Van,

I'm going to answer your last question first. That would be a resounding YES, ALWAYS!!!

The integrated braking system exists only on the AN400's, the AN650 has discrete brakes; left grip rear brake, right grip front brake.

The 400's integrated brake system is different. The left grip controls the upper pistons on the front brake, & the rear brake simultaneously. It delivers biased braking, utilizing about 70% of the braking force to the rear & 30% to the front brakes. That is the left brake lever. (I stress that as it took me awhile to pound that through my own thick skull)

The right brake lever controls the larger surface area, lower pistons on the front brake only, providing 100% of the braking power of the right grip to the front wheel.

I have never ridden a bike with this setup, so I cannot give you first hand experience, but from what I have read here, the more experienced riders prefer the discrete braking of the 650. Thier thinking is that it gives them greater control of the braking ability of the bike. They may be right, I, as I said, have little experience in this area.

The linked braking (another term meaning the same as "Integrated" braking) is thought to be beneficial for the less experienced rider, who, as a rule, is prone to over-utilize the rear brake. This system appears to ameliorate that condition somewhat. Most newbies are scared to death of too much front brake, causing the nose to dive & possibly leading to loss of control.

Locking up the rear wheel in a panic stop, isn't usually too tough to manage as long as you are continuing in a straight line, & not in the middle of a turn, where the rear of the bike will want to come around on you, not unlike deliberately locking the brakes on your bicycle to come to a "cool" sliding stop in front of your friends. The downside of that scenario is that on a bicycle, your leg(s) can handle the weight & inertia without too much trouble, when attempting that on a 600 lb bike, it's a whole other ballgame, usually resulting in catastrophe.

Locking up the front wheel is not normaly a good thing, it usually (if not ALWAYS) results in complete loss of directional control, & can be catastrophic if you let off the front brake in the midst of a slide. The wheel can begin turning again, regain traction & abruptly change your direction of travel before you realize it & can react to the new situation, among other nasty things.

This is the meat of my reading on this subject. If I am incorrect in my assesment(s), somebody please correct me. If I have left anything out, please feel free to stick in your .02 worth, by all means.

I hope this answers your question(s), or if not, then at least makes it a bit clearer for you, Van.

I'm tryin'! (I just hope I'm not tryin' your patience!)

 

...How do you prevent locking up the brakes at any speed with the integrated braking system? ...Also, is it best to apply both brakes when stoppong a scooter?

The Wyldman summed things up pretty well, as far as I'm concerned.

I'd only add (or actually, repeat) that the key to preventing lock-up with either integrated or discrete braking systems is to use both brakes all the time (the exceptions fall under the category of advanced riding skills).

If one tries to brake with only one wheel, then the contact patch doing the braking (the portion of the rubber that meets the road) will be roughly half the size as if both wheels were being braked. That means that more braking force has to be applied to that single patch, which can result in that wheel locking and skidding.

The reason many experienced riders prefer seperate brakes is that they can choose which wheel gets the most braking. That's good for many reasons, but one is that if a wheel does lock, it gets handled differently depending on which wheel.

HTH.

 

Just to elaborate slightly on the catastrophic outcome of releasing the rear brake: The most commont outcome is what is called a "highside." If the brakes are kept locked, the bike is liable to lie down on one side and slide until it runs out of speed or space. Sometimes the rider is pinned under the sliding bike and sometimes he is sliding independently.

In a highside, the bike is beginning to lie down when the rear wheel regains traction. This causes the bike to right itself spontaneously - usually with the result that the rider is catapulted in the direction of travel. Instead of serious road rash along one side of the protective gear (or exposed tissue layers in the absence of good protective gear) the highside adventurer is introduced to a tumbling high speed flight toward solid objects. Usually the best that can be hoped for is to hit the ground and roll out. However the presence of various objects in the path of flight (trees, curbs, cars - parked or moving, etc.) may prevent roll out and usually lead to more serious outcomes.

If the rear wheel locks, keep it locked until you come to a stop. If the front wheel locks, release it immediately to regain some semblance of steering control.

Now ABS brakes are another kettle of fish and I, for one, would pay handsomely to have them on our scoots = like the unavailable
Executive has...

 

scootervan
You said you have done a little reading and that is good, here is a site that may answer a lot of questions for you, hope it helps.

http://www.msgroup.org/DISCUSS.asp

You may want to start with # 29

 

Using both brakes when stopping

> Also, is it best to apply both brakes when stoppong a scooter?
>Van,I'm going to answer your last question first. That would be a >resounding YES, ALWAYS!!!

This answer is not quite correct. There is at least one situation when you
should use the REAR brake ONLY, if possible It arises when you want to stop and the front wheel is NOT pointing straight head, ie is turned one way or another.

This is the usual scenario when you are moving very slowly, typically in a parking lot or a garage and are making tight turns with the front wheel turned maximally. and you have to stop almost immediately after the turn.

Apply the front brake with the front wheel turned and you have a very
good chance of dumping the bike. The forward momentum of the bike
going against a braked front wheel can easily push the bike over. Use
the rear brake only in such situations. The same applies backing up.

Obviously, this cannot be done with an interlocked system, such as exists
on the 400 Burgman.