Twinpot Brake Upgrade on GS550E - GS750C - GS1000C

[tkent02]

I noticed the calipers are not located exactly right, a few mm of the pad is hanging off the side of the disc. A slightly larger disc would work better, I think 320mm instead of 310 would be perfect, but it might be a hair too big, might need to be turned down a tad. I don't know what discs are available in the correct offset.
I moved the master cylinder in on the bars about an inch, so now my finger hits the lever farther out from the fulcrum. Increased the braking for a given finger pressure quite a bit.
It's also getting stronger as the pads bed in.
I think a better design MC or even just a smaller bore MC would have it working very well.

Yeah, I'm spoiled.

I bet you're spoiled, now!

[tkent02]

After riding a week, a few hundred miles…

Much much better than the original single front brake, but not quite as good as the twinpot Kaw setup on dual brake bikes. I would say it's about the same as the best dual brake bike with stock Suzuki brakes, and better than most of them. One or two fingers except for the absolute max effort braking riding two up takes three. I would prefer to have it a little stronger, so two fingers is all I would ever need, like the newer bikes. It does seem to be getting stronger as the pads bed in more, but it's not quite there.
I may try a smaller diameter master cylinder, could try better pads too. These are GG pads, but inexpensive ones. Not sure yet. Maybe just need stronger fingers.

On a 1000 I'd want to go dual brakes, on a 750 maybe, but on a 550 it seems fine to me, or just almost fine. If it were just a hair stronger it would be fine.

Overall I like it, it's a lot lighter than the dual brakes, or the original single brake. Don't have to buy different forks, just one disc, one caliper, one set of pads, one line.
It's that much easier and quicker to install.

[posplayr]

Clean looking mod

[salty_monk]

So... bought some parts with this in mind a year or so back & when TKent approached me with a suitable test bike I sent them to him to bolt up...

This uses a 310mm Honda Blackbird Rotor along with a single bracket & spacer kit.

The holes in the rotor are the correct PCD (bolt circle) so only need enlarging to 8mm.

Caveat - The rotors are quite rare - I paid $150 for a good set (obviously you only need one).

I have 1 rotor here on the shelf - first come first served at $75 plus shipping.

This mod will fit any of the single rotor brake models that come stock with a 290mm rotor I believe (apart from L, GL, or T variants).

For the GS450 Twins - This same mod can be done but with the CBR F3/F4 295mm rotor (these are more common).

This mod uses the same Kawasaki Twinpot caliper as used in the other upgrades & the same brackets (but only one side obviously!).



Price on the brackets - $47 shipped.

As usual - Stock bolts with blue loctite.
You'll need to source 1 x M10 bolt & nut for the third hole (fine thread preferred but not essential).
Stock line will work.
Stock Master will work.
Speedo Drive dust shield may need trimming by 4mm.