably pull over.

Where you at? What's outside temp? Is bike temp sporadically changing temp or
slowing climbing?

I don't use anti freeze, so I figure I'd probably boil
over around 230, so I'd be long pulled over by 228, but have
never got that close.

My rear is not powerful in any way on the '017. I might associate it with the ABS and the sensitivity of it locking up vs. this side of 'rendered useless.' However, I'm using the rear for minor slowing down purposes, because the brembo pads are expensive or I'd have new rear pads like the other 3 bikes where the rears were never applied.

Anything 200F is pretty normal with a bike sitting in traffic and being brand new. Even though it has a fan and radiator, it still needs to push thru the air to cool off. Tolerances are tight when new so nothing to worry about with high heat vs tolerances. Does it cool down when moving? Yes... then it's normal as can be.

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Rear brake doesn't do much ... which I learned a scary way: Was riding in town traffic with a bud in front of me at front-left, I was fiddling with my sunglasses with my throttle hand "just for a moment". Well, he hit the brakes and made a sharp right in front of me. All I had time to do was hit the rear brake ... and nothing happened! I really thought my rear brakes were gone, dead, not working ... and the bike was almost brand new at the time. Fortunately he heard my screaching rear tire and made the evasive maneuver instead of me, since my evasive maneuver wasn't working, and saved me from crashing into him. We were probably only doing 30-35, but that back brake was just doing nuthin of note.

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"Fortunately he heard my screaching rear tire"."I had time to do was hit the rear brake ... and nothing happened! I really thought my rear brakes were gone, dead, not working"...lol.What were you expecting?It's supposed to be used in conjunction with the front.I'd have to say...it was working fine.It locked up the wheel,right?Panic.Slammed on the rear.I mean,yeah,I get it.I've done that a time or two.But without that front brake...the rear isn't gonna 'do all the perfect braking' that seems to be 'expected' with these complaints of 'rear brake is useless'.

I ran up (speeding)on a semi one time.He was rollin about 10mph.I was well above that.I didn't realize just how quick I was approaching.Two lane,curve.I feared going around cause it was a blind curve.I hit that rear brake hard.She started to fishtail(locked).I released gently and applied front brake agressively,along with a now'lighter touch' on the rear.She barely stopped in time.Had I relied on my rear only...I'd have ate it big time.The rear DOES work and help in lots of situations.But it's designed to work with the front application as well...not just on it's own.I don't rely on rear braking.But it works just fine in combination.
Lots of people say..'stay off the rear,especially in corners'.I've been trail braking from day one.I've never had a rear cause cornering problems.It's very predictable.Just gotta recognize how much you're applying.Just like anything else,you learn how to use it.That's all it is.Nothing to be afraid of.Course,if you never use it,when you need to,it could end up...like what happened with my lovely new 2012 ZX 14R.Panicked approaching a corner.Slammed on the rear,with predictable results.It worked fine.I was just expecting it to do something it wasn't intended to do.Stop everything by itself.The rear brake is your friend.Not your 'killer in waiting'.
I just don't understand...'not powerful'.If it's going to full lockup with a 586 pound missile,how can that not be 'powerful'.I'd say it's plenty powerful.The application is what's not right,not the brake itself.
The idea with it is...keep the chassis in balance.At speed anyway.It's not supposed to be the 'primary' braking force.

Owner's Manual...'how to ride the motorcycle'.I couldn't find anything remotely related to...'fer God's sake roundeyes,stay off the rear brake...it's useless.We just put it on there so the rear wheel area would look cool'.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 4/3/2018 @ 12:06 AM *

lol.What were you expecting?It's supposed to be used in conjunction with the front.I'd have to say...it was working fine.It locked up the wheel,right?Panic.Slammed on the rear.I mean,yeah,I get it.I've done that a time or two.But without that front brake...the rear isn't gonna 'do all the perfect braking' that seems to be 'expected' with these complaints of 'rear brake is useless'.

I wasn't intending to blame the brake at all. I blame physics! I just wanted to point out that using the rear brake only is just about useless, no matter what condition it's in.

I knew better ... knew not to screw with things while riding ... knew not to take my hands off the grips for any more than a brief moment ... and knew the rear brake alone wouldn't stop me very fast ... just didn't know quite how not-very-fast that would be

I suggest everybody go try it away from traffic, just so you know. Can't hurt to have more info and more experience.

* Last updated by: extrapolator on 4/3/2018 @ 8:25 AM *

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I released gently and applied front brake agressively,along with a now'lighter touch' on the rear.She barely stopped in time.

LOL I had a similar experience on the busa last summer. Traffic stopped for construction and i didn't notice it until I was maybe 70 feet away!! I didn't lock either. LOL I made two quick blips and shifted down two then grabbed the front and back brake and the clutch since there was no way I was going to engine brake in that short of a distance. I stopped about 1 foot away from the trucks bumper in front of me. No wheel lock.

The rear end is going to lighten up even if you only use the rear brake so if you're on it hard, it's just skimming the road. All the load goes on the front.

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Yep...it's not so good for primary braking.But it works fine,IMO.For what it's supposed to do;)

Yep...it's not so good for primary braking.But it works fine,IMO.For what it's supposed to do;)

... like making screeching sounds come from the back tire!

... and provide about 4.6% of your stopping power ... unless you're on the front brake so hard the rear tire has come up off the ground, in which case the rear brake is providing 0% of your stopping power

* Last updated by: extrapolator on 4/3/2018 @ 12:57 PM *

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lol...that's what it's supposed to do....crashing is no fun without the 'screech' just before the 'boom'...;)

Rear brake + throttle blip = smooth downshift. IMO

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