Rode a 300!

[Sipper']

My friend and current member here, Shellman, was kind enough to swap bikes for about 30 minutes. Initial impression is that I REALLY liked the seating/peg/bar relationship MUCH better than my pregen. Upon engaging the clutch I was pretty surprised by how much grunt it has off the bottom compared to the pregen. It feels like it pulls from idle all the way up, with a growling feel and sound. Couple of times found myself at 30 mph in 6th and it pulled it just fine. Pulls much harder all the way through, has a nice feel to the chassis, suspension is OK, just a little too much compression for my taste.
Turns in well and gives good feedback. BUT, it has NOTHING for front brakes.
You'd have to 6 finger it to get some decent stopping power! Terrible!
Then again, I have a light touch and prefer things that require such.

Overall I was impressed, just a couple of small things to change out when I get one!

[mfresh]

I bet swapping out for some stainless steel brake lines and possibly better pads can give it some better braking response.

Haven't had a chance to ride a 300 yet. They do look nice though.

[Xplorguy]

Originally Posted by mfresh

I bet swapping out for some stainless steal brake lines and possibly better pads can give it some better braking response.

Haven't had a chance to ride a 300 yet. They do look nice though.

Mfresh, I think you are correct here. I think Kawi consciously decided to make the front brake, er , not the most responsive, to help beginners avoid locking it up. My understanding is if you opt for the ABS bike they come with sintered pads and better stopping power. The brake line change would, of course, help also............

[Alex]

Yup - a number of threads on that here. The 300 seems to have the same calipers, lines, master cylinder, etc. But it does come with extremely gentle pads, more gentle than the HH ones that were standard on the 250.

[ahamay]

Brakes kinda scared me at first but after getting used to them I actually like the lack of stopping power. I think it's great for track riding cause your not so worried about grabbing to much entering a corner. Definitely sketchy if you have to make an emergency stop but so far a good grab of front while modulating the rear has worked for me on the street.

[Xplorguy]

Well, I tend to agree. I've practiced emergency stops from 60 or so and it seems to haul down well enough.....The track guys may need more?

[mfresh]

Funny.

When I first put stainless steel brakes lines on my 250 it actually felt like I lost stopping power.

What actually happened is that the increased "feedback" from the brakes made me aware how lacking the stopping power on the 250 actually is... lol.

I would like more stopping power from the brakes, but that can probably only be done with an additional caliper which isn't really worth the trouble for me. Either way, still good enough to get the job done.

Just to be clear though, the stainless steel brake lines were a substantial improvement over the stock lines. I remember with the stock lines I would grab the brakes and it was pretty much a wild guess when you'd be locking up your tires.

With the stainless lines you can actually "feel" when you're approaching the stopping limit-- I suppose due to the more linear braking feedback.

[Aurodox]

Originally Posted by Xplorguy

Well, I tend to agree. I've practiced emergency stops from 60 or so and it seems to haul down well enough.....The track guys may need more?

Possibly...Everyone I see talking bad about the brakes tend to have some track experience. I come from a dirt bike/street background. I used to ride a cbr600rr that I sold a year ago. The brakes on the 300 work well enough for me. I can stop from 60 in a few seconds.

[choneofakind]

I'm not sure how much Kawasaki is helping a newbie by starting out on really gentle pads. Think about it; the idea is to squeeze the lever with a couple fingers to get smooth hard braking right? If you get a newbie on a bike with soft brakes, they're going to be accustomed to needing to man-handle the brake lever instead of squeezing it.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Sipper'

My friend and current member here, Shellman, was kind enough to swap bikes for about 30 minutes. Initial impression is that I REALLY liked the seating/peg/bar relationship MUCH better than my pregen. Upon engaging the clutch I was pretty surprised by how much grunt it has off the bottom compared to the pregen. It feels like it pulls from idle all the way up, with a growling feel and sound. Couple of times found myself at 30 mph in 6th and it pulled it just fine. Pulls much harder all the way through, has a nice feel to the chassis, suspension is OK, just a little too much compression for my taste.
Turns in well and gives good feedback. BUT, it has NOTHING for front brakes.
You'd have to 6 finger it to get some decent stopping power! Terrible!
Then again, I have a light touch and prefer things that require such.

Overall I was impressed, just a couple of small things to change out when I get one!

I think your brake lever is touchy. Like many other pregen owners (including myself), the same pressure on the brake lever on a pregen feels more "impactful" than a newgen. I have spent some time trying to get them to feel the same to no avail. There was a thread on here where the rider called it "dangerously" touchy.

Originally Posted by Aurodox

Possibly...Everyone I see talking bad about the brakes tend to have some track experience. I come from a dirt bike/street background. I used to ride a cbr600rr that I sold a year ago. The brakes on the 300 work well enough for me. I can stop from 60 in a few seconds.

I have mucho track experience but also feel they are adequate for the street. YMMV....

[Xplorguy]

I suspect the KAWI brake system engineers spent considerable time evaluating the stock brake system for the 300. And they dialed in the parameters they decided should be specified. I know one of the professional reviewers commented on how he had to "grab a handful of front brake in order to activate the ABS system".
Oh, and they no doubt had cost considerations to consider also. So the brakes are a compromise....
I continue to be impressed with just how much content this new bike has...it is well worth the delta in cost with the Honda 250.

[c-dog]

When I finally pick my 300 up I will be upgrading the brake pads immediately. I may not even put a single mile on it before changing the pads out. A steel front line will be a future project.

[Xplorguy]

Originally Posted by c-dog

When I finally pick my 300 up I will be upgrading the brake pads immediately. I may not even put a single mile on it before changing the pads out. A steel front line will be a future project.

Would be nice if you could tell us the difference between the stock and the upgrade brake pads...it's not that expensive and if you feel it was a large enough improvement we should all consider it.........

[Alex]

It's worth it. I put the EBC FA197HH's on the front of our 300. They took a little while to bed in, but now provide improved feel and performance from the stock pads.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by Xplorguy

I suspect the KAWI brake system engineers spent considerable time evaluating the stock brake system for the 300.

Yeah, they said, "what's on the 250? Let's use that!"

Seriously though, it's the same stuff, but without the sintered pads. A non-sintered pad will work just fine, it just won't bite as hard as a sintered pad and will require more force at the lever to achieve the same result.

[old3]

Besides crappy pads, the master is too big for the caliper. I'm using the stock master with a 4 piston cal and it is just about perfect. I'm sure feel would go way up with a smaller piston in the master, 11 or 12mm.

[Xplorguy]

Originally Posted by Alex

It's worth it. I put the EBC FA197HH's on the front of our 300. They took a little while to bed in, but now provide improved feel and performance from the stock pads.

So the best bet is to get the pads Alex spec'd and replace the stock brake lines with SS................

[choneofakind]

That's a good bang for the buck. Hard to go wrong with SS lines and sintered pads.