Topic: Front brake, 1976 CB 750 F

[Jim Shea]

The front brake on my bike is very stiff and is not that good!! now this might be normal, I have heard the brakes are crap on these bikes?
When I pull in the lever I have to really pull hard even to activate the brake light, I have checked and the fluid level is ok.
I am taking the wheel off on Sat for a new tyre... how easy is it to check the pads? and replace them (for a novice)? Also, what type of pads should I get?
Thanks,
Jim.

[Jim Shea]

It is a Brit bike, so I will get that checked... I will replace the pads anyway... I have ordered the standard ones from David Silver for the bike. Are they any good? or are there better ones from someone else?

[KB02]

yeah, Pads and Pivot should be the first thing to check. While you have it aprt, though is a good time to flush out all of the old fluid and put in some nivce, clean, new stuff. Check your hoses, too for cracking and wet spots. A weak hose will cause a nice soft feel to the lever.

[dusterdude]

i put ebc`s on mine and it stops good,makes a little bit of noise tho.

[MetalHead550]

Do 750 breaks really suck that bad?  My 550 front break is quite grabby like it should be.  Are 550s known for having crap breaks too?  I can shut her down from 60 to a dead stop in probably 5 seconds or so?  Thats using the back brake and downshifting to engine break as well.  Good or bad?

[Geeto67]

Do 750 breaks really suck that bad?  My 550 front break is quite grabby like it should be.  Are 550s known for having crap breaks too?  I can shut her down from 60 to a dead stop in probably 5 seconds or so?  Thats using the back brake and downshifting to engine break as well.  Good or bad?

It isn't that 750 front brakes are generally bad, it is that it takes a lot of lever travel to make them do their job and then a lot of pressure to really bring the bike to a stop. I have never had a cb750 brake fail to stop me when I needed it but I have a pretty frim grip and know what to expect. It takes a lot of squeezing to get a cb750 brake to lock up but it will do it in a panic situation. the cb750 disc is more even handed than a lot of drum brake bikes (the all or nothing proposition of my t500 drum scares me sometimes) but compared to other disc brake bikes the cb750 just doesn't have the grabbiness of a lot of other brakes (the only other disc brakes I have seen that are worse than a cb750 are the 72-76 kawasaki h1 and the norton commando discs of the mid 70s). The 550 I have doesn't have a stock front brake (mini spool drum) so I can;t tell you how it stacks up but considering most modern cars can stop from 60 to 0 in 120-150 feet, if you can do the same you are ahead of the game. BTW to compensate for the lackluster perfromance of the cb750 front brake the rear drum on k bikes is an awsome brake and using them together will really stop the bike well. Even the supersport rear disc is pretty impressive.