Do all motorcycles have about the same braking ability...?

Question

...or do the big cruisers have a little more trouble due to increased weight?

Answer 1

rockbase is doing it all wrong...

grab a handful of front & the bike will pick that big fat rear wheel of the road(so its not stopping him at all)

front brakes on bikes are 100% of your stopping power.. the new tyres have so much grip if you have a good Tyre on the front you can get the rear end of a cruiser off the road

So...  its all to do with how much weight you have to stop & how good the rubber is & how good you are on the front brake..

I practice grabbing a hand full of front ...  now & then you get to much & the bike goes down...   but its good to know how much you can grab..  It will save your life.

Answer 2

Rockbase is more correct than the other person.  First, front brakes are roughly 70% of your stopping power and 30% is your rear brake.  However, other factors come into play due to little items such as LAWS OF PHYSICS: grip and make-up of tires (friction), breaking system (friction and thermodynamics), type of bike (wind resistance), and so on.

I have a study done on numerous bikes (all types) that includes stopping distances etc.  The thing to remember here is that these numbers are the BEST of the distances when a pro is riding and KNOWS when he/she is to stop.  Reaction time is typically 1 to 2 seconds so hence you should be 3 to 4 seconds behind a vehicle and always have an out.

Answer 3

no they don't..... more weight = more stopping power... simple as that (atleast assuming you're comparing both a 300lb and a 700lb bike with say, hydraulic disc brakes...)

then tires come into play, better grip = better stopping power....

Answer 4

they all vary. depends on its weight, size or the brakes, what kind of bike it is

Answer 5

It's a physics question and you have to apply the correct formulas of mass and velocity. Two disc brakes have more braking power applied to a wheel based on more brake pad and rotor surface area to apply braking. But weight causes excess heat and less weight creates gliding (skidding). You have to apply all the variables to the formula and that includes the friction surface areas, for pads, tires, and some of you Fred Flinstones that drag your feet or do the Tinker Bell tiptoe stepie step thing when you stop.....  

To claim weight (mass) doesn't matter is for moon physics where gravity is not an issue to speak of...

So weight will cause a cruiser with a heavy weight (mass) a little more trouble, often lessoned by more braking pad surface area, larger rotors, and more friction through wider tires unless you cruise low gravitational planets and moon surfaces....

Answer 6

no they dont, my 1100 will out stop my 1670cc, and my 100ci victory hammer with the big fat rear will out stop both of the others.

It has to do with alot of things, not just weight of bike.

A)weight

B) tire tread, rubber softness and width

C) How many calapers, drums etc.

D) size of pistons used in brake system.

More.... thats why you ride each bike as a individule. each has its own traits.

Answer 7

No they don't. They have the same problems with small brakes on the econo models as cars. Take the Dodge Grand Caravan that my wife drove during the children/car-seat years. Now those brakes sucked like nothing elese because the cheap A/H's at Dodge based the car on something that was much smaller and added weight to the chassis. It wore brake pads every 15 to 20K miles in town. Now I drive a german car and have put 40 to 50K miles on the car before they needed new pads. And the truck that I drive has 50K miles and is on the original set of pads. But back to the motorcycles, I have a heavy american bike and it have 8K miles on it and the rear pads have been replaced. Other high performance bike that I have owned and ridden for years have never burned thru a set of pads or shoes.

70% of braking is done with the front wheel...Proper sizing is the answer. Cheap low line models always have cheap brakes. I would sooner have a little less HP and better brakes.

Answer 8

No, there are 3 major factors to a bike's braking capabilities:

1) weight of bike

2) size of brake rotors and pads ( as well as materials used in pads )

3) width and softness of tires.

Answer 9

The braking ability of different types bikes will vary greatly.  All bikes made lately will be adequate, but some types of bike are just better at stopping quickly.  I have been riding sportbikes for many years now but get a chance to ride a few different bikes every season and can say that for stopping quickly they are hands down better.  The bikes are made to do only three things well, but they do they do those three things better than anything out there.  Sportbikes are made to accelerate, stop and corner very quickly.  They are a blast to ride but sacrifice a little in comfort, fair trade off if you ask me but some choose cruisers for their comfort.  Cruisers all have brakes that are good enuogh to get the job done in a short enough distance.  Driving around in town or on the highway they will stop you fast enough to keep you out of trouble.  Generally the lighter a bike is the faster it will stop, but that rule of thump only works if the bikes have simular braking systems.  A 2 disc front will almost always stop faster than a 1 disc front, the only way it would not would be if the bike with 2 disc front breaks weighed in about twice as heavy.  If you were able to follow me this far I bet you can see why a sportbike stops so fast, They have the more powerful front brakes and a very light, often a rider and bike will weight in lighter than just the weight of a cruiser alone.  I really don't see how a wider rear tire can help slow a bike down any faster than a narrower one, 85-99% of the work to stop quickly is done with the front tire.  If you need to just scrub off a little speed the rear works but if you really need to stop you use the front.  Every sportbike I have ever had would stop from 30 mph in like 10 feet pulling the tail of the bike off of the ground.  My newest bike can stop in around 90 feet from 100 mph, these bikes can stop (accelerate and corner) very quickly, so the answer is no the big cruisers have a little more trouble due to the increase in weight.