Not sure if this bike has a weak rear brake, if I need to bleed mine or what, but it sure doesn't feel like it's doing much. Not that I want to skid or anything, but really, it seems weak. Pads look fat, 14k on bike so not worried about them needing replaced.

If the fluid is dark change it. It's not hard to do and it gets any moisture out of the line.

Take a look at the level in the master cylinder, could be low. I've noticed that as the pads wear, brake fluid needs to be added, and when installing new pads, probably will have to take some out. I just dip a clean rag in it, and let the rag soak some of it out. Also, stick with DOT 4. I tried the synthetic, and didn't care for it, even with new pads, rear would never lock up. Then I read that syn. could make the pedal feel soft too. Any way, went back to DOT 4, and even with the slightly used pads, was able to lock up at will.

These rear brakes have a kind of small pad area considering the size of the pad. When the fluid is dark, it usually has a lot of moisture in it as well. When this happens, and you apply hefty brake, the moisture in the fluid can boil, which has the same effect as air in the line, which will compress, and cushion the amount of pressure on the caliper. Here's a tip: I use an old sock that is too jacked up to do anything else, and soak all that discolored fluid out of the resivior. After that, I fill it with fresh fluid, and bleed the crap out of the brake until good clean fluid flows throughout. Don't top the system up at that point if you are changing pads. Next, change your pads out, and clean your rotor and caliper up real nice, because you are already done with the fluid mess! Keep an eye on the resivior as you push the piston back on the caliper, so you don't over flow. Once it's in place, just pump it up to make good firm contact, and top it up. Fresh fluid, fresh pads, great brakes. I flush my fluid once a year to stave off corrosion in the brake system. I do the same thing with my cooling system on my SV.

Hope this helps in some way.

A friend of mine was wondering why the back pads on his bike had not worn over 4 years, the rear caliper had siezed up and was not operating at all. I always wondered why he sucked at low speed turns.

Mine was stuck when i got the bike.