Easier rear braking

[ThisDude]

Have you guys noticed that it's fairly difficult to maintain pressure on the rear brake at a stop, at least compared to the front brake? I noticed and when I got around looking I noticed the brake return spring that holds pressure against the adjustment nut is pretty long so I cut the spring down by about 4 coils and voila much easier rear braking, more force goes into braking and less to compress that spring so now my brake effort to engage the brakes is about equal front and rear.

[Drumwoulf]

Have you guys noticed that it's fairly difficult to maintain pressure on the rear brake at a stop, at least compared to the front brake? I noticed and when I got around looking I noticed the brake return spring that holds pressure against the adjustment nut is pretty long so I cut the spring down by about 4 coils and voila much easier rear braking, more force goes into braking and less to compress that spring so now my brake effort to engage the brakes is about equal front and rear.

You modified the brakes? Well, okay, if you say so... But that scares me! My thoughts on the matter:

1} My Buddy 125 is not difficult to maintain pressure on the rear brake lever at a stop. Not at all; not in the slightest! So maybe there's something wrong with the tightness of your lever, or maybe the cable needs lubing?

2} Perhaps you may have gotten a mistaken spring installed at the factory, one from another model that was indeed longer than the stock Buddy's spring. But rather than cut anything I would take this problem to the dealer and check the spring against a stocker, and if it was wrong I would re-install the stocker.

3} Springs do loosen in time. Your cut-down one may become too soft. (if it isn't already!) That can be dangerous... Here's why:

Whenever a motorbike is braked the weight shifts forward. This is why it's important to keep slightly more pressure on the front brake lever, or at the very least apply brake lever pressures firmly and evenly on both levers at the same time. Applying more pressure on the rear than on the front brake in a critical fast-stop situation can cause the rear wheel to lose grip and skid or slide out more easily!

This is not just an opinion of mine. You can learn the same thing at an MSF course, or read it in Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling". (And I've also discovered it from personal experience...)
Which is why making the rear brake lever "easier" scares me; you just may have upset the braking balance on your bike? -I would definitely check this situation out with your Buddy dealer and/or his mechanic..!

[ThisDude]

Well first I tried compressing the spring to it's max to see if it will let up and it didn't like a good spring should. Spring steel is an elastic material that should not deform unless taken past a certain critical point, in the case of compression springs like this, it is almost moot because that point is usually engineered so you'd have to bend each coil past the point where it touches the one next to it. And I was just trying to equalize the amount of force needed to actuate the rear brake compared to how easy it is to actuate the front brake's hydraulic system. I don't think I'm in any danger of locking my rear brakes, those drums take quite a bit of force to lock up being a mechanical brake system and now it's just a bit less force. You'd be in more danger with rear hydraulic discs like on the Blur since it has those types of brakes in the rear and we all know how strong the Buddy brakes are, at least they put single piston calipers in the Blur rears and not the Buddy's huge dual pistons. The cables don't need lubing in mine they don't stick or anything. I try not to just do things to my bike willy nilly without considering the consequences and all other possibilities but this is a fairly simple one that really won't affect safety too much because the brake shoes themselves have return springs inside so you can remove the outer spring completely and just have a loose brake lever and you'd still be able to brake.