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[chisquare]

So, for the second time in six weeks, I managed to blow the rear brake on my SS9 due to overheating. The cause was that, without realizing it, I had been lightly pressing the rear brake pedal for an extended period. At 190 cm (6’3”) tall and with a shoe size of 47 (US 12), the seating position is quite cramped, and the knee angle is so tight that it’s difficult not to touch the brake pedal.

Unfortunately, the pedal angle can’t be adjusted enough to fix the issue. Does anyone know of an alternative brake pedal that can be set lower? Or has anyone managed to shorten the pushrod to the brake cylinder or replace it with a shorter one?

[Specter]

i usually wear large shoes, 11 / 12 because my feed are stupid wide and its hard sometimes to find shoes that fit.
i get it, the positioning is akward sometimes but you have to train yourself to keep your toes on the pad with the foot hanging back, instead of the relaxed harley style of riding with the heels on the peddles and your toes hanging off in the air conditioning.

i had this problem on the track, often times id be in a relaxed position with my foot like you described, half way up or heels on the pedal then  id end up dragging my foot in a turn... a reminder, put your foot on the pad properly dummy before you take it off.

try riding with just the tips of your toes right under the balls of your feet on the pedal, legs close to the bike, possibly even pressing the sides of the bike and tank if it was there.   this position may feel awkward at first but after a while it's much easier to steer the bike and ride i find.  you can basically steer with a thought, just the slightest lean or tense of a leg will steer your bike, especially useful if you have issues with your hands / arms.  and gives you better control overall of the bike... and keeps from burning up a brake pad.

as for shortening the push rod, yes.... tip the fucker over on that side, that push rod and your front brake lever will be shortened.  Seriously though i have thought about that myself, i kind of liked the shortened brake, because i use hi regen, which is about the same as rear brake, and rarely used the rear brake, BUT... in an emergency when someone pulls out in front of you, and you need every ounce of braking you can find anywhere, you don't want to be having to fiddle around with your toe, trying to find the peddle.  your foot sliding forward and onto the brake may become muscle memory with a bit of time, thats good,  your foot poking around, trying to find the peddle that's a nub, not so much. not so good.

[chisquare]

Thanks for your input @Specter!

For me, avoiding unintended braking works better when I place the midfoot on the footpeg, keeping the front of my foot next to rather than over the brake pedal on the right side. For deeper lean angles, though, that position doesn't work—just as you described—so on winding roads I switch to the technique you mentioned, resting only the ball of the foot on the peg.

However, that's exactly what causes the problem in the first place. Because of the round profile of the footpeg, the boot gradually slides forward until it ends up pressing the brake pedal. And this sliding is a result of the tight knee angle I have to deal with—being 190 cm tall and more of a “long legs, short torso” type rider.

My mechanic doesn’t know of any aftermarket rearset for the Ribelle/SS9 that would allow more adjustment. Any ideas other than shortening the push rod (not the brake lever itself)?

[SBK74]

Wasn't there a warning in the latest Firmware update for prolongued rear braking under load to avoid this issue?

[chisquare]

Interesting! How would that look like? I don't remember ever seeing anything unsusual on the dash.

[Specter]

supposedly it'd give you an alert on your screen, it flashed the message rear brake or something across the screen.  i did it once accidentally on my ribelle.
another thing you might try is, bend the bracket down slightly so it's angling downwards a bit and not sticking straight out but beware that is aluminum and it may not bend very easy and want to snap instead.  This might juuust put it below where your natural foot slide is going to angle it into. 

another option that might cost some money, ditch the foot pedal and put a brake pedal on the handlebar, ive seen dual grabbers before, and since you don't use the rear too often it's not really in the way .  it sits behind the clutch, you release the clutch extend your fingers out a bit to engage that bit further handle.

aaron

[EvaMuc]

Unfortunately, the pedal angle can’t be adjusted enough to fix the issue. Does anyone know of an alternative brake pedal that can be set lower? Or has anyone managed to shorten the pushrod to the brake cylinder or replace it with a shorter one?

I understand the pushrod and brake pedal position is already maxed out, as described in owner manual?

Ever thought of lowering the footpegs with a mounting adaptor to get a more comfortable foot position and a larger knee angle?
You may also use this to tilt the footpegs & brake pedal a bit more.

Sure this depends if this is allowed by law in your country.
In Germany the "race control" (aka police and technical control) does not like it if you mess with brake & foot pegs.

Best, Jens

[MVetter]

Interesting! How would that look like? I don't remember ever seeing anything unsusual on the dash.

