Man, people are making a big deal out of the drum brakes. The brakes work fine. Has anyone ever done a brake test of drum versus disk? The drum on the quad are larger (percentage wise) on a quad that an automobile. I would like to see a test before condeming them. The drum brakes work fine on my Rancher.

People on this forum are so quick to your ride down because theirs is better, well if I had wanted "their" brand, I would have purchased it.

 

Ask Rooster. He has posted his drum vs brake stopping test. He owns most every brand of bike out there. Hey Rooster!!!!

 

The compression braking works so well on the Rubicon, the only time you even need to use the brakes, is to set the parking brake when transporting it!!!!!!!

 

Snowshark, my test that Txdoc is speaking of is a good comparison of stopping power of drums vs. discs. Going the same speed side by side on our '97 Sportsman 500 and '98 Foreman ES, we both hit the brakes at a certain distance and at the same time. The speed was probably about 30 mph or a little less when the brakes were applied. The Foreman stopped on a dime, bringing the back tires off the ground. The Sportsman stopped, but just took longer. The Sportsman was about a quad length ahead of the Foreman. Now I don't know if it was the weight advantage of the Foreman that gave it the win or what, but all I know is that the drum brakes are certainly adequate. Maybe that's the reason Honda makes their machines lighter?

After our last trailride, putting on 45 miles in thunderstorms and mud puddles on sand trails, I think I would prefer drums on the Ruby over discs. Of the 9 machines there, only the Foreman had drum brakes. After the ride we examined some of the brakes and my Uncle's Xplorer 500's front brakes are toast, my brother's 400EX's brake pads are half gone, and my 300EX's brakes are wore a lot, all from the one day of riding in the gritty wet sand. The whole time riding I could hear the wet sand sticking to the rotor and grinding as it went past the brake pads. I tried to use the brakes as little as possible. What happened to the Foreman's drum brakes you ask? Not a thing. Since they're totally sealed from the elements, the wet sand had no effect on them. They work right now just as good as they did before the trailride. No weird noises, and no loss of braking performance. After the disc brakes get wet, you lose at least half of your stopping power, they do dry out quick, but not when you're splashing through puddles for hours straight with no way to avoid 'em. Only those 3 machines were checked, so I don't know how much the other disc brake-equipped machines wore their pads down. All I can say is this: The brakes on the Rubicon should be the least of your worries. Honda knows how to seal a drum brake, and having the tires on the Foreman under water many times confirms this. After the last trailride we were on, I think I would put more faith in a drum brake than a disc as far as performance goes in the extreme conditions that we were in.

 

By the way, our Rubicon is scheduled to be at the dealer on July 27th or 28th. They have 28 sold already through September.

 

I give up long live drums and bye bye disks.

 

Thanks Rooster.

 

Rooster,

Thanks for the information. I have heard that mud will EAT up disk brakes, it looks like you have confirmed that.

 

Personally I believe drum brakes are "not cheaper" then disc brakes. Have you ever had them apart?
As someone else has already stated, on a premium quality machine like the Rubicon with all the research and technilogical advances, I'm sure that Honda has good reason for sticking with drum brakes. TxDoc actually posted a letter from Honda some time ago stating why they did not put disc brakes on their utility quads. Money is not an issue here anyway, safety is.