cheapest front brake mod please !

[steveo]

having recently got back from riding a 25 year old enfield around south india for 6 weeks, i rode my mono g/s for the first time in ages today and realised how bad the standard front brake is ( nearly as bad as the enfield )
as funds are a bit low at the mo, can anyone give me an idea of the cheapest way to improve.
it has a cast disc and the mounting holes on the left fork leg for a second caliper.
thanks in anticipation before i hit something
steve

 

[Elvisto]

Steve I've just changed mine

Bought the Kyoto floating disc from wemoto.com

£76-50 For the disc and £14-50 for the pads,

You'll need to remove the rivets from your old disc, drill them out, clean the alloy casting up, and fit the disc with the bobbins and nuts/bolts all supplied.

I found the disc to be very well made,It had been wire eroded to very close tolerances,I'm very impressed with kit,

And the brake is pretty good too

I'll take some pictures tomorrow.

Cheers Graham

 

[Elvisto]

Steve, I may not get chance to take the pic tomorrow, so I've just done it,

Cheers Graham

 

[steveo]

many thanks graham, is yours a G/S or a GS ? is there any difference in the caliper/master cylinder set up?
ive re-built my cylinder and the caliper and it feels exactly the same i.e crap

 

[newguy]

I bought one of these from ebay US. cost $65 incl shipping to NZ. still had a good set of pads in them too.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-...8049160QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

just needed to machine 3mm from the mounting to fit. holes line up perfectly.

 

[Elvisto]

Mines a 1985 G/S, Cheers Graham

 

[steveo]

new guy, thanks, how did it work out? can you actualy stop now?

 

[Thunder]

I bought one of these from ebay US. cost $65 incl shipping to NZ. still had a good set of pads in them too.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-...8049160QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

just needed to machine 3mm from the mounting to fit. holes line up perfectly.

Common mod for a para GS and does work paticularly when combined with a 320mm disk conversion, but not for the mono g/s which has the caliper behind the fork leg

If your bike is fortunate to have caliper mounting points on the left side forkleg you may want to consider a twin disk conversion, it was already done on both my monos and it works brilliantly.

 

[newguy]

I found the brake mod to work quite well, even with the standard size disc.
These calipers sit mounted on the back of the forks on the R1100, not sure why they would be a problem for mounting on the G/s

 

[steveo]

thanks thunder and a good point newguy,is there any reason this would not work on a g/s.
are the mounting holes the same distance apart on both bikes?
someone must have tried this already judging by the terrible reputation these brakes have!!

 

[(RIP) pastyman]

sometimes dont really understand all the fuss. Ok so the brakes arnt up to the latest bikes but really arnt that bad. Mine has the original setup but with a braided hose. there is enough to bottom the forks if I lamp the on and on the g/s I could easily lock up the back wheel. I tend to ride with a bit more space in front of me but overall dont make too many concessions. Trouble is we often try to compare these old bikes with more modern stuff, brakes, lights,power, suspension etc, part of the joy of owning an older vehicle is the originaqlity ,faults included. If I didnt feel like that I would get 1200

just my opinion.....

 

[cookie]

the airhead G/S and GS brakes are fucking laughable, even considering when they were made. you'd have to go back to something like my old T500 suzuki (1974) to find something comparably pathetic.

 

[fayeslane]

sometimes dont really understand all the fuss. Ok so the brakes arnt up to the latest bikes but really arnt that bad. Mine has the original setup but with a braided hose. there is enough to bottom the forks if I lamp the on and on the g/s I could easily lock up the back wheel. I tend to ride with a bit more space in front of me but overall dont make too many concessions. Trouble is we often try to compare these old bikes with more modern stuff, brakes, lights,power, suspension etc, part of the joy of owning an older vehicle is the originaqlity ,faults included. If I didnt feel like that I would get 1200

just my opinion.....

Been thinking about this and agree in essence but pondered why I had changed my 100PD.

It is my everyday ride and as such needs to be able to cope with whatever riding conditions prevail (ask me about the freshly bulldozed track to nowhere one day )

I get a lot of pleasure from riding it. Upgrades to the suspension and front brake have made it more fun to ride and heaps safer. As for power, gearbox etc I'm happy to accept that it is an old bike, old design.

I have done the 1200 thing and it was technically the best bike I have owned but lacked the overall involvement and fun of the PD (I love hearing those little blokes in the head tapping away with their hammers )

Any changes I have made can be reverted to original easily bearing in mind these are collectable classics.

The other airheads in the shed will remain stock standard but will probably only do the occaisional club ride -I enjoy them for what they are.

So I 'spose there are useful, cost effective upgrades to be had but spending money to make it perform like a modern bike is questionable. I have always thought the cheapest performance mod for an airhead is to trade it in

But project bikes ..........................that's another story

 

[Crapaud]

the airhead G/S and GS brakes are fucking laughable, even considering when they were made. you'd have to go back to something like my old T500 suzuki (1974) to find something comparably pathetic.

Agree 100%

Took my PD Classic out for nice run the other day and it was fantastic, until I attempted to use the brakes. OK so I've just done 10,000 miles in Jan/Feb on my 1100 and was used to that but the brakes on the PD are from a long ago generation. I'm not expecting R1 type single finger braking forces but something more than just a gradual reduction in speed would be nice!

Will give it a serious checkover as I'm sure it can't be supposed to be that lethally bad.

 

[fayeslane]

Agree 100%

Took my PD Classic out for nice run the other day and it was fantastic, until I attempted to use the brakes. OK so I've just done 10,000 miles in Jan/Feb on my 1100 and was used to that but the brakes on the PD are from a long ago generation. I'm not expecting R1 type single finger braking forces but something more than just a gradual reduction in speed would be nice!

Will give it a serious checkover as I'm sure it can't be supposed to be that lethally bad.

Had the same experience when I went back to a PD from my 1200. FARK 2 finger braking had become 2 hand braking! Look at the positives, shit brakes improves your cornering speed Airhead GS riders scrape the foot pegs because they have no choice -it's that or die

 

[bumpmuncher]

here are some alternative products to help improve the power of the front brake stopyabastardstopyabastard used my 100 commuting into deptford A12/13, A2 all last summer and we survived so they cant be that bad it is amasing what gaps she will squeeze through with panniers on

 

[fayeslane]

here are some alternative products to help improve the power of the front brake stopyabastardstopyabastard

Hmmm.... I had always thought that the title "tosser" indicated that serious wrist development had occurred Perhaps if we are having trouble braking - we need change hands when "exercising"

 

[bumpmuncher]

Hmmm.... I had always thought that the title "tosser" indicated that serious wrist development had occurred Perhaps if you are having trouble braking -change hands when "exercising"

2nd class riding is better than 1st class walking

 

[fayeslane]

Do you reckon we have helped Steveo with his initial enquiry? I'm not what it was anymore but apparently whatever it was, he needs to build up his strength some how

 

[B Murr]

a kit of sorts. you would need to machine the leg and buy pads and hoses. I can't help thinking it is a bit pricey at the current bid of £140 - ebay item number 300412009471

I did put in a bid myself but was outbid and to be honest I'm pretty happy with the philisophy of just accepting the bike as is, if I did the brakes what next. Stainless hoses might be the simplest mod I can make without complicating the setup. I survived two up with luggage on one disk in India/Nepal ( although I did knock down an Indian Police Officer but I don't think twin disk would have avoided that situation)and I know of a few who've been RTW on one standard disk and if it was good enough for them........................