I just bought this bike last weekend, spent 600 miles onthe interstate thru crappy weather to get her home from Chicago (yeah, that was me on the black motorcycle running hard thru Indiana on 65S thru Ky, TN, and Alabama).

I am finding that the rear brake does almost nothgin to stop the bike at all, and doesn't register at all when cornering either. I hit this thing and the bike is barely phased. I can tell the caliper grabs, but there is no slowing down of the bike associated with it. Is this normal, or is there something I shoudl be looking at?

I LOVE this machine! Absolutely EXCELLENT! George Kirn in Chicago sold me this thing, and it is TITS!

Skinthead

I'm having the same problem with mine, the rear brake just doesn't seem to work, everyting's free, new pads, good pedal and the pistons are moving, just none or very little rear brake!!

My bike has the same issue and I think it is due to the rear master cylinder needing a rebuild. The rebuild is only $11 so it's worth a shot.

Have you bled the rear brake and as in cars the rear brake should come on first but the front brake does 60-70 % of the braking. Both of my Buells (2000 &2001) do the same thing. I'm sure if you had separate brakes on your car you would notice somewhat the same thing.

Even with fresh pads / fluids / et cetera, don't expect much out of the rear brake on a Buell. My 2001 Cyclone has what I call a "hill holder" - the Sportster's rear is much better. Of course, the front brake on the Buell is far superior.

Same issue on my 2000 M2. I heard of a fellow on badweatherbikers that put a braided hose on the rear and upgraded the pads for some improvement. He stated that gave him a stronger rear brake that he could progressively apply where as his standard set up was almost useless, with little feedback and then would lock up when applied hard with no warning. The Buells just don't have the same weight on the rear as a Harley and there is concern that someone used to a cruiser might lock it up because under hard braking the rear wheel on a Buell is barely (if at all) touching. I would guess a stronger rear brake would be most useful for trail braking.

Same issue on my 2000 M2. I heard of a fellow on badweatherbikers that put a braided hose on the rear and upgraded the pads for some improvement. He stated that gave him a stronger rear brake that he could progressively apply where as his standard set up was almost useless, with little feedback and then would lock up when applied hard with no warning. The Buells just don't have the same weight on the rear as a Harley and there is concern that someone used to a cruiser might lock it up because under hard braking the rear wheel on a Buell is barely (if at all) touching. I would guess a stronger rear brake would be most useful for trail braking.

+1 on the braided hose, and maybe better pads. Apart from that, bleed the system, clean and copper grease the pins that the floating caliper rides on to ensure it's moving properly, and rough up the existing pads with some medium grit wet or dry paper to remove any glaze.

The rear brake on a Buell will never be as powerful as that on a Sporty and, as has been stated earlier, you wouldn't really want it to be, because of the different weight distribution.

Buell rear brakes are intentionally designed this way, to prevent rear wheel lockup on hard braking.

When you're charging a corner and you get on the brakes hard, there's very little weight on the rear wheel, and you want your rear brake to do nothing more than stabilize the bike a little.

It certainly does feel odd when you're used to a cruiser, where the rear brake plays a much bigger role in slowing the motorcycle. But in aggressive sportbike riding, the Buell rear brake is what you want.

I've got braided lines on mine and can not tell any difference at all. Also I use a neverseize compound on the caliper pins. I also agree wholeheartedly with ASWRacing about the braking on the sportbikes. Good luck.

I guess a weak brake with a stock clutch is a lot cheaper than a good brake with a slipper clutch....most road racer/sportbike types agree that the rear brake should be for display purposes only...especially on a Buell that has engine braking out the wazoo...my lil ole Blast will skid the rear tire with engine braking alone if I don't match throttle position on downshifts.

And it is true that the rear brakes are designed to be somewhat whimpy....the really short wheelbase is most of the reason....