Kawasaki Twinpot Brake Modification - who wants parts?

[salty_monk]

Looks great Don! I guess those are 6mm steel?

I'll take a look to see if it's an option on the 1000 but if there is room behind the caliper to move them over that much then it will definitely need to be closer to the rotor than 8mm to get a decent size bracket in there.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[hp1000s]

Hello Suzuki-Don,
What brand/model front rotors are those?
Thanks,
Hugh

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Looks great Don! I guess those are 6mm steel?

I'll take a look to see if it's an option on the 1000 but if there is room behind the caliper to move them over that much then it will definitely need to be closer to the rotor than 8mm to get a decent size bracket in there.

Cheers,

Dan

Dan the brackets are 5mm steel plate. Really sturdy and gives me the correct clearance (8mm) which we spoke about as the clearance on the stock Kawa setup between the disc and caliper bracket.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Hello Suzuki-Don,
What brand/model front rotors are those?
Thanks,
Hugh

Hi Hugh. The rotors are off an early 90s Honda CBR900RR model. Overall diameter of 296mm. The later 90s model CBR900RR were 310mm so don't use these ones. All of them have the correct bolt hole arrangement to bolt the rotor up to the front hub. Although the 6mm holes need to be drilled out to 8mm to fit the GS front hubs. I believe the same 296mm rotor was also on the CBR600F3 models as well. These are the rotors that Dan has used on his brake upgrade project. The only difference I can see is the holes drilled in the disc surface are a different pattern. The offset could be a bit different as well, I am not sure. Worth checking though.

 

[hp1000s]

Thanks much!!!

 

[tucker]

I just called my local MC salvage and asked about CBR900RR rotors. He must have figured out what they go for new, because he wants $250 for a set. Any other years/ models might work?

 

[Mark M]

I just called my local MC salvage and asked about CBR900RR rotors. He must have figured out what they go for new, because he wants $250 for a set. Any other years/ models might work?

Some F3 rotors will also work, they are the same for some of the model years as the 900RR rotors. You will always pay that from a salvage yard, they usually charge around 1/2 of what a new part costs from the dealer. Ebay is the answer for rotors, they usually go for around $125 for a decent set.

Mark

 

[8trackmind]

These are the calipers fitted with the steel plates.

Very clever Don. I like the way you think.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Very clever Don. I like the way you think.

Thanks Jeff. It's all built on your original idea though.

Only trouble is that I can't test them for a few months.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

P.S. If anyone wants the diagram and specific measurements to make a set themselves then I can accommodate them. I might get the draughtsman at work to draw up a proper schematic, etc.

BTW these brackets were handmade by myself and cleaned up on a belt sander to remove the course finish left by the angle grinder. I used the old "tried & true" method of cutting both plates (brackets) together to obtain two identical brackets in shape and they turned out OK considering I used a hand held drill and angle grinder and had no precision equipment at my disposal. Because the drill bits wandered a bit doing it free hand I had to elongated a couple of holes to make them line up correctly. But those of you with pedestal drills and access to machine shop facilities (Old Colt) will do a much better job than I have done.

Anyway I hope this can help someone along the way if they choose to do a similar upgrade.

 

[salty_monk]

I now have the hub spacers available for anyone wanting to do the same mod that I have with the CBR F3 rotors.

I do have a limited number of different thickness ones so people can compensate for existing fork offset as well. Let me know what you need. (measure between caliper mounting plate & rotor face on your existing setup with a set of calipers & see if there is any difference).

They are limited in number & I don't know if I'll be able to get more at this stage.

PM me if interested.

Dan

 

[seuadr]

when you gonna make one to replace the caliper in the rear?

 

[salty_monk]

:lol: I have a steel capped Sidi boot I can do something with your rear with if you like! :lol:

 

[Old Colt]

There is quite a bit of mix and matching that can be done in the rear,

of the bike I mean.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Brake bracket profile & drawing

Brake bracket profile & drawing

Hi Guys. Find attached a drawing of the brackets that I made up in completing my conversion from Suzuki single piston front caliper to Kawasaki Twin Piston calipers with Honda CBR rotors on the front of my GS550.

This drawing was done for me by Mark M, Mark Mattock from Canada and special thanks to him for his skills in this area. When printing this PDF file make sure that NO PAGE SCALING is used otherwise the drawing will not come out at the exact measurements of the caliper bracket.

The idea is to print the drawing out, cut it out with scissors, etc. and glue it directly to the plate, centre punch the hole centres and do the drilling and then cut the plate to shape.

 

[salty_monk]

Be very careful when printing a PDF to use as a template... all printers have a tolerance, my inkjet prints at least a mm wrong. I would recommend mocking the brackets up using the printed template in Card first or thin plastic & fitting the caliper with it (seriously, it will hold). YOu can then see if you need to make any adjustments.

Dan

 

[Mark M]

Be very careful when printing a PDF to use as a template... all printers have a tolerance, my inkjet prints at least a mm wrong. I would recommend mocking the brackets up using the printed template in Card first or thin plastic & fitting the caliper with it (seriously, it will hold). YOu can then see if you need to make any adjustments.

Dan

Hey Dan,

I am familiar with those problems. When I did the drawing, I dimensioned the center distances between the holes, so the user can measure first to be sure it did print accurately. Between Don and myself we got it to print accurately on several different printers, so it is at least a decent start. As always, YMMV.

Mark

 

[Suzuki_Don]

There will be no adjustments required. The measurements on the template are those taken for the forks and the caliper bracket. There is no guess work here. There are three measurements on the bracket I made. These are as follows:
72mm -- Lower Fork leg lugs, centre to centre.
55mm -- From the two front mounting threaded holes on the Kawa caliper bracket, centre to centre.
24mm -- this is the only measurement that is variable. And I have spent a lot of time getting it right.

Dan, might be time to get a new printer. My laser prints the template out fine. The measurements are spot on, exact. But only if printed out with no page scaling on the PDF file.

 

[salty_monk]

Don - A laser will always give a more accurate print than an Inkjet in my opinion.
There's a reason why they charge a fortune for accurately calibrated plotters for CAD work though - it's pot luck.

Just pointing it out, I'm sure everyone is capable of taking measurements etc but a lot of people just "trust the equipment" & it might not be the same for them, I'm not knocking the idea at all just trying to be helpful

 

[Mark M]

Just pointing it out, I'm sure everyone is capable of taking measurements etc but a lot of people just "trust the equipment" & it might not be the same for them, I'm not knocking the idea at all just trying to be helpful

Dan,

That is why I put the dimensions on the drawing. It is up to the user to confirm it printed accurately and the dimensions allow them to do it. The user also has to confirm that the thickness will work with his particular set up as well.

Mark