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Best front caliper from GS's lineup?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ironriot
  • Start date Start date
I

Ironriot

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Was there any year where the front caliper for a single disk set up was better than the rest?

Wondering because now that my front caliper has bitten the dust I want some kinda upgrade. I was gonna throw a 4 or 6 pot but I've already been told it won't work. So my options are two piston calipers that Kawas use.... Unfortunately they're almost impossible to find for the left side. So after a few good days of searching I've given up. Besides there are ALOT more GS parts on fleabay. Any tips?
 
All the early suzuki calipers are pretty poor by today's standads so i'd be tempted to look for a caliper from a RF600, 600bandit gsx600f/750f all the same good strong twin piston sliding calipers (not opposed piston)

I'll guess you will need a mounting bracket to fit them to gs forks but could be wrong no big deal either way & it keeps it all in the suzuki family :-D
 
Ah tone I knew you'd chime in sooner or later...... Curious though. What do you mean by twin piston sliding calipers? Kinda like the Kawasaki one's 8track uses?.... And if opposed piston calipers are the 4 or 6 pot kind I can't use them anyways. They're too wide.

BTW thanks for the list of bikes to search up on ebay
 
Glad to be of assistance ironriot :-D

to explain the calipers a little better by sliding calipers i mean ones with a piston or pistons on one side & a sliding mount on the other Eg standard gs calipers & the kwak calipers 8track is using

opposed piston is as with later 4 pot calipers with pistons opposite each other actually squeezing th pads onto the disc from both sides

the calipers i mentioned from the different bikes are the same sliding type if you get the right year so there shouldn't be any clearance issues, but do check as suzuki changed from one type to another a few times in the 90's :-D
 
I found a PAIR of the Kawi calipers for 19.95 B.I N. on ebay...there were numerous sets available. They used them for years, on lots of models. Early Ninja 600R, Ninja 750...buy a set and use the one you want.
 
What about using a caliper from a later model GS500? They only had brakes on one side of the front rim, and are also a 2-pot slider model as Tone mentioned. The design must be better than what was being made in the 80's.
 
I wish I could find a bolt on caliper for the twin rotor setup....

Was looking at my mates 750 Nighthawk, reckon that might work but only single sided. Would likely work for you though.

Dan :)
 
hp1000s said:
I found a PAIR of the Kawi calipers for 19.95 B.I N. on ebay...there were numerous sets available. They used them for years, on lots of models. Early Ninja 600R, Ninja 750...buy a set and use the one you want.
Click to expand...

Link? Calipers can be had for a song all day long on ebay. The trouble is finding the right kinda caliper. Opposed piston ones are numerous. The ones with the pistons all on one side are kinda difficult to find
 
LeeGS550E said:
What about using a caliper from a later model GS500? They only had brakes on one side of the front rim, and are also a 2-pot slider model as Tone mentioned. The design must be better than what was being made in the 80's.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look
 
salty_monk said:
I wish I could find a bolt on caliper for the twin rotor setup....

Was looking at my mates 750 Nighthawk, reckon that might work but only single sided. Would likely work for you though.

Dan :)
Click to expand...

Bolt on? Highly unlikely. But a if you want something for a twin rotor set up that's easy. I think it was the GSX-650 and 750's that have that kinda set up. I was looking at them and they're usually sold in pairs. Like I said they're not gonna be a straight bolt in BUT they do have two pistons on one side of the rotor. So they clear GS wheels
 
tone said:
Glad to be of assistance ironriot :-D

to explain the calipers a little better by sliding calipers i mean ones with a piston or pistons on one side & a sliding mount on the other Eg standard gs calipers & the kwak calipers 8track is using

opposed piston is as with later 4 pot calipers with pistons opposite each other actually squeezing th pads onto the disc from both sides

the calipers i mentioned from the different bikes are the same sliding type if you get the right year so there shouldn't be any clearance issues, but do check as suzuki changed from one type to another a few times in the 90's :-D
Click to expand...

Yeah Suzi did change a few times. From the late 80's to late 90's the GSX's have opposed piston calipers then they changed to one sided from the late 90's to the 2000's
 
Ironriot said:
The ones with the pistons all on one side are kinda difficult to find
Click to expand...

Not if you know what to look for. :-D

These are most of the Kawasaki models that use the twin piston "sliding" calipers.
ZR 550 B1/B2/B3 Zephyr 1990 1992 1993
ZX 600 C1-C9 Ninja 600 R 1988 to 1996
ZR 750 C1/C2/C3 1991 to 1993
ZX 750 F1/F2/F3/F4 Ninja 1987 to 1990
ZG 1000 A9-A20 Concours 1994 to 2006
ZX 1000 B1/B2/B3 Ninja ZX10 1988 to 1990
 
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8trackmind said:
Not if you know what to look for. :-D

These are most of the Kawasaki models that use the twin piston "sliding" calipers.
ZR 550 B1/B2/B3 Zephyr 1990 1992 1993
ZX 600 C1-C9 Ninja 600 R 1988 to 1996
ZR 750 C1/C2/C3 1991 to 1993
ZX 750 F1/F2/F3/F4 Ninja 1987 to 1990
ZG 1000 A9-A20 Concours 1994 to 2006
ZX 1000 B1/B2/B3 Ninja ZX10 1988 to 1990
Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks. It sure beats te hell out of punching in 'Kawasaki front caliper' in ebay and hoping for good stuff
 
Wow thats a pretty good list! Now i need to find one for near bolt up REAR set ups... 8track??? LMAO
 
Riot if you want GS i found a couple of 450 calipers going on the cheap, 10 hours left i think and they are only 10 bucks each...
 
Thanks for the heads up buddy. I found a caliper off of a (Bandit?????) that is just what I was looking for. It was a BIN or best offer and I submitted a price half of what he originally wanted and he still accepted. So now to pay for it and wait for it to come in...... I hope it isn't screwed.
 
Tone if you're reading this can you give me a heads up if I need to purchase a new master cylinder?????
 
Ironriot said:
Tone if you're reading this can you give me a heads up if I need to purchase a new master cylinder?????
Click to expand...

heres my thoughts ..... you have a 550L with single disk right ? i would think that the master cylinder off this would displace enough fluid to work a twin pot caliper ok, it wont be horrendous anyway thats for sure

what i'd do is give it a go before worrying about another master cylinder & if you decide to change a cylinder from any twin disc gs will work its even possible the cylinders are the same anyway, i did know all the bore sizes at one point but thats got lost in the mists of time :oops:

hope that puts your mind at rest mate :-D
 
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tone said:
heres my thoughts ..... you have a 550L with single disk right ? i would think that the master cylinder off this would displace enough fluid to work a twin pot caliper ok, it wont be horrendous anyway thats for sure

what i'd do is give it a go before worrying about another master cylinder & if you decide to change a cylinder from any twin disc gs will work its even possible the cylinders are the same anyway, i did know all the bore sizes at one point but thats got lost in the mists of time :oops:

hop that puts your mind at rest mate :-D
Click to expand...

Yeah single disk set up here. I was reading through 8track's post about changing the calipers and he said something about the single disc set up using a 14mm MC. Which is the same size the new bikes use I think so the way I figure I should be fine. Thanks anyways. I'll let you know how it all works out when it gets here and I get it mounted
 
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