Hello all,

Changin' out front brake pads today, I stuck a mike on my front brake rotor.  I'm gettin' a thickness of 0.155" or so.

The FSM says that the wear limit is 0.160"!

Now, my bike is strictly an urban warrior.  It's got less than 14,000 miles on it.  And, I'm not thinkin' I need to get real worried yet.

1. What are the thoughts from the hive mind concerning the criticality of my situation?  I'm thinkin' I'll change it out in another 13,000 miles or so - it's grooved a bit, but not too bad....

Some research revealed that the part number for the front brake rotor has changed at least once over the years.  The part number for the 1986-2004 models (mine is a 2001 model) is 59211-24B00.  The part number for the 2005-2009 models is 59211-24B10.  I was unable to get the part number for any bikes newer than a 2009 model.

2. Is a 2004 model year front brake rotor interchangeable with a 2005 model year number front brake rotor?

TIA!

I'd go ahead and change it.
wear characteristics are akin to hardness
and hardness is akin to strength

the real question is what did you start with?

I was going to agree with you and as I was building a case...
I ran thru safety factors...
and strength...
and hardness...
and soft materials wear faster...
bingo.

WEll,, they both make good points.. Ima cheap one, too..

IF its softer toward the middle, shouldnt the braking improve?

Could you check thickness, write it down, with miles on the bike, then check thickness every 1,000 miles or so & see how fast the disc is going away?
Of course, if it warps, its time,

The FSM says that the wear limit is 0.160"!

Well,, ya know,, the same folks told us Juuust how to use that belt tensioning doohickey. You dont suppose some engineer just randomly popped that number outta hizzass do ya? Or you spose they calculated the heat input coming down from a hot run & the heat consumption/dissipation & somehow decided that it was just liable to fail?
Id ride it, but God if you do & it gets ya Ima feel bad forever

Annealing?   Heat softening your rotor?   Really, oh my goodness we are all gonna jest DIE from that there deadly blue rotor-itus ....

Come to the mountains with us when Big Zuk is leading the pack ....  we've stopped at the Dragon overlook and remarked that all the Suzukis sitting there jest a pinging their exhaust systems from the hard run they all had blue front disk rotors from all the hard braking we'd been a doing.

.160" has been noted in the past as being a very conservative change point for a rotor that Suzuki wants such megga bucks just to sell you another thin arsed one.

I am at .166" right now (just measured it) and I still have Dragon blue down at the bottom of my wear grooves.   I'll change mine when it finally does warp.  Since it has been thermally abused twice a year for over six years now that warpage thing isn't so easy to do, now is it?



Remember, when the time comes EBC sells a thicker rotor for less money.  Or you can buy a ENTIRE used front wheel assembly for less than Suzuki wants for just the rotor.   You get some free tire life that way too.

annealing for steel occurs around 1900°F
whereas blueing will occur around 6 to 800°F
which is around the tempering temp. if the steel has been full hardened.

verslagen1 wrote on 08/17/13 at 10:26:50:


For a full anneal yes, but the draw temperatures are much lower.   What we do on the Dragon is a many times repeated deep blue draw zone heat/cool cycle, which progressively softens the rotor steel slowly over time.

But it never reaches the point the rotor becomes useless.  It may reach the point the rotor begins to wear faster though.  These repeated heat/cool cycles will stress relieve the rotor, so if it had any built in stress buckle left in it from the original sheet metal mill "big roll" form it would show itself after getting blue hot.

Versy is right, anneal was the wrong word.  A full anneal on a stainless rotor would take a dull red temperature and I do not think we have ever seen a rotor glowing in the dark yet.


   but we is a working on it every early summer Dragon trip