Some comments about the ISCI hand brake

[jstjohnz]

I have a lot of weakness in my right leg and I was concerned about being able to reach the brake pedal quickly in an emergency.
I might have been OK just putting in a peg in place of the right footboard because then you just rock your foot to apply the brake rather than having to lift it.

Anyway, I decided that I would feel a lot safer with the ISCI hand brake, so that was the first addition to my 2015 RT Limited.
Not the easiest installation, but a good learning experience. The engineering of this product is top notch and installation instructions are very good.

As far as how it works, well there are some limitations that may be deal-breakers for some.

You need to remember that on the Spyder all of the braking force comes from the brake pedal. You are trying to stop 1200+ lbs (maybe a bit more in my case!) with only a brake pedal. So it can take quite a bit of pedal force for a quick stop. Compared to a 2-wheeler where the foot brake is only braking one wheel of a lighter machine.

The design of the ISCI is such that it's hand lever simply moves the Spyder's brake lever to mimic what happens when you step on the brake. So, that hand lever has to do just as much work as the foot brake lever does. I think it's pretty obvious that you can exert more force by pressing down with your foot than you can by squeezing with your hand.

Bottom line, you need to apply a LOT of force to that hand brake to get maximum stopping power. Much more so than on a conventional motorcycle hand brake. In order to keep the amount of hand pressure required reasonable, the lever travel is long. So this system is best suited for guys with big and strong hands.

Having said all of that, I still cannot achieve the same stopping power with the hand brake that I can with the foot brake. Close, but not quite there. Panic stops with the foot brake are faster. This *may* be correctable by an adjustment at the Spyder's master cylinder linkage. Haven't dug into that yet, so not sure. I do notice that there is a fair amount of travel of the hand lever (and to an extent the foot lever as well) before braking action actually begins. Some of that play is in the hand lever, and there doesn't appear to be any adjustment.

But some is in the braking system of the Spyder itself. If you try stopping the spyder when it's rolling slowly in neutral you will notice that the brake light comes on right away as soon as there's any pedal depression. But after that there's a bit of a 'dead zone' when the pedal moves a bit farther before any braking action starts. I think there may be an adjustment for that.

I'm also going to try the sintered brake pads. In theory those will provide more stopping power for the same amount of pedal/lever effort.

Basically the hand brake needs to be able to generate enough force to overcome the tire/pavement friction at which point the ABS does it's job and any additional braking force doesn't help.

A couple of other comments:

You need to be careful where you place your right foot. If you inadvertently get the edge of your right boot under the brake pedal, the hand brake won't be able to work because the foot pedal will be prevented from moving freely.

You need to get into the habit of rolling off the throttle before you grab the lever. Yes, you do the same on a 2-wheeler, but it's a bit of a different process if you need to do a panic stop because you need to shift your grip. The lever span is so long, that even with my large hands, I'm grabbing the lever near the top joint of my fingers. With that grip though you can't exert full force on the lever. To get the lever to go full travel all the way back to the grip (panic stop) you need to have that lever closer to the base of your fingers (if that makes any sense). So, bottom line, there's some technique to it.

Enough rambling for one post!

[Bfromla]

Thx sounds like a well rounded & somewhat technical review. I have read others stating a fair amount of additional adjustments are made for each. May have more to do with the grip size as you explained. Believe this will be helpful to someone someway& was not a rant, keep it updated as you learn where to make the best the adjustments.

[Easy Rider]

I installed one and it works pretty much as you described but I don't "like" it.

I got an adjustable lever that works better with short fingers.
I think an assembly that costs ~$1300 should have that included.

I eliminated some of the "slack" by putting some washers behind the pivot point.

But I am still left with something that requires WAY too much effort to be practical for a hand brake.
It is stiff and feels "soft" when it really isn't. (I'm assuming it was bled right when installed.)

The problem: They needed an extra return spring to be sure that the extra mechanism wouldn't prevent the pedal from fully returning and I think they got carried away. To feel just the extra spring tension, step on the brake firmly and then pull the hand lever.

Help from ISCI: Nope. None. Their answer was: That's the way it IS. Take it or leave it. Sorry.

I am going to find a weaker spring to install.....but will order a "stock" spring from them first, just incase the original gets screwed up in the process.

I don't think you will EVER get the same overall braking force from a hand lever that you get from the foot pedal but I also think it can be better than it is now.

[ARCTIC]

I sold my spyder a few years ago and am still occasionally trolling this site. I could get to 95%(ish) braking power with just judging by feel of the hand brake versus stomping on the pedal. If you apply quick sharp pressure with the handbrake it seems to be more effective than pulling in partially and then going for full braking pressure. When I was hard on the brakes with the handbrake and then stomp on the pedal I could always get more braking power that you can feel once the pedal is applied. I adjusted & adjusted and adjusted to try to find the sweet spot of max brake pressure with no regard to braking effort because I have a pretty strong grip BUT... There's only so much you can do with it. At a certain point, the slave cylinder mounts and brackets have some play and flex and you can't get much more than how it comes from their instructions. I had an early kit on my RS and I created my own brace bracket (which ISCI now includes in their kits). I can't feel my feet from a spinal injury so the handbrake was the only reliable braking force. In an emergency braking situation, I would just grab all the brakes I could get out of the handbrake while simultaneously stomping my foot in hopes of getting the pedal. I think ISCI makes a brake pedal with a hinge to solve the issue of trapping your foot/toes under the pedal. I rode many miles with the ISCI brakes and I'm thankful they made it otherwise I would never have experienced the spyder for myself.

[BajaRon]

You are correct. You will never be able to generate the same amount of pressure with your hand that you can create with your foot. And since the hand brake simply actuates the foot brake linkage, this will always be a bit of a handy-cap.

That being said, the ICSI brake system is the best option available.

Going to the EBC Fully Sintered brake pads will increase the stopping power with the same amount of pressure. Changing to the EBC rotors will give you an additional added stopping ability with the same pressure applied.

All together, you can get fairly close to OEM stopping ability with the ICSI hand brake with these modifications once the new pads and rotors are bedded in.

[Easy Rider]

That being said, the ICSI brake system is the best option available.

It is pretty easy to be classified as "best" when you are the only one available.