I own a 2010 400HO with onre caliper on rear - first time ATV owner, etc.. the ATV is 3 wks old.

A question... I know its extra $$ etc.... but I can buy the disc and caliper for the left wheel and put it on the right can't I ? The line will be upside down, haven't looedk at all details, but it is doable ? Would the master cyl need to be replaced ?

This surely has to be a doable mod, I wonder if anybody did this, I would appreciate a link... I woudl do it when the warranty expires on this one lol...

As a first time owner but owner of cars motorbikes etc I was amazed they did this, yes it is a solid rear axle but it is not one piece of metal is it, i.e. there is some free play betweenL and R, enough fior the tires to brake unevenly, and that is what got me into a barb wire fence and a post with my wife's small car (uneven braking) and almost costed my life. Admittedly it was a front tyre... but I hate the idea of a brake on one wheel.

I have tested this rear brake on concrete, steep slope (my looong driveway), the brake does nothing except squeaking... dealer says its normal, I say not really...20cm free play on the pedal... anyway soon Ill take the fairings off and have a look at what the heck is going on there.. dealer is far and they are pretty hopeless...Im in AUS btw. On my bike I have one disc, sure but its one wheel lol... and it is nice and hard, makes you confident...unlike this one. With no engine braking and just the handlebar brake I was really scared when I took it in the backyard. not funny :-/

 

You should be using the handlebar lever for braking not the foot brake..
the handlebar one is for all three wheels.
The foot pedal is a safety to activate the rear brake and will lock up the back tires............Two front dics and one rear is more than enough for a 600-700 lbs. quad.
......Caper.......

 

So how do you stop if you have something in your left hand?

And which Polais only weighs between 6-700 pounds and what about the ones that weigh nearly 800 pounds?

 

You should not be riding unless you have both hand in control...Safety first...LOL
Put it in your right hand and that way you will be off the throttle also.......
Even 800-1000 lbs. three brakes is enough(IMO)............How many brakes are on a fast sport motorcycle?

 

 

Yes I beleive your right on cutting cost but it's also smart since it technicly doesn't help the performance of the brakes. I also beleive your right on the sq. in. of braking surface to be better but then again on a atv there is a point where more doesn't mean better. now IF our atvs had anti lock braking then yes I could see your point.

I guess with your reasoning you could put six piston corvette Z06 calipers on the atv and stop better.

Most people think that if they think it's better than it should be better. You could have the biggest baddest brake system in the world on a Honda civic but with no ABS it won't stop any faster or quicker than the stock brakes, no questions asked!


[QUOTE=Ghost Rider 11;2984921]Sure the solid rear axle has everything to do with it! Look at a lot of forklifts they typicly have 1 brake on each axle since they are locked. Even A LOT of the military oversize trucks use the rockwell axle, most are not mechanicly locked but a lot only have 1 brake on each axle.

I'm not sure on the exact numbers but the front brakes do like 80% of the braking force so I for sure would agree with yall if they locked the front and removed a front caliper! But since the front does so much of the work you could really put 20 calipers on the back and not stop any quicker than one caliper

 

[QUOTE=bigt2317;2985271]Yes I beleive your right on cutting cost but it's also smart since it technicly doesn't help the performance of the brakes. I also beleive your right on the sq. in. of braking surface to be better but then again on a atv there is a point where more doesn't mean better. now IF our atvs had anti lock braking then yes I could see your point.

I guess with your reasoning you could put six piston corvette Z06 calipers on the atv and stop better.

Most people think that if they think it's better than it should be better. You could have the biggest baddest brake system in the world on a Honda civic but with no ABS it won't stop any faster or quicker than the stock brakes, no questions asked!


Yeah, it's because under heavy breaking weight is transferred to the front, making the rear breaks useless.

 

Yeah, it's because under heavy breaking weight is transferred to the front, making the rear breaks useless.[/quote]


Does that principle go for quads as well? On most quads is there a choice between all or just the rear braking? On the x2 you can just do rear with the foot. Coming from motorcycles I have a hard time forcing myself to use the hand brake.

 

Yes that is what I was talking about. Using your rear only foot brake will slow you down but not nearly as effective as the hand brake. More than likly you can use the foot brake for slowing down just a tad but any more than that will make you start sliding. I've seen many of novice riders slam on the rear foot brake and start sliding and when going down hill will start to slide out a little sideways, they would over correct and either roll it, come very close to rolling or at the very least scare them. Now I do use it to have a little fun now and then and purposly slide out and pretend my 900lbs quad is a 450lbs sport quad.

 

Coming from motorcycles I have a hard time forcing myself to use the hand brake.[/QUOTE]

Hard to do front wheel wheelies, if you don't learn how to use the front brake on a motorcycle. I thought the rear brake only, was just for laying it down on it's side!