Yeah they added it because multiple people were experiencing this exact issue. It was more pronounced on the Ego platform because it has a more aggressive stance. The problem is that the motor is just SO DAMN POWERFUL that whatever the rear brake is trying to do is basically ignored because of the ~150 horsepower of the EMCE motor. I witnessed this firsthand when a buddy of mine accidentally dropped his SS9 on the right side while parked and, in the process, bent the brake lever because it landed on a concrete corner. Other than the owner's pride, little else was damaged. The next time he took it out for a ride he didn't realize that the brake lever was bent and rode the bike with the rear brake engaged for 10 miles. He came to a stoplight and noticed smoke and the rear rotor was RED HOT. The line actually ruptured

[Specter]

ive seen this on the track too.  People do a prolonged rear stop for whatever reason.  Heats things up nice and toasty.  Brakes in back are not used much, so to actually use THEM hard to stop you are pushing the hell out of them.  Now lets throw in some old brake fluid or lack of maintenance, and you superheat that whole pad / rotor / caliper up.  The brake fluid starts to boil, expands, which, is the same as pulling the damned handle, now the things dragging a bit, super heating now,  next thing you know, you melt the brake line, or pop the bleed valve, it acts like an unintended safety, hear pop and here comes a big puff of smoke, the rider may or may not see. 

Too late damage is done.  Rotor is shot once you heat it that point, annealing / hardening is gone, its probably warped and crap by now.  Pads are shot, they are cooked.   Here's the thing, brake calipers really are shot too now imo.  The moment you smoked out of them, you coked that cylinder and piston, you'll never get that shit cleaned out again properly, not to mention possible deformation because of the superheat.  You need a new brakeline, old one melted.  You might as well replace every single thing, might be able to save handle and pump but little else.

Seen someone do that too,  oops,  put new fluid in, new pads, new rotor, told him, you can't do that your calipers are shot,  nope ran em anyways about 20 minutes later comes back in, same thing, cooked the new one. 

The only saving grace is, as Morgan said, you generally have the torque not to lock up a rear wheel, you'll just drag and cause more damage, if you did that up front now, you'd be thrown off the bike and be auditioning for the next superman movie, on your way to becoming the next lawn ornament.

given you don't have a clutch, moving the brake up there instead of a foot peddle might be a better way for you to go

aaron

[chisquare]

Vivid and accurate description of what happened to me, @Specter & @MVetter. I definitely heard the brake pop the second time, along with smoke, but I had no idea the brake was locked until it was too late—the motor just pulled through.

Knowing the caliper would be toast as well, I replaced the entire brake after the first incident but kept the disc. With the new brake assembly, however, braking power was poor. I suspect the disc and pads were glazed. That’s why I’ll replace the disc this time, too.

As for the brake pedal position, I don’t think bending it is an option due to the loss of structural integrity. Lowering the peg would not only reduce the maximum lean angle but also worsen the brake pedal’s position relative to the footrest.

So I’m still looking for a solution.

[Demoni]

So I’m still looking for a solution.

There are 2 adjustments you can make to the rear brake lever. The first adjusts the lever position the second adjusts the free play of the lever. Try to adjust the lever far enough down to prevent you from touching it inadvertently (without sacrificing too much lean angle) then adjust the free play so you have 2-5mm of slop before the lever engages the master cylinder.

I do not know of a aftermarket lever that will fit.  There are a number of off the shelf toe pieces that can replace the stock rubber unit. You might look into one of these and then modify it to be shorter, this should help prevent inadvertent activation.

https://woodcraft-cfm.com/collections/toe-pieces-bases/products/universal-pedal-tip-w-bh-6x20

[Specter]

For me the rear brake just seemed too long like it was in the way, i have not done this but was contemplating removing the peg and sawing it down so it's only maybe an inch and a half or so long, maybe half of what it is, that way my wandering foot goes right in front of it and when i do need to brake, make the conscious effort to turn my foot in slightly to tap it and use it.
you could try seeing where your foot hits it naturally when you are riding and it starts to wander, then cut it back to that inner edge plus maybe a quarter inch, that way if your foot wanders you either miss it, or you feel it bump the side of your foot as it's wandering to remind you to tuck.

i decided against cutting mine as race tracks might get pissy if you start cutting down brake parts and such so just learned to keep my damned feet in the proper position. (mostly).   you should be able to find a knurled piece of aluminum or something to act like a replacement piece real easy, drill it and us it.  id not cut down the original as if it don't work for you, you got it to put back on.

aaron

[Dryer667]

Ever since my first accidental tip over on my SS9 years ago, I have removed the foot peg on the rear brake lever and replaced it with a license plate holder plastic bolt. It's still easy enough to find if needed and I rarely use it except for hill hold. Even the smallest tip over will bend the brake lever with how long the stock peg is.

[Specter]

i think its the weight of these bikes that dooms them to brake bust offs on a tip over, even with a semi controlled tipover, they still bust off the brake handles and occasionally a turn signal if it lands really wrong.  The fairings ain't happy either.

aaron

[wadejesu]

My Rear brake peg is about 3/4 inch long, I rarely use rear brake like Arron, let the regen slow it down. I also have big feet,