I just replaced the front brakes with 47,000 miles on my ST1300. They weren't as worn as I thought. I had probably had at least another 10,000 miles on them, but having bought the new pads and taken everything apart, I went ahead and replaced them anyway.
Took it out for a test drive and for the first time since I bought the bike, purposely tried to lock the rear wheel using the rear brake only. Thanks to the linked braking system, I came to a very quick stop, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the rear wheel to lock up.
Adding the front brake brought me to an even more impressive quick stop, but I didn't try locking the front. Locking the rear is not a great idea, but locking the front is just a a really bad idea, but I have done it purposely when I was younger, on a lighter bike (750 Sabre) and without linked brakes just briefly to see what it felt like.
Anyway, I was wondering if it's even possible on a non-abs ST1300 to lock the rear wheel on dry pavement. If it is, then maybe I'm due for a brake bleed even though the brakes don't feel spongy. I've gone a couple of years longer without bleeding them than Honda recommends, but I sort of figured that their recommendation was conservative. For example, My old 750 Sabre had perfectly fine brakes even after 10 years without bleeding them.
Took it out for a test drive and for the first time since I bought the bike, purposely tried to lock the rear wheel using the rear brake only. Thanks to the linked braking system, I came to a very quick stop, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the rear wheel to lock up.
Adding the front brake brought me to an even more impressive quick stop, but I didn't try locking the front. Locking the rear is not a great idea, but locking the front is just a a really bad idea, but I have done it purposely when I was younger, on a lighter bike (750 Sabre) and without linked brakes just briefly to see what it felt like.
Anyway, I was wondering if it's even possible on a non-abs ST1300 to lock the rear wheel on dry pavement. If it is, then maybe I'm due for a brake bleed even though the brakes don't feel spongy. I've gone a couple of years longer without bleeding them than Honda recommends, but I sort of figured that their recommendation was conservative. For example, My old 750 Sabre had perfectly fine brakes even after 10 years without bleeding them.