Brake Caliper Upgrade

[AMCQ46]

An update with some pics of the CBR caliper mod. Not finished yet as I am still waiting for the new EBC HH pads from WEMOTO.

Machined a small amount of metal off both the caliper and the fork leg using a Dremel sanding drum. That is a good tool for the job, as it is small and it allowed me to remove the metal from the fork leg boss, but leave the front surface untouched, so there is still a full concentric ring of metal round the bolt..
Took less than 1mm off the caliper and 1 to 2mm off the fork mount.




Removed all pistons and gave caliper and m/c a good clean and reassembled all covered in new brake fluid.

I then removed the old brakes still fully assembled so there was no risk of fluid spill. If you remove the lever blade, the horn, and losen the LH bar, you can lower the master cyl down past the throttle cable and out teh bottom of the faring.

I laid the assy out on newspaper, put the new m/c and calipers beside the old parts and then swapped the SS hoses over one joint at a time [fitting new copper washers].

Then to save mess & fluid spills on the bike, I did most of the bleeding off the bike, with the m/c on an old handlebar in the workmate.
This allowed me to reach everything from one place, and also flush through with a syringe and bleed at all 3 banjo bolts without worrying where the fluid was going.


Then clean everything with brake cleaner [i think i should leave the door open next time, as i was getting a bit high on the fumes!] , lever removed and the new m/c threaded back up through the faring and throttle cables.

calipers fitted:



have to go to USA next week, so it will stay like that till I get back [and get new pads] and I will then finish the bleeding on the bike.

[sirch345]

Interesting post this AMcQ, well done

Chris.

[Pete.L]

Smarty Pants
Never thought of doing it off the Bike. What a good idea

Pete.l

[Snoogle]

Sorry to bump an old thread.........

All this is kinda going over my head....which parts do I need to change (on a budget here) to get better braking? I have no idea about which bit is which on the bars.....if I was to swap from my standard MC to a CBR 600f one then would I be able to keep the pazzo knock off levers I have put on or will I need to swap them to CBR equiv's?

[AMCQ46]

Snoogle,
Lever is the same on the 600 and the VTR, so your pazzo bling will carry over

But just to check, as you say you are on a budget, are you doing both the calipers AND the master cyl [on the bars]? In my engineering opinion, just fitting a bigger master cylinder off the 600 will give you less braking power, not more [you just get a stiffer feeling on the lever].

If you just have cash for 1 change, the bigger calipers with your VTR master cyl is the one which will improve braking. Make sure you also fit good pads [the 600 has different pads to the VTR].

one more point.........if you are not confident with the spanners, I would not reccomend that you tinker with the brakes..........too much at stake if you get it wrong if you know what I mean

[Snoogle]

I was going to just change the MC but realised as soon as I was reading your comments that I may as well do the whole lot, so stumbled upon this........dunno if it will be good in comparison with the previously listed components?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CBR-600-F4-01-06- ... _809wt_905

[AMCQ46]

they are the parts i used, big improvement

[Snoogle]

It appears somebody has beat me to it, ah well, wait till the spray has been sorted....

[oldbikeman]

Hi
A while ago when I was moaning about my stock brakes some one told told me early Blade brakes were better.Well I got some off a 92 and they look the same as vtr.Even the pads look same (single retaining pin).Last time I rode a 92 I thought the brakes great so maybe a disc/pad material mismatch.No feel no bite.I reckon getting the right discs and pads is vital.Old single piston callipers on air cooled gpz,s were stronger than these because they were set up better.
Merry Xmass all

[AMCQ46]

if the pads are same size and a single pin fitting, then they are thesame calipers as theVTR, the ones you need have 2 pins mounting the pads and everything is a bit bigger [pads & pistons].

I didnt realise the very early blade had the VTR caliper, every picture I have seen has the 2 pin pad mounting, but I have not made a life study of this so may be wrong.

Oh and you need to change the pads for new ones and also bed them to the disks before you get good performance.

[oldbikeman]

I've seen single pin ones up to tigers eye jobbies I don't Know about later.Vtr discs are non rusting non grip rubbish that gets shoved on three big Jap makers bikes now and then since the early seventys.Kwaks seem least guilty of this.
Best discs rust very quick if not used. Wife's disc on her push bike is twin piston and amazing power ,dead jealous
.

[benny hedges]

.Kwaks seem least guilty of this.
Best discs rust very quick if not used. .

cast iron discs on my z. rusts over a weekend and the first few hundred yards of braking are a bit poo til the rust is scrubbed off.
re calipers... i got some 2 pot tokis with massive pistons compared to the 4 small ones in the std vtr set up.
different centres tho so they wont fit & i cba making spacers for them.
just experiment with different pad material, braided hoses etc.
i put master cylinders (brake & clutch) off my old cbx on the storm and the difference in feel is great.
it actually stops when i pull the lever now - with goldfren ceramic carbon pads (same material as the most expensive ebc pads but a fraction of the price)
just need to change the rear mc now for something with a bigger piston.

[SkokieVTR]

Hey Mates,

It's been a while since I logged on to see what you Limies were up to but when someone on our Superhawk forum referenced this thread (go to http://www.superhawkforum.com/forums/mo ... post311081), I thought I'd chime in here.

Being the very free-spirited and experimental blokes us Yanks are, we collectively have tried just about every modification imaginable on our VTRs; not to say you guys have not likewise pushed things beyond all logic despite the actual realized payback.

Anyhoo, while I personally have not replaced the complete OEM VTR front end with another make or model's as many have, I have massaged the fork internals, installed heavier springs, replaced the steering head bearings with roller bearings, and added a fork brace. As to the OEM brakes, I first tried a SP1 MC with the stock calipers & EBC HH pads, then the same SP1 MC with F4i calipers & EBC HH pads and now finally settled on a SP2 MC with the F4i calipers & EBC HH pads. All the foregoing of course with braided SS lines. This later combination IMO provides the most feel (control) and power at the least expense time and moola wise. The leverage ratio this combo offers (28.66) I think is ideal though it may not provide the greatest braking force. BTW, my 98 (3-97 B-day) VTR has about 70,000 miles on it (that's 112,654 kilometers to you inch-challenged types).

And as a plug to one of your home-grown manufacturers (and while the jury is still out), I am liking my fresh set of Avon Storm Ultra 2 buns (not the first time I've sampled Avons plus of course Dunlops).

Thought I'd offer my 2 cents.

Cheers!

[muppet]

Just came across this link, tell me have you any experience with running a single front disc setup on the storm, ive removed one on the dragbike and the brake lever is very hard with no feel, you really have to squeeze i,t so im thinking i need to change the caliper or mc to get the correct ratio ? any idea's cheapest option .

[AMCQ46]

sounds like you need a smaller diameter master cyl of a bike which already has a single disk set up. That will get you back to a resonable lever feel