Jump to content

No brakes off the back straight? Don't be skeered...


Moto-Brian

Recommended Posts

Trust me, there's plenty of room at the end of the back straight at Mid-Ohio to get stopped or slowed enough to turn and make 7...

Had an interesting issue show it's face yesterday at Mid-Ohio.

Running down the back straight about 1/2 way through our session and popped up out of tuck to get slowed for 7 and the lever comes all the way back to the bar. NO pressure. Zero.

Kinda did an "Oh shit" thing in the head, but knew to keep pumping the lever in hopes it would come back enough to work. No dealio. All the while, I was locking the rear. Good thing that even though I suck at MX, I wasn't horrified at being so sideways.

Drew, I got you beat on being sideways into a turn...:D

As I finally got slowed enough and was able to turn in at the very edge of the outside edge, I was looking at the brakes and thinking I'd see fluid or something busted a line, etc. I have a wrist band on the reservoir so, I couldn't see if there was fluid or not.

Lever never pumped much at all so, I rear braked it back into the pits.

Checked the system and no signs of any issues. Until I took the calipers off to look at the pads... The left side inner pad had lost it's brake compound. Yes, it came off the backing plate.

I had passed Monte and while going into turn one where you don't use a lot of brake, he was hit with something in the chest. He thought it was a bird that swooped off the bridge and he hit it. It was the brake compound. I, of course had no clue until at the end of the back straight...

I won't say what pads they were until I see what they do about it. I will say, they weren't Vesrahs.

Never really trusted the brakes the rest of the day, but overall, was fine enough to have some fun.

In 14 years of racing, NEVER had this happen. Know EBC had an issue YEARS ago, but never experienced it. Ever. Brakes are the one thing that if you cannot trust them, it makes it pretty tough to ride hard. The Vesrahs had me kicking myself as to why I even thought to switch...

But, when we tell the riders in classrooms and such that the track is plenty wide enough to get slowed and not panic and cram the brakes, I am here to say we aren't full of shit...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I won't say what pads they were until I see what they do about it. I will say, they weren't Vesrahs.

I know what pads they were. I remember the day you picked them up since I had to meet you to grab some things myself.

I remember you saying.. Yeah so I figure I will give these a shot. HAHAHA :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think most people without the experience would have binned it..

Maybe if you took care of your shit Lizard that wouldnt have happened.. hahahahahaha :bigfinger::flingpoo::D:D:lol::lol:

So question... even if you lost the brake material off one pad, you still didnt have enough pressure to compress the other pads at all?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure that made you change your undies.

Not really... Been in situations a whole lot more scary than no brakes. It left me unsettled and like I said, I thought "Oh shit" for a moment... I figured I had enough time, though/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think most people without the experience would have binned it..

Maybe if you took care of your shit Lizard that wouldnt have happened.. hahahahahaha :bigfinger::flingpoo::D:D:lol::lol:

So question... even if you lost the brake material off one pad, you still didnt have enough pressure to compress the other pads at all?

The compound missing had the pistons go out almost fully. It would build slight pressure, but I had to pump constantly... Not easy to do while shit is coming at you at 170 mph...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess that's when down shifting w/o a slipper would come in handy. Glad you pulled it off i bet it would have been something to see.

Yeah, actually, a slipper would have been nice to have. Jam the gears down and let it slide, but the rear brake was doing that job...

The corner worker at the top of 8 gave me a thumbs up... I waved back...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thats twat I was wondering? Weird.

Like I said, it wasn't enough at speed. Initially, there was a TON of fluid needed to fill the piston movement. Think what happens when you push the pads back after changing your brake pads to fit over the rotors. Hell, think about when you change the front wheel and don't pump the brakes. Initially, there's no lever - no pressure. Until that fluid filles the void, it is a dead lever.

Well, the pad never contacted enough to resist the pistons. So, a few pumps and it probably built enough to assist, but again, not enough to properly slow a bike from that speed down to enough to not hit that ski jump at the end of the back straight...

Once I got rolling again, there was a slight bit of pressure, but it wasn't consistant. I'd have it and then I wouldn't... The pads push back slightly as you move too and that's what I was experiencing. They had to fill those two pistons again each time to get the pad to contact the rotor...

Hell, even in the pits, the lever came almost to the bar...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hell, think about when you change the front wheel and don't pump the brakes. Initially, there's no lever - no pressure. Until that fluid filles the void, it is a dead lever.

Yea, didnt think about that. Damn that would suck, once again, AWESOME save man!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the rears slowed you in time it looks like you could brake even deeper into that corner than you thought. :lol:

You're right. I'm just glad it wasn't an event I was racing in. I'm also thankful that there wasn't slower riders going into that turn. It would have been 4th and 99 yards to go. You know what happens then, right? You punt...:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aaahhh that sucks, I know how much it sucks to not have brakes and you are fully confident that you do when you enter a corner.... I can say it was no fun at 70mph non the less 120+mph, glad to hear you made the turn and you didnt take the ski jump into the kitty litter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're right. I'm just glad it wasn't an event I was racing in. I'm also thankful that there wasn't slower riders going into that turn. It would have been 4th and 99 yards to go. You know what happens then, right? You punt...:D

Quote has been stolen by me!! i'll def. use that later

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...