Topic: Mazda Canada

[Arthur Dent]

I helped a friend do brakes on a VW TDI. He had 250k or so on the original pads. They would have still been good except the front driver side had a little abnormal wear. Impressive.

Our old Nissan Quest ate brakes. I remember doing them at least twice. The rear pads and caliper were tiny so they wore just as fast as the front.

[johngenx]

I did experience rear brakes wearing out faster then front on both the SAAB and the Forester.

Most Subarus have rear brake pads significantly smaller than the fronts.

[rrocket]

I did experience rear brakes wearing out faster then front on both the SAAB and the Forester.

Most Subarus have rear brake pads significantly smaller than the fronts.

They are rinky-dinky....

[johngenx]

They are rinky-dinky....

That's the term I was looking for!  Excellent choice.  Perfect description.

[Noto]

Most Subarus have rear brake pads significantly smaller than the fronts.

The fronts went on our Fozzie way before the rears - but my wife is not the "smoothest" driver, and so I'm not particularly surprised.

[dkaz]

The 3rd gen Mazda 3's braking system is heavily biased towards the rear except in emergency braking situations, this is to reduce nose dive.

[dirtyjeffer]

The 3rd gen Mazda 3's braking system is heavily biased towards the rear except in emergency braking situations, this is to reduce nose dive.

that doesn't really make much sense...we aren't talking about a small sport motorcycle here...a decent suspension (which pretty much all cars have anyway) would prevent excessive diving...also, you can't apply too much brake to the rear as they are the first to lock up due to the low weight over the rear axle (made worse during possible weight transfer during heavy braking).

[dkaz]

That's true, the EBD likely works with ABS to put more bias on the front to reduce lockup.

Since we're talking about motorcycles, I'm a huge fan of Honda's combined braking system. It was on a Honda Reflex I test rode. Got me thinking that if they ever did a one combined brake lever with electronic brake distribution and cornering ABS, I'd buy one right away.

[HeliDriver]

That's true, the EBD likely works with ABS to put more bias on the front to reduce lockup.

Since we're talking about motorcycles, I'm a huge fan of Honda's combined braking system. It was on a Honda Reflex I test rode. Got me thinking that if they ever did a one combined brake lever with electronic brake distribution and cornering ABS, I'd buy one right away.

I guess it’s because I’m a Mtn bike/dirt bike guy, but I can’t even imagine how horrible it would be not to have separate front and rear braking. If you need to dumb the brakes down to a single lever/pedal, maybe riding just isn’t for you. (Not you, personally, DKaz. Just saying.)

Is there any actual reason why combined braking would be beneficial?

[dkaz]

It prevents rear wheel lock up which is fine on a mountain bicycle or dirt bike for those skid stops but not good on street. I've gone down twice because of rear wheel lock up and that's why at minimum ABS is required on my bike.

[johngenx]

Having ridden motorcycles since I was a pre-teen, the thought of linked braking makes me grimace, but then Honda has been refining these systems for decades now, and reports are that they're really, really good.  I do want the handle bar lever as the primary brake still - not the pedal.  I'm very precise with the level, not so much with the pedal.

[dkaz]

Hm, I could see that. Lever = front brake only (with ABS), pedal = electronic front + rear brakes (with ABS).

[rrocket]

Having ridden motorcycles since I was a pre-teen, the thought of linked braking makes me grimace, but then Honda has been refining these systems for decades now, and reports are that they're really, really good.  I do want the handle bar lever as the primary brake still - not the pedal.  I'm very precise with the level, not so much with the pedal.

They are indeed seamless now.

My PCX had this feature (they called it combined braking).  Worked perfectly.  I've also spent several afternoons aboard a VFR800.  Again...no issues.

I'd not hesitate to have it on another bike...save perhaps a supermotard.

[dkaz]

Yea maybe best to keep combined braking of any bike that's expected to spend time on dirt, but it's fantastic on the road.

[rrocket]

Yea maybe best to keep combined braking of any bike that's expected to spend time on dirt, but it's fantastic on the road.

Many models (KTM, Honda) allow for it and ABS to be shut off for dirt duty.

[dkaz]

Ah, I knew some models had ABS that could be turned off. That was one complaint about Versys-X, it can't be turned off.

Still a shame they didn't release the CRF250L Rally with ABS in Canada.