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Bobber Black - so so brakes

11K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  Birdy 
#1 ·
:surprise:Had a closer look to the Bobber Black at my dealer today. It was presented back to back with an original Bobber in his showroom!

First of all I must state: Because I didn't find a convinient upgrade for my weak single rotor brake, I initally was yet thinking about swaping over to the Bobber Black, when it was announced! But for my taste the double rotor on the fat front wheel was much to dominant and it compromised the nice drum brake look of the sinle rotor hub! So I decided to keep my original Bobber, and kept on trying to gain the braking performance of my single rotor setup. And at the end I succeeded with the fat Brembo P4 34/34 Supermoto caliper and finally got the much desired two finger front brake!:grin2:

Nevertheless: As the bad braking performance of the single rotor front brake was the most criticized point of the original Bobber, and because all the professional reviewers claimed a double disk rotor setup (wrongly thinking this was the only way to get a convinient front brake) this was one of the most important things on Triumph's to do list for their new Bobber version.

So when I jumped on the new Bobber Black the first thing I touched was the front brake lever! I was very interested on it's feel and expected a propper hydraulic ratio cause to the doubled caliper piston area! But to my surprise it didn't feel other than at the original Bobber!!!:surprise:

A closer look at the main cylinder showed: 5/8:surprise:

Man, they equipped the Bobber Black with a 5/8 inch main cylinder! Holy crap! Together with the small 28mm caliper pistons of the floating Brembo calipers this gives a hydraulic ratio of 12.4, which is better than on the original Bobber (7.4), but again far away from the desired 15-18 for a dual rotor setup! This is very odd!:surprise:

If I baught a Bobber Black I would immediately swap the main cylinder over to the mc of the original Bobber, as this would give me a hydraulic ratio of 16, which was close to optimum!>:)

Cheers,

Werner Wernersen0:)
 
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#2 ·
Interesting comparison - thanks for sharing.
I also prefer the single disc setup and look forward to trying out the 6 pot caliper when it arrives.
Some reviews have mentioned that despite a dual setup and beefier front forks, braking still falls short of expectations.

Did you by any chance feel the throttle grip on the Black?
I wrote about it here
 
#3 ·
No I didn't, sorry! I remembered why I got to the dealer and signed the sales contract for my brand new Thruxton R>:)

But by the way: I didn't have any troubles with the throttle at my Bobber! Checked it in my garage to be shure, and my throttle has minimal radial play. I even would say, there shouldn't be less! It has some axial play, but this could be adjusted easily by shifting the rubber slightly on the tube....

I guess the different feel of the trottles could be caused by slightly different mounting positions of the throttle body on the bar?! Don't worry to much about, you will be able to fix that easily! Give it a try! The dealers sometimes don't exercise much care when the assemble bikes right out of the box...

Werner Wernersen>:)
 
#5 ·
Bring this back from the dead. Interesting idea of swapping the MC out. Looking at the parts list price isn't too bad. I always hated the feel of the brake even compared to my '78 CB750 with single disc/single piston brake. Anyone try this? I'm assuming the MC from the original bobber to the BB is a straight swap?
 
#6 ·
I don't even get what this is about. Are your pads glazed or something? Did you get oil on them?

The front brakes on my Black are absolutely excellent. I can get the ABS to come on at will; what else could you want? To flip over the handlebars? For the brakes to work significantly better the bike would need to be lighter and/or the front tire would need to be softer; it's physics 101. What are you guys comparing it to, an HP4-Race or something?

Let's be honest, some people just have more money than they know what to do with.

-GPz/Gary
 
#10 ·
Maybe it's a grip strength issue. If you can't get your ABS to come on easily, it's definitely a grip strength issue. Here's the solution for that and they are the best brand out there:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Captains-o...WOIBIkf4JYk1eZg:sc:USPSFirstClass!44224!US!-1

-GPz/Gary

It’s a lot to do with feel AT the lever and not just stopping power and distance.
The OEM brakes are wooden and lack any sort of sensitivity. And for me the pads lacked initial bite and power.
I like to graduate my braking with some degree of finesse and YES I like to use one or two fingers.
My racing GSXR1000 had a pro brembo setup and that gave me arm pump after 2 sessions on the track. It was brutal braking before a marker, but trained my arms and body well for braking forces and to appreciate sensitivity.

