I need better rear brakes!

[Dually]

2014 Wing...2015 Roadsmith kit, stock pads.

Rear brakes have been bled, but it just doesn't have the stopping power I want. The pads have a lot of meat left on them.

What would you guys recommend for the best replacement pads?

I don't care about long life, just better stopping power.

 

[FRR]

It usually isn't the brand of the pad but the size of the pad. I love my Hannigan kit, but the pad on my rear brakes are the size of large postage stamps. Don't know what you can do about that.

 

[Gorilla]

ebc brake pads if you can id the correct ones for your conversion. i use them on the tri and love them

 

[hogcowboy]

I'll 2nd the EBC pads if you need to replace them. But could I ask everyone a question about trikes versus bikes when it comes to brakes here or should I just start a different thread? It will possibly hijack the OP's question but I feel it's truly related since the rear brakes were specifically mentioned. I'll ask then if the mods think it should go somewhere else it will be easy to capture it and move it.

Question:

Do you rely on the rear brakes more to stop than front brakes on trikes and therefore primarily hit the rear first then hit the front? Which is just the opposite to bikes where at least I always hit the front first and only rarely ever need to hit the rear on bikes.

My first thought for the OP was to suggest he learn to use more front brake but maybe that's totally incorrect for trikes. So you see why I thought this might be a perfect place to ask the question. Maybe we both could learn something.:Shrug::Shrug::Shrug:

 

[Gorilla]

HogCowBoy

I'm 73, been on bikes off and on since I was 14. I've been on trikes for 10 years now with 120k miles on the 2 trikes I owned. The first was a HD 07 RK with a Champion conversion. My currently ride a 13 TRI-Glide with 56k on it.

My experience with the 2 HD trikes is I find the best braking effort has been to apply the brakes much like I always have on 2 wheels. The front brakes give you most of your stopping power. As the weight shifts forward and downward on the front the tire is forced down into the pavement providing the traction needed to stop.

Your rear brakes do not provide the same downward weight shift and pressure. The rears give you brake effect more from the wider tire contact area for traction stopping power. So just like on 2 wheels both brakes, but do not lockup the front wheel. I have found that the front is far more effective then the rears.

Best way to see this is go to a parking lot, make a hard stop first with just the rear brakes. Then do the same with just the front brake. Last do the same with both brakes like you would on a 2 wheeler. If you marked the stopping spots, at least on my tests, the stopping distance is shorter each test.

That's my experience on 2 HD trikes one a conversion and the other a factory trike over 120k miles and 10 years of riding them.

Ride safe

Ted