Twinpot Brake upgrade on 78 Skunk

[TurtleSlow]

They turned up today, Salty. Thanks very much, they look the goods, indeed.

I'll get them on eventually and put up some pics.

Cheers
Muz

 

[Brodie]

After a heap of looking I have bought two calipers.

Being that ZX6 Calipers are hard to find in Australia I spend two hours searching through front brake calipers on ebay.

I came across the GPX250 2005 and GSX250F Across 1996 calipers which appear to be mirror images of each other, one for the left and one for the right.
View attachment 22749

Once they arrive I will take a few pictures and see how they fit. They appear to be identical to the other models.

 

[Grimly]

This caliper conversion is popular with older Kwak owners too, and here's a list that was put up on a Kwak site
http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/caliper/exlist.htm
Not all the numbers are the same, so make of it what you will, but it's a starting point and if you google images of each model caliper / part number you will surely find something suitable.

 

[mattfeet]

What are the black tube spacers for? Not the rotor spacer, the other items you include with the kit. About 1" in length.

 

[Govee]

Goes between the bottom mounting hole in the caliper and Salty's bracket.

 

[mattfeet]

And are the kits supposed to come with hardware or no? Mine didn't.

 

[Govee]

mine didn't. I seem to remember a post from Salty that indicates he stopped providing the hardware as it was all easily obtained common hardware.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Agreed, you will find the correct bolts at Ace Hardware without an issue.

 

[mattfeet]

Yep, I found everything needed. So my '79 GS750 had a single-piston single caliper setup which left a lot to be desired. There is a nice fellow on one of the Suzuki forums that makes brackets and spacers for a custom "bolt on" brake setup. I bought stuff for it over the past few months and finally got around to installing everything.

Quick rundown of everything I did:

- Bought Twin-Caliper GS750 forks
- Tore them down and rebuilt them
-- New seals, fluid, checked all tolerances
- Powdercoated gloss black
- Tore down '02 Kawasaki Concours Calipers
- Rebuilt with all new seals and pads
- Powdercoated metallic gold
- Redrilled CBR600F3 rotors
- Installed everything
- New SS lines
- New Nissin Master Cylinder w/ inline brake switch

Before:

On the lift:

New Seals:

Eww

Forks rebuilt and installed:

Tear down Concours calipers and powder:

Redrill CBR600 rotors to fit hub:

New vs. Old:

Bling

Wheel installed:

Tomorrow I have to wire in the inline brake switch and reinstall my fairing, set the bars in their right position, and add fluid. Then time for a test drive.

:w00t:

 

[mattfeet]

I didn't even think I'd need a new MC since Im coming from the single caliper setup. New Nissin MC on order after realizing my 14MM unit wouldnt cut it.

 

[tkent02]

The 14mm may or may not work. I have had them both ways, not sure why.

 

[mattfeet]

I had an upgraded 14MM Nissin unit but I just cant build up enough pressure for a good lever feeling. It WORKS but not overly well.

 

[tkent02]

I had an upgraded 14MM Nissin unit but I just cant build up enough pressure for a good lever feeling. It WORKS but not overly well.

Talk to me, I might need it for my 550 with one brake.

 

[mattfeet]

I bought it for my CB360 project and swapped it over to my GS for this project. Its in great shape and works perfectly fine. $100 shipped and its yours. They got for $140-150 new.

Matt

 

[salty_monk]

Original Suzuki 2 brake & Kawasaki 2 brake are 5/8" bore.

This is the one I use:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/08-2008-Kaw...Parts_Accessories&hash=item19eb1e05eb&vxp=mtr

 

[mattfeet]

Yea, my new one is 5/8. Should be here Wednesday.

 

[mattfeet]

GOt my new MC in today and it made a world of difference. Went for the maiden voyage and she stops on a dime (compared to old, that is). Just want to bleed the brakes a bit better for a firmer lever and Ill be one happy customer.

Matt

 

[Guest]

For the Canucks here, where are you buying your brake pads for this conversion? It is EBC #129 and I want the HH compound, but don't have a decent mail order source north of the 49th.


Thanks,
Mark

 

[salty_monk]

The stock Tokico brake pad is a good alternative to the EBC HH - they are both sintered.

The HH does bite a little harder though.

If you drop down to Organic pads you can really feel the difference (though it is still a lot better than stock).

With the latest kit stock bolts can be used. In the beginning I supplied the fine thread hardware as it was an odd length (45mm) due to the fact that the Aluminium brackets were about twice as thick. They were sort of difficult to get here in the US. I recommend a bit of blue loctite on these bolts. Looks like the Kawi bolts used in the install above but the Zuki bolts work too.

A lot of hardware stores have 40mm & 50mm fine thread M10's & nuts.

 

[mattfeet]

So I picked up a 16mm MC and the brakes are still pretty spongy. The lever has about 1.0" travel before the brakes even grab. Do I need to re-bleed? I haven't even seen a bigger MC than 16mm so I can't imagine that's my issue. Thoughts?

Matt