I could easily get the ABS to activate with stock Bobber setup - but that is far from the point.
It feels woeful & built to a budget for a 2017, modern bike on any level you care to mention.

The FreeSpirits setup brings it up to satisfactory levels and their rear setup is brilliant too.

I don’t think it’s fair to generalize and say it’s a case of someone having “too much money”.
It’s about getting the maximum enjoyment from a stunning bike and for me, improving safety on the way.
If you’re happy with the stock setup, great.
 
#9 ·
Maybe it's a grip strength issue. If you can't get your ABS to come on easily, it's definitely a grip strength issue. Here's the solution for that and they are the best brand out there:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Captains-o...WOIBIkf4JYk1eZg:sc:USPSFirstClass!44224!US!-1

-GPz/Gary



LOL..Maybe my grip strength is too strong :grin2: Lever feels a little mushy to me. I know it's comparing apples to oranges..bike stops ok but given the hardware upgrade on it I was hoping for a little better.
 
#17 ·
Here's another thought. Many years ago I did an extensive upgrade to the front brakes of my track bike and was disappointed in the results, especially given the significant cost (well over $1000 in the 1980s). The brakes were powerful but did not feel predictable or consistent enough for me to slam them on hard at high speed without fear of locking them up (no ABS). They seemed "grabby" and the level of grabbiness changed somewhat unpredictably as they heated up. I was preparing to remove the whole setup when a friend suggested that I first try "Ferodo organic racing pads." The improvement in braking modulation was just incredible. I recall there being something controversial about these particular pads and I think they were sold as "racing only." Perhaps they contained asbestos? I loved those pads and bought several sets in case availability became an issue and I never used anything else on that bike. I have no idea if Ferodo still makes pads with that recipe but if I had modulation issues, that would be my first attempt in addressing the problem.

-GPz/Gary
 
#18 ·
I can relate with Gary here. I’ve raced both cars and bikes, and have gone into late braking battles (turn 2 Laguna seca) and have come out ahead of people with much better and expensive braking setups mainly by switching pads, properly cooling them, and finding the proper threshold just before abs kicks in, and hitting it every time.

My 911 race car had stock calipers and the cheapest rotors, but properly bed in pads that were selected based on the track. This along with cooling and proper braking technique, reduced my braking times with telemetry and data to back it up.
 
#19 ·
So to bring this to the top...

I'm building a project bike for my shop.

I came across this thread so I figured I'd try to grab the MC from a standard Bobber.

Standard Bobber MC - 5/8" (15.87mm)
Bobber Black MC - 14mm

So with each MC on the bike:
Bobber MC w/ BB brakes - 12.44 ratio
Bobber Black MC w/ BB brakes - 16.0 ratio

So changing to the Nissin MC would be a downgrade. So in the original post, you actually had it backwards.
 
#21 ·
So to bring this to the top...

I'm building a project bike for my shop.

I came across this thread so I figured I'd try to grab the MC from a standard Bobber.

Standard Bobber MC - 5/8" (15.87mm)
Bobber Black MC - 14mm

So with each MC on the bike:
Bobber MC w/ BB brakes - 12.44 ratio
Bobber Black MC w/ BB brakes - 16.0 ratio

So changing to the Nissin MC would be a downgrade. So in the original post, you actually had it backwards.
not that I’m questioning the math Danielle - I still don’t fully understand how the ratio is worked out! My simple brain is saying that if the MC piston is larger it should push more fluid for the same lever pull - therefore wouldn’t pushing more fluid improve the brakes rather than make them worse? As the brake pads are exerting a greater force with a smaller lever pull?

butI was confused when I read it originally anyway as why would they upgrade the callipers then go through the expense of creating a smaller (less effective) MC especially for the Bobber black?!
 
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