New owner : improving and cleaning brakes

  • Thread starter Thread starter alibee
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alibee

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Evening all,

Just bought a lovely 1100 about 45 mins ago (god bless ebay!). :D I've waited years to become a tosser so am justly chuffed to be joining the ranks. :D

Couple of early questions:

1) The previous owner said the brakes were pretty weak, are there any other pads worth fitting to improve bite?
2) The ABS ring is all rusty and I know it's going to irritate me! What's the best way to clean it? Will a brass wire brush knacker it and send me spinning off into the hedgerow???
3) Is there any way to mount a top box where the pillion seat goes? I'm unlikely to take a pillion for a few years and hate topboxes that hang miles over the back....

Thanks for any help,

Ali
 
alibee said:
Evening all,

Just bought a lovely 1100 about 45 mins ago (god bless ebay!). :D I've waited years to become a tosser so am justly chuffed to be joining the ranks. :D

Couple of early questions:

1) The previous owner said the brakes were pretty weak, are there any other pads worth fitting to improve bite?
2) The ABS ring is all rusty and I know it's going to irritate me! What's the best way to clean it? Will a brass wire brush knacker it and send me spinning off into the hedgerow???
3) Is there any way to mount a top box where the pillion seat goes? I'm unlikely to take a pillion for a few years and hate topboxes that hang miles over the back....

Thanks for any help,

Ali
Click to expand...

1, bmw, ferodo, or carbone lorraine (the power-fullest )
2, soft wire brush
3, yes, there is:D
 
I reckon BMW pads are the best, especially on genuine BMW discs.
 
I would suggest getting your pads from that nice mister steptoe - his offer the best trade off between stopping power and disk wear (allegedly)

Might be worthwhile thinking about replacing the hoses too... with braided ones.

not much more you can do really.

The previous owner might be guilty of comparing the brakes on the GS with brakes on a full on race bike - possibly. They're not brilliant - but perfectly adequate to pull up a quarter tonne bike.
 
Thanks all, looks like I'll be attacking the ABS ring with a suede brush then... :)

Brakes aren't as bad as I expected (especially considering the rolling mass!) so I'll leave the pads until it becomes an issue. Might try Carbon Lorraine next time as I've had good results with them on track but they're £££ usually.

I'll continue to scour the forum on the top box thing, not sure exactly what I want yet so probably best to live with the bike for a few months and then make the decision.

More urgent needs are:

1) Can I fit some of the spare 160/70 diablos I have to the rear?
2) Is there any way I can get race pattern gear shift working?

I've searched on the latter but it's not looking good os far. :(

Thanks again,

Ali
 
find round and black , a seller on ebay, they sell carbone lorraine at a decent price,i got ferodo this time, cos i needed em quick, they will have to be good to beat carbone lorraine
dont really care about wear etc, i want brakes that STOP:D
 
Cheers, found him but he doesn't seem to have any GS pads at the moment. I'll message him and get a price, seems like he has pretty much every kind under the sun....
 
alibee said:
More urgent needs are:

1) Can I fit some of the spare 160/70 diablos I have to the rear?
2) Is there any way I can get race pattern gear shift working?

I've searched on the latter but it's not looking good os far. :(

Thanks again,

Ali
Click to expand...
My 1150 takes a 160 wide road tyre with no issues and i think the 1100 is the same.
"Race pattern gearchange".I take it you mean up for first and down for the rest?.Depending on the year the bike was made,consider yourself fortunate if the gears actually change smoothly and cleanly in the first place.One of the "pleasures" of owning a BWM.:D
A little light reading.
http://www.largiader.com/
 
Congratulations

alibee said:
Evening all,

Just bought a lovely 1100 about 45 mins ago (god bless ebay!). :D I've waited years to become a tosser so am justly chuffed to be joining the ranks. :D
Click to expand...
Excellent choice Ali, the best of 'em.
alibee said:
3) Is there any way to mount a top box where the pillion seat goes? I'm unlikely to take a pillion for a few years and hate topboxes that hang miles over the back....
Click to expand...
17022008148.jpg


I'll say no more. :D






Again, well wear. :thumb2
 
1100 is the mutts nuts, got mine 3 months ago still haven't stopped smiling, The old gear box is a wee bit clunky though? I'm starting to think that mine is not the exception but the norm! ( I hope).
 
worth cleaning the discs and pads with meths, I think even the wash'n'wx stuff contaminates them (if you ever wash the bike that is).
 
My only advice is to upgrade the hydraulic lines 1100,s had some failure issues after a decade of UV etc.

:rob:rob
 
There is lots of bollo--ks talked about BMW brakes and gearboxes.
Put a good oil in, change it regular and change gear properly and they are no problem at all.
As for the brakes, I use standard EBC and £12 a set from my local shop, now I dont have ABS and I can lock up the front or rear without difficulty, cant imagine that any other make would be any better, do I need to lock the brakes up quicker ?
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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