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Harley Street 500/750 Brakes

13068 Views 26 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  oandy
I think I read somewhere the Street will have single piston front and rear. No mention of piston or disc size. Plus no mention of ABS

I do hope the braking system is good. The fact that its lightweight is good. You don't need as much to stop.

Do you think larger brakes or ABS would be needed?
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ABS will be a must, especially if they want to sell in some nations that require it or will be in the future. Plus all, if not, most new bikes come with ABS, it's just natural for them to offer it.
For the price I doubt the street models will be coming with ABS but yes it would be nice add on for sure.
No ABS initially from what I have read. In three years I believe the Eurozone will require it on all new bikes.

If you look at photos of the Street you can see the front brake is a two piston double action caliper.

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yes Street doesnt comes with ABS and they dont give it as option as well :(
Too bad about the ABS, or rather the lack of it. I would think that most bikes would come with ABS these days, at least as an option. Why do you think Harley decided against it?
The only factor I could think off is to make it more affordable.

But they should offer it as an option at extra cost so people who want to go for it can go paying extra cost.
it was no doubt because of cost. i'm not sure why they dont offer it as an option


maybe it cost money to have another model
it was no doubt because of cost. i'm not sure why they dont offer it as an option


maybe it cost money to have another model
Yes Totally agree, they should give it as option at extra cost :cool:
The EU is going to force the matter in a few years anyway as an ABS requirement comes into effect.
that would only mean euro models would come standard with abs - which in some bikes I've seen that is already the case.

north america still seems to think abs is not really necessary
that would only mean euro models would come standard with abs - which in some bikes I've seen that is already the case.

north america still seems to think abs is not really necessary
As far as I am concerned, it is not necessary.
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that would only mean euro models would come standard with abs - which in some bikes I've seen that is already the case.

north america still seems to think abs is not really necessary
I doubt it. When EU regs force the adoption of ABS I suspect it will be featured on all bikes if for no other reason than to simplify production through standardization. Keep in mind the bikes destined for the EU will be manufactured in India.
i think if they enforce abs in europe.. north america and asia would still get non abs models until they follow
As far as I am concerned, it is not necessary.
I've never owned a motorcycle with ABS and would agree it isn't necessary. I've had two cars with ABS and it was great in snow and ice conditions and never required otherwise. Since I don't ride my motorcycle in snow or ice I don't know what advantage it really offers.

Admittedly if I did a "panic" stop where I locked up both front and rear brakes I would slide a few feet farther but I don't tend to "panic" stop my motorcycle. After almost 50 years of riding I'm pretty good at braking both the front and rear and can keep it on the edge of breaking loose fairly well. Mostly I just avoid any situations that would require severe braking applications.

That said I agree that it would be cool if ABS was offered as a option. I don't know if I'd buy it as that would depend on the cost but it would be good for Harley to offer it and they should.
More nonsense from Stone Free. ABS is a life saver even for an experienced rider. Maybe you don't ride in bad weather, but I have ridden in both driving downpours and in snow, wet snow in Oregon. You tour on a motorcycle you don't always get to choose your weather. Siskiyou pass on dry powder wasn't so bad, but US 395 in wet slushy snow that was freezing all over the front of the bike, and me, and the road, was pretty difficult riding. I started the trip in hundred degree weather but by the second day it was snow. It doesn't take much of a mistake to put you on your side in weather like that. Maybe you can threshold brake on dry pavement (I practice that too) but in sloppy weather that skill doesn't get you very far. If you don't believe me, test ride a bike with ABS and go find some wet pavement to see the effects of dry and wet pavement on braking. I had been riding for many years but it took riding some ABS equipped bikes to understand how much braking power you really have at each end. Riding them taught me a lot about what I can get away with on my non-ABS equipped bikes. For less skilled or casual riders ABS can be the difference between crashing or not crashing.
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Honda's Combined ABS seems like real improvement over stock ABS. Same system we should have on all bikes.
Honda's Combined ABS seems like real improvement over stock ABS. Same system we should have on all bikes.
Their system is a nightmare to troubleshoot. My friend had a rear caliper start to lock up on him during a ride to Monterey for Moto GP a few years ago. The front brake operates one of three pistons on the rear caliper through a linkage and master cylinder on the front fork leg that is operated by movement of the front brake caliper. That piston at the rear, however, gets fluid from the front brake reservoir through some sort of relay valve under the seat. Likewise the rear brakes operate the front through that relay valve. It is a ridiculously complicated system. We never did figure out how to cure the problem. We removed the rear caliper entirely, bungeed it to his seat (brake hose still attached) and rode it that way. Back home he was never able to find anyone who could fix it and the bike has not been ridden in all the years since.

Moto Guzzi had the most sensible linked brake system way back in the late 1970s. The front lever operated one front caliper. The foot pedal operated the rear brake caliper and the other front caliper through a very simple proportioning valve of the kind you find on just about every car made. Even without digital ABS, these were tough bikes to get into a slide. A pure, simple mechanical solution. Engineers have forgotten how to do these. Everything requires complicated electronics now.
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More nonsense from Stone Free. ABS is a life saver even for an experienced rider. Maybe you don't ride in bad weather, but I have ridden in both driving downpours and in snow, wet snow in Oregon. You tour on a motorcycle you don't always get to choose your weather. Siskiyou pass on dry powder wasn't so bad, but US 395 in wet slushy snow that was freezing all over the front of the bike, and me, and the road, was pretty difficult riding. I started the trip in hundred degree weather but by the second day it was snow. It doesn't take much of a mistake to put you on your side in weather like that. Maybe you can threshold brake on dry pavement (I practice that too) but in sloppy weather that skill doesn't get you very far. If you don't believe me, test ride a bike with ABS and go find some wet pavement to see the effects of dry and wet pavement on braking. I had been riding for many years but it took riding some ABS equipped bikes to understand how much braking power you really have at each end. Riding them taught me a lot about what I can get away with on my non-ABS equipped bikes. For less skilled or casual riders ABS can be the difference between crashing or not crashing.
Is there some reason why you always seem to feel compelled to be insulting?

As I mentioned I'm a very experienced rider as I've been riding motorcycles since the mid-1960's. I've never been a situation where I believe ABS was necessary. That could be because I grew up in SoCal where it doesn't snow except in the mountains and even when I moved to WA in 1989 I checked the weather before riding and didn't ride in snow conditions. I haven't experienced any problems with rain and I've been caught by severe thunderstorms more often than I can remember.

Yes, ABS can be very advantagous for new riders!!! It can even come in handy for an experienced riders in rare situations (that I've never personally experienced in over 45 years of riding). I do advocate that Harley-Davidson offer it as an option on the new Street 500/750 motorcycles but I don't believe it is absolutely necessary for safe riding.

If the additional cost was reasonable even I'd purchase it on a new motorcycle.
Yup, i have heard some bad things about the system on Honda's.
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