What bike do you want today?

I love this bike and it's the one I want more than any other, but with the last gen's bucket headlights (like below) and a blood red paint job

Well, I'd say that it has more to do with the way the bikes are generally ridden, or at least how their designers designed them to be ridden. My Duc also has twin 320mm rotors clamped by twin four pot calipers. And, yes, they are better than the Sportsters brakes too. But, the riding style, and my expectations for the two bikes is different as well, so I don't feel the need for the Sportster's brakes to have the same level of feel and power as those on the Duc. It still stops pretty strongly though, and way better than most sportier types of bikes with cutting edge brakes of the 80's. They simply get the job done for the way this particular bike is ridden. It isn't my corner strafing tool ya know.

But then you also have to consider a couple of things outside of outright braking power. Twin discs also dissipate the heat generated by braking much more efficiently than a single disc can. Most sporty bikes are designed for a more aggressive riding style, such as on a track, where the brakes see frequent heavy use. Situations like this will cause a single brake, even if strong enough, to over heat and fade much quicker. As a result of this, pretty much all supersports have twin floating disc with nice rigid calipers.

So naturally, anyone that knows anything about bikes just KNOWS that that's what it takes to make it down to the corner coffee shop too! Yep, you guessed it... marketing has a lot to do with it. There has been a trickle down effect in the marketing departments of the major motorcycle manufacturers where they follow fashion and give the buyer what he's looking for, whether he'll ever really use it or not. And truth be known, I'd venture a guess that a very large percentage of street riders never even come CLOSE to using the modern brakes of today anywhere near their potential.

So, say that I have brakes on my Sporty that are half as effective as those on my Duc. And, lets suppose that on a given day and a given road I max out the usage of those brakes at 75% of their potential. Now, lets suppose that I ride my Duc over the same course and at the same pace, using my brakes at 35% of their true potential. Have I noticed any real difference in the effectiveness of either brake system?

As long as the braking power is sufficient to brake up close to the tire's adhesion limits, bigger, newer tech, bad ass brakes aren't going to slow you down any quicker.

Now, with that said, I'll admit that the brakes are one thing that I am disappointed in about H-D. Personally, in this day and age, I see no excuse for the brakes that come stock on the majority of their bikes. And, I'll admit that the front brake was one of the first things I upgraded on my bike. A single disc with a single two pot caliper on a 575# motorcycle? Come on guys! Drag yourself into the 21st century!, or even the later quarter of the 20th century.

My bike came stock with just such a set-up, but has been upgraded with the Nissin 4 pot that you see in the pic. It's from the XR1200, and is also the same caliper as Honda used on the CBR954RR. While the brakes may not be up to par with modern sporting machinery, I must say that they really aren't bad now. I couldn't say that about the stock set-up. They "worked" but it just took too much lever effort IMO. Maybe I was spoiled from too many years with good brakes that worked fine with one, maybe two, fingers, IDK. Now I'm back to two fingers being comfortable for full on panic braking practice. I don't feel they are lacking now either, and I have been very pleased with the upgrade.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program called, "What bike do you want today?"

And after seeing the pic of that Monster a few clicks north, I'll say that would do me very nicely today.

Randy, you DID know I was just pullin' your chain?

And I do own a Sporty. '66 XLCH, all original.

I'm with Flyinace1.

Oh, yeah! Definitely on my short list.

You said it. My Nightrod Special has Brembo brakes and I went in two years ago to try a Fat Bob. Man was I shocked at just how bad that thing braked. Totally truned me off to the bike. If Harley can put Brembo on the Vrod line and touring line, it's almost criminal to put such crappy brakes on the rest of the line. I don't know if that's changed in the past few years or not as lately I'm lusting after Triumphs and haven't paid much attention to any changes at HD.

:eek1

I like this one better...

Yeah, and the thing is, decent brakes aren't THAT hard to do. I put an off the shelf H-D item on my 48 and greatly improved its braking performance. The XR1200's Nissin 4 piston caliper was a direct bolt on and cost me around $150 retail, shipped. To Harley the price difference between it and their standard 2 piston caliper probably isn't much at all, but completely changes the way the bike brakes. I mean, they don't have to go all out with twin discs and top shelf components to make a huge improvement, but to me, "decent" brakes should be mandatory equipment on any bike built in these modern time. There's just no excuse for anything less.

..and then you ask a shop mechanic about people's braking habits and hear
that some never touch the front and use just the rear.. especially cruiser
riders.

Well, unfortunately you can't design out stupidity, but for those of us that know where the real braking power comes from, it's relatively easy to design it in.

I don't like to overgeneralize, pigeonhole, or slam any subset of riders, but it does seem that cruisers tend to attract the less knowledgeable, and less safety conscious, group of riders for some reason. Maybe it isn't a manufacturer's responsibility to make a rider safe, but it should be somewhat their responsibility to give those that choose to be, the tools with which to do so.

Yep.

+1

$6800 trike... :huh

Sorry, but while the may be a cool "car", I don't really see that in the same vain as a motorcycle...

Legally it is a motorcycle... in this country anyway.

Yeah, by legal definition, having less than 4 wheels, it is a M/C here too I think. That may exempt it from certain regulatory requirements such as safety standards, emissions differences, and so forth, but to me if it is fully enclosed, doesn't lean, and/or has more than 2 wheels, it isn't a true motorcycle... Just offers none of the things that I associate with the feeling of motorcycling, IMO...

Sorry, all you Can-Am and other trike lovers.

To me, that thing is just a tandem seat car that just happens to have one wheel missing.

It doesn't require a motorcycle license in California, but I believe it would in Utah. I think it's nice to see weather protected, stable in the snow, new & reliable transportation with that low of a price. Sorry, but the price of new cars has gotten ridiculous.

Yeah, it could be an interesting alternative form of transportation. Still don't really see it as a motorcycle in any real sense though...

ditto

If you never want another woman to look at you in a sexual way ever again get the trike.

As for me, I'll stick with real bikes.