Is Upgrading Your Motorcycle's Brakes Worth It?

If your motorcycle's brakes feel bad or you just want to get more performance out of them, what gives you the best bang for your buck?

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Ever wonder what gear I use? Find it here:
STREET GEAR

DIRT GEAR

00:00 - Intro
01:15 - I GOT A GARAGE!
01:59 - Testing Procedure
02:53 - Stock Test
04:17 - Bleeding The Brakes
07:20 - Swapping Pads
09:22 - New Master Cylinder
12:40 - Which Was The Winner?
14:44 - Was This Worth It?

[jw]

Congratulations on the new house, Spite! I’m so glad your hard work has paid off. Thank you for all the great stuff you put out there for us, and all done with humor and humility. All the best!

[Magic_Toaster]

Spite has grown up, I'm so proud

[hvymax]

Braided Stainless Brake lines are a game changer for the KLR.

[jacquescrusan]

Based on personal experience; both for dirt bikes and street machines, the biggest difference A -> B I've witnessed is changing over stock brake lines to stainless braided ones (if your bike comes stock with reinforced rubber/teflon lines from the factory).
If the bike already comes with stainless lines, the next best thing is a Brembo RCS-19 master cylinder. I love them to death, and have so far installed 4 of them, including my kx250f.

[NiK]

In my experience, cleaning the pistons with soap water and a tooth brush and then grease them with red rubber grease helps a lot and is a very cheap fix. I do it at least once a year, together with replacing the brake fluid.

[JonKonLGL]

Stoked for you, the channel, and your new home Spite! Glad to be here for the journey!

[KJcinemas]

SPITE YOURE THE MAN! had a blast meeting you at motovation

[Hi.my.name.is.___]

This is amazing stuff man, I said it when I met you at the campout and I’ll say it again. Everything that has happened in the last year has been for a reason and it’s the best stuff seeing you get the things you deserve. Congrats!

[GIGABACHI]

VERY informative for those of us not mechanically inclined.
My personal experience: Keep EVERY moving part in your brake lever mechanism as clean and lubed as possible.
Periodically bleed your brake fluid as it gets dark and by nature it absorbs moisture.
It helps a lot when it comes to squeeze the max braking power w/o locking your wheel(s) and prevent scraping both your bike and ego.
My front brakes are not the greatest when it comes to feel and I almost lost the front end braking hard when someone decided to make a left in front of me even tho they had a red light and I had the green.
Lever had been feeling stiff and dragging.
Took it all apart, cleaned, inspected for wear and galling on the surfaces that mate (M/C plunger and lever's cam, lever's bushing, lever's pivot bolt), greased it all, assembled it and the better lever feel came back.
I hope my rant and long post helps someone.
Stay aware and ride like you're invisible ! 😊👍

[bonacci]

I swapped out my brake fluid after watching you basic maintenance video. So glad I did it, the old fluid was dark yellow/brown. Didnt feel much difference on the road, but at least I know its serviced!

[KeViNMCMXXCIX]

Congrats on getting the house and garage! Happy for you that you got this! Much deserved!

[Mech.E]

Congrats on the house. Hope this is just the beginning for greater things to come. You deserve it.

[sanxi]

Congratulations on the new house Happy to see it worked out for you!!! It wasn't fair and you're showing everyday what made the difference, and the spirit that we were looking for =D

[zeo_here]

Congratulations! Cant wait til see this garage grow!

[thatnicdude]

Man am I so glad you are doing well! Loving the content man, look forward to every video! Keep safe! Keep crushing it!

[jennynester]

Congrats on the new house Spite!! Such a big moment.

[mullins]

Hey Spite, thanks for the video. I can tell you that as a long term KLR owner the front brakes are one area that can really benefit from what you have done with your bike. I’m a little disappointed in myself now because I have never considered upgrading the front brake master cylinder.
I think you might have convinced me to do that mod. Thanks again and congratulations on your new home and garage. Keep up the great work, obviously everyone is loving what you are doing. 🇦🇺

[reignick]

Congrats on signing on the house, Spite!
Best to you and yours!

[awpgaming]

congrats on the house MAN!!!! also saves you money instead of going to rooftop parking garage! Perfect simple size man keep up the great work as i am here with you for the ride homie!!

[mattcrain]

Stainless steel lines will give an extreme change in lever feel. One of the first cheapest bang for the buck mods done on every motorcycle.