Probably not new topic but brakes, how to improve

[Tinlegs]

Got my 2018 650 XT last week and oh my are the brakes pathetic. Anyone got some advice on how to improve things besides a change of pads ?

Thanks and happy new year to all

[Fat Rat]

You can upgrade the pads and you can fit braided lines, I have done both and if I'm honest the reward isn't worth the effort.

Upgrading the two pot Calipers and the Master Cylinder is the only thing that will give tangible results.

[kwackboy]

Although Suzuki don't provide top of the range brakes they are pretty good when new and it's normally a few years before you start to notice a decline in the OEM brake performance.

Maybe there is something wrong ..? Does your brake lever pull all the way in to the the bar ? Maybe your brakes have some trapped air ?   

Upgrade options are 4pot calipers from either a  gsxr600 srad , Honda hornet 900, 954/929/918 fireblade to name a few. These need to be mounted to new hangers , svracing in America.
A larger master cylinder is recommended from the same bikes but most late radial types would work with some fettling to mirror mounts and switch gear adjustment.
Non abs bikes make the job easier but takes longer to bleed the system with abs models .

[TLPower]

Put some segs in Your boots and do a Fred Flintstone? Failing that kwackboy's plan.

[Rusty Nuts]

Segs.... One word and it's 1974 again,  Mr Fairs the headmaster is busy banning them from school, the local cobbler can't understand why he's sold more in the last 6 months than the last 6 years. The odd crazes that came and went. Have a like for a bit of Proustian nostalgia. Now, where are my Wayfinders?

[Asmith61]

As mr rat has already said. I to fitted EBC double h pads and braided hoses and apart from cosmetic difference there was not a lot of change to the braking maybe a little stiffer brake lever 

[wurzel]

If the bike is brand new they might want to bed in a little, but they will always be adequate rather than eye popping.
Just had a day on Katy Boom,my 1290 sdr,after jumping off my Strom, those brakes only way a gentle touch with two fingers to be blistering the tarmac.

[Gassoon]

Coming from bigger bikes - wasn't your last a 2018 Tiger 800, with Brembos? - you do feel a difference. But the brakes are adequate for the bike. Many just bung in the best pads and get used to it. there's only 1 rider mode as well, btw!

[Brockett]

My experience with Wees, a Vee and  glee.   Although strom brakes never feel up to much I cannot say I ever ran out of brakes and hit anything. I might also say that the ABS cut in from time to time and so stronger braking feel may not have led to more effective braking.

[bosnjo]

After I traded in my '14 DL1000 for '18 DL1000 I also found that brakes were very weak. I mean, there should be no difference between '14 and '18 but there was, and it was huge. Many trips to dealer but there seemed to be nothing wrong with the bike.
Well, I know this is strange, but first step towards final solution was made one day when my bike was parked for more the two hours in heavy rain. It was still raining and I had to ride it home. Well, with pads soaked the brakes had huge impovement. WTF????
After the pads dried out, it was all bad again. So, I concluded that my pads were contaminated. And they were (and I didn't know how and why). Purchased new set of front pads and used the technique to bed them in properly.
WOW... On first use I almost went over my handlebars...
Just after that I had to do 15 days trip and bike stayed parked in garage. When I came back home and used it for the first time, both brakes, front and rear, were empty. No pressure at all. Pumped the front one and it started to work fine but the rear one was completely dead.
Went to petrol station and got DOT4 to bleed the brakes. There was so much air/bubbles that I had to use all 250ml of DOT4. After that, everything was working fine but I was completely puzzled about that air. How did it find the way in... and that much...?
One week after, I was cleaning the bike and accidentally touched bellow front left banjo bolt... and it was full of brake oil. Here it was, the answer. That is how my old pads got soaked and that was the spot where the air was getting in. Trip to the dealer, new washer and 5 minutes later all was like new. Now I have the brakes the way they were supposed to be since day one. Almost one year of difficulties to stop brand new bike.
Well, at least it's solved now.

[Yellow Peril]

Not being one to hide my ignorance, Mr Bosnjo, I'm curious to know the technique you used to bed the pads in properly? Something I can try when the time comes.

[bosnjo]

It's called "8-80". I'm going to describe it but I learned it with km/h, not mp/h. So, just use online kmh to mph calculator.
So, on installing new pads you have to clean your rotors really well. I use that blue alcohol. It's important to clean the surface of rotors and the holes, one by one. It takes a lot of time. If you fail to do it, all the rest is useless. To clean the holes on rotors I use alcohol and ear cleaning cotton swabs. One swab per hole.
Then you install new pads.
Don't use them nor pump the lever to recover the pressure to avoid pads touching the rotor. Using only rear brake, take your bike to empty stretch of the road or Car park, long enough to perform the bedding. I have one 2 miles away from home so I went there slowly, using only rear brake. It is very important not to use the front brake before bedding new pads in.
Line up your bike with the road, pump the front brake lever to get the pressure to normal and speed up to 50 km/h, then brake NORMALY with front brake until speed gets down to 10 km/h.
DO NOT STOP THE BIKE USING FRONT BRAKE!!!!
Repeat the procedure 8 times consequently, don't wait between each braking.
Then immediately speed up to 80 km/h and brake HARD to slow down to 10 km/h. Do not stop the bike using front brake. Repeat this procedure 3 times.
After that, stop the bike with rear brake and let it rest until front rotors get cold. It should take 15-20 minutes.
Job done.

[Gassoon]

That's all well and good, but you left out the part about riding the bike (naked, but with your balls painted blue) widdershins round Stonehenge, on the night of a full moon to get full braking perfection 

[Fat Rat]

 

[kwackboy]

The Next new bike I buy I'm going to do it naked. It's a pointless waste of paint painting my balls blue as it might flake off when they shrivel up from the cold thus contaminating the rear pads . 
 

[bosnjo]

No point of painting balls. With this cold, just ride the bike naked and from time to time look at your balls. They'll be changing from blue to purple, and if you insist, they'll go black...

[Rusty Nuts]

Wot a faff!  Where does this procedure originate? Is it somewhere in the EBC small print? I can honestly say I've never heard of this before ( except the bit about painting your balls)

[Yellow Peril]

That'll be a ball braker, then.

[Fat Rat]

Is this dodgy V-Strom Calendar running slow, is it April the first?

[Asmith61]