What motivates Honda to put linked brakes on some of their bikes?
It baffles me that all moto journalists hate Honda LBS, but none have ever explained the real reason Honda puts them on their bikes. Honda claims that LBS is designed for less experienced riders. But your average VFR owner is probably older and more experienced than your average CBR owner. Their entry level cruisers also don't have LBS. So, what's the deal?
Honda uses linked breaks whenever they put powerful front binders on a bike with cheap front forks. Honda uses LBS for the same reason BMW uses a telelever suspension; to prevent front-end dive when the front breaks are applied aggressively. Linked brakes cause the rear-end to squat whenever the front brakes are activated, preventing front-end dive.
LBS does create a problem. Only an experienced racer knows how hard he can slam the rear brake before he loses traction. Consequently, most street riders favor the front brake. LBS trades a powerful front caliper for a much less powerful rear caliper. Not a good thing.
However, excessive nose dive can also be a problem. Sudden, unexpected front-end dive is intimidating to the typical street rider. He may respond by backing-off the front brake. Also not a good thing.
It's likely that Honda looked at the two scenarios and decided, for their typical customer, that front-end dive is the bigger problem.
If the brakes are powerful enough to overwhelm the front forks, then LBS makes sense. Honda doesn't use LBS on their cruisers, because cruisers have weak brakes. LBS doesn't appear on the CBRs, because they have quality suspensions.
The final proof of the pudding is the change Honda made to the LBS on the 2002 VFR. They re-calibrated the LBS so more braking power goes to the front. Why? Because the new VFR upgraded to a stiffer 43MM fork vs. the old 41mm. XX brakes and forks remain the same.