'15 Roadsmith Brakes

[mgwtrike]

I ask this question to another post without any reply's.

Have you ever tried to "lock-up" the rear brakes on your Roadsmith?

To me the brake pedal on my '12 RS feels hard and would take a 300# rider to stand on them to lock them up..................

I use them with the front brake to stop now, but concerned if I had to brake hard like in a panic stop, if it would be effective enough.

I have 1000 miles on the trike so far and always thought maybe they had to get broken in.....

Cheers!

[Gold Rush]

I ask this question to another post without any reply's.

Have you ever tried to "lock-up" the rear brakes on your Roadsmith?

To me the brake pedal on my '12 RS feels hard and would take a 300# rider to stand on them to lock them up..................

I use them with the front brake to stop now, but concerned if I had to brake hard like in a panic stop, if it would be effective enough.

I have 1000 miles on the trike so far and always thought maybe they had to get broken in.....

Cheers!

Never have tried to lock up my rear brakes. I've hit them pretty hard a couple times and they seem to do the job quite well. In conjunction with the front brakes I'm very happy with my stopping power....

[The Captain]

On the recommendation of someone here, I moved my brake pedal up one notch on the shaft so that the pedal is up higher by about 1/2 inch or so. Also, I was unimpressed with the rear brakes on my Roadsmith at first. I could actually stand up on the brake pedal without locking the rear tires up. After about 1500-2000 miles, they will lock up with ease. They do need to be broken in by getting the trike up to speed then hitting the rear brakes hard. Hope this helps.

[mhgoldwing]

1. Move pedal up one notch if installer didn't do it as they should.

2. Purchase and install a brake pedal cover. This triples the size of the pedal and gives you more leverage.

3. The brake pad break-in procedure is usually to get speed to 60 and then apply brakes hard (not to lock up) until bike gets down to 20 mph or so, then repeat. Do this five times to seat the pads WITHOUT STOPPING. After the last hard braking allow the brakes to cool before stopping.

Personally, with radial tires I do not want my brakes to lock up. Stop hard yes, but not lock up as that is nothing but trouble.

Use both front and rear brakes to stop.

[mgwtrike]

Thanks Fellows for your input............

[Gold Rush]

Thanks Fellows for your input............

Hey Mike - does tires making a screeching sound qualify as lock up or just shy of that??? Just out or curiosity I tried this morning. When the unpleasant noise began I got off the brake peddle. I wasn't ever trying hard so I'm sure if full lock up would be the object that could be achieved. But then I'd have a 1200 pound steel sled. Stopping just before the tires let go is optimal but rarely achieved or necessary.

Seriously, It appears there rear brakes on my 2015 could be forced into full lock up but I won't be doing that on purpose again...

[mgwtrike]

Hey Mike - does tires making a screeching sound qualify as lock up or just shy of that??? Just out or curiosity I tried this morning. When the unpleasant noise began I got off the brake peddle. I wasn't ever trying hard so I'm sure if full lock up would be the object that could be achieved. But then I'd have a 1200 pound steel sled. Stopping just before the tires let go is optimal but rarely achieved or necessary.

Seriously, It appears there rear brakes on my 2015 could be forced into full lock up but I won't be doing that on purpose again...

Yes I would consider that close to lock-up.
My brakes just feel "hard" and takes a while to come to a complete stop with just using the back (trike) brakes.
I'm hoping in time they will get better.

I'm glad it isn't the other way around, like every time I apply the rear brakes them would lock-up.

[Gold Rush]

Yes I would consider that close to lock-up.
My brakes just feel "hard" and takes a while to come to a complete stop with just using the back (trike) brakes.
I'm hoping in time they will get better.

I'm glad it isn't the other way around, like every time I apply the rear brakes them would lock-up.

YUP, too grabby breaks would not be fun. Like I said if you could count on the rears stopping just shy of lock up I'd think that would be perfect. I expect yours will get a bit better. You might try going through the brake in procedure a couple times. Don't ride them for too long hard or they will glaze then you will really have issues.

Good luck.