One disc as opposed to two....?

[JACKHAMMER01]

As a professional in the motorcycle repair industry, I must advise you to repair that front brake caliper ASAP!!!!!

Now, on a personal note, I rode my 81 XS with only a rear brake for three years. But the first time that I wound up in trouble and wishing for more(front) braking power, they got reinstalled fast.

[Crazcnuk]

Heh, getting it fixed asap goes without saying, However ASAP is unique to each situation....

Amazing how little the rear brakes actually do, eh?

[79XS11F]

For the life of me I can not believe that there is a debate going on here about weather or not someone should be using their bike with only 1/2 the front brakes working. I was sure when I joined this site it was a motorcycle forum about motorcycling, motorcycle repair & maintenance and safe motorcycling in general as it pertains specifically in this case to the XS or XJ1100.
So what can I say .... for all of you that think it's safe to run with 1/2 the front brakes not working why not just go ahead and remove 1/2 the front brakes??? Think of all that sprung weight you'll be saving on the front end and overall weight savings on the bike. GO FOR IT and your chosen god be with you.
Rob

[Crazcnuk]

Maybe you should actually READ the thread before spouting off?

What is it with people? If your gonna remove half you may as well take it all off? What the heck kind of logic is that?

I suppose if your tire goes down 10psi, you call a tow-truck? After all if some leaks out may as well let it ALL out!

Do you look at your half empty beer and throw it away? After all if it's half gone may as well throw the rest away...

yeesh.

The difference between half brakes and NO brakes any 5yr old can answer. In this situation he is still running with more than half, as his REAR brakes still work. So , at best he might be down 30% of his total brake capacity, IF that.

The issue here, if you had bothered to read it was: His bike broke. He had the choice of ride with less brakes (READ: LESS not NONE) or push the bike in the back 40 and walk.

Then a bunch of people who can't read, jumped in with thier holier-than-thou preaching about there being no difference between having 70% of thier brakes or NO brakes, which any idiot can see.

[79XS11F]

Perhaps you should read my post . .It does not say to remover the OTHER 1/2 of the brakes it says
for all of you that think it's safe to run with 1/2 the front brakes not working why not just go ahead and remove 1/2 the front brakes??? Think of all that sprung weight you'll be saving on the front end and overall weight savings on the bike. GO FOR IT and your chosen god be with you.

As for the beer only if it's PISS warm or someone eles. Tire pressure no. 10 pounds ether way is likely only the difference between a cold or hot tire
Rob

[Crazcnuk]

And that was an assinine comment, and has nothing to do with the thread.

No one here, except maybe you, has advocated taking off half the front brakes for something to do.

As for being safe, safe is how you drive, which if you read, is what most have been saying.

[mason79]

how do you convert and graft a cable operated front drum brake to my eleven, i couldn't find it in the tech section...

[79XS11F]

Originally posted by Crazcnuk
And that was an assinine comment, and has nothing to do with the thread.

No one here, except maybe you, has advocated taking off half the front brakes for something to do.

As for being safe, safe is how you drive, which if you read, is what most have been saying.

What are you talking about ??? .. this guy has for all intense purposes in deed taken off 1/2 his front brakes. and no SAFE is not how you ride. How you ride plays a big role but there is too much that is out of the riders control. Using the bike day in and day out with such an obvious DEFECT in braking performance is a mistake.
Rob

[79XS11F]

Originally posted by mason79
how do you convert and graft a cable operated front drum brake to my eleven, i couldn't find it in the tech section...

Which 1/2?
Rob

[crazypainter]

Yamaha also took away 1/2 of the front brakes with the linked brake system as it only uses one caliper activated from the hand brake. So if you don't activate the foot brake you're only using one front brake, right from the factory.

[79XS11F]

yeah they did that to prevent rear wheel lock ups which can be a disaster for the rider. So if the rider hits the rear brake too hard 1/2 that force is sent to the front. The intention is that one would apply the split rear / front and front brakes all at once or ether 1/2 of the set up as required.
Rob

[Guy_b_g]

Wow, this is a spirited discussion...

My take is..motorcycling isn't safe, period. Not safe folks. Gravity is waiting, it's gonna get you eventually. Put in enough miles and it's virtually guaranteed that the idiot in front of you will make a hard left U-turn from the right lane, or the semi will shed the tread from it's tire (why I won't follow the things..), or an on-ramp will be covered in invisible deisel from an overtopped truck tank. I've darn near lost it on spilled tomatoes during harvest season in California, went down twice due to black ice in Eastern Oregon, been run off the road by a trucker in Upstate NY, and had an old lady pull into the road as she looked right at me in FL. I've hit the pavement a total of 3 times in 23 years of riding on the street.

All you can really do is Wear the Gear, try to ride in good weather, be alert, and keep your equipment as safe as possible.

Bottom line here is you accept the risk to get the enjoyment.

If all I had was an XS11 for transportation and it had only 1 front brake, I would ride it and get it fixed as soon as I possibly could. My risk, no one else should lose sleep over it. There are things going on on the road that are much more dangerous than an XS11 with a single front caliper, I wish that was all I had to watch out for....to the guys who say he shouldn't ride..well if you ever talk on your cell when you're in a cage I would rather you were on a 1 brake XS11 any day.

[Crazcnuk]

So the xs is the only bike in the entire world you will drive as it has the PERFECT amount of brakes?

Or... You can't drive any other vehicle as you can't adjust for different types/amounts of brakes?

How do you drive an XS even, I am sure there are lots of vehicles out there with more brakes than the xs, and obviously it's unsafe to drive with less brakes...

Get real.

This was a temporary situation, not a life choice. Heck you haven't even complained about the guy with NO front brakes yet...

[Ken Talbot]

Moderator note

Gently, folks. Spirited discussion is one thing, but this one is turning into a run-away. Let's all take a deep breath and return to civil, respectful discussion.

[79XS11F]

NO ... the bike comes from the factory with the amount of brakes the engineers decided the bike needs to be operated safely. GOD I do wish the XS did have perfect brakes but it doesn't and this is the point. If the brakes are inadequate when new what are they like at 28 years old and only 1/2 of them hooked up? Would "I" ride my bike with less then perfect brakes yes i do so every day but they work as they are meant to even if not perfect. Would I run my bike with 1/2 of them off line .. NO I would not. I would not put "others" at risk even if I was prepared to take the risk myself.
Rob