Are you having trouble stopping your Savage/S40 ? We know that front brake is weak almost to the point of being dangerous. Yeah some good pads & a braided line help some but that's like putting lipstick on a pig ! I recently bought the upgraded setup from Shawn here on SS. This was the easiest upgrade to do , just bolt it on & bleed it. This brake works great with good feel , still breaking it in but it gets better every time I ride it. I know many have tried it, what are your thoughts about the setup ? I think it was a good investment and it looks cool too !

I never saw the brakes as underperforming. I could make the front tire squeal.. I never had it on a tight track and got the brakes hot.

If all your using is compression braking going into turns your going slow.
My point is the stock front brake sucks good pads, braided hose,drilled rotor it still sucks. I'm sure you would whoop some butt on your roads just like I would whoop you on my roads. You have an unfair advantage , that would be your aerodynamic latex suit !!!

I bought Shawn's big brake kit, and this is my second riding season with it.  It definitely is a huge improvement over stock.  Most normal riding can be done with just 2 fingers on the brake lever.....aggressive braking takes another finger or two, and the brake is very smooth and controllable (it is not a touchy/grabby brake...it is very linear).

When (and how) you ride makes a big difference in your braking needs.  When I am on a casual ride on the local roads......I don't do a lot of braking for the corners.  We have a pretty open view of what is ahead, our hills our not real steep, and I seldom break the speed limits......it can take me several hundred miles of riding to seat a set of new pads with this kind of riding, and the stock brake worked OK - but it was definitely not as good as the brakes on my other bikes.

When I am on roads like the Dragon, Moonshiner 28, and riding in TN/NC, I use the brake a lot.  The area has very steep hills, decreasing radius turns, and very tight turns that cannot be taken at normal riding speeds.  When you ride at a fun speed on these roads - you are going to be using your brakes......a lot!  Last year I made a few aggressive runs on the Dragon, and a few times I was braking so hard the bike would "shimmy".....I believe there is so little weight on the back tire that it wiggles around.  Shawn's big brake kit did just fine and never gave a wimper (MM and Oldfeller's rotors had turned light blue/purple on that same trip to the Dragon),

The big brake kit isn't needed by everyone - some folks never push their bike beyond what the stock front brake is capable of......but if you do want/need a  better front brake, it does make a huge improvement.

I'm guessing the s40 is not a bike that most buyers want to fang.

Well..If going into a curve marked 35 at45 and poping out at 55-60 is going slow ....just call me slowpoke! but with 13" progressive shocks reduceing my rake my bike steers faster and no matter how far I lean it it no longer drag a peg. and I do push it's limits but I've been riding the same bike 20+ years.(I've never changed the back shoes, and have only changed the front disc pad once -27,000+ miles )If you feel you have to brake going into most curves our bikes setup /or our riding styles must be somewhat different.

"really cool" is that a technical term or just opinion ? dang! makes me what to break out my tie dyed T shirt with the peace symbol on the front ,my bell bottom jeans and harness boots and just ride!

Ruttly,
I agree with Dave. A lot of this has to do with where and how you ride.
This is a piece I wrote a while ago based on a conversation I had with an Airhead BMW owner. Most of the bikes I work on are ridden in NYC, which is a very different planet than the civilized world.

Tales from the lift:
Sometimes, I just need to explain stuff in a way a layman can understand...
Guy shows me his very clean R75/5, says it was 'totally gone through' needs nothing.
Yea, right.
Notice the tires are old. Suggest new tires.
Ask if the brakes had been attended to.
Blank stare.
Grab the front brake lever as hard as I can. Push the bars, bike rolls.
"Kinda exciting, riding with no brakes, eh?"
"I won't be going very fast" he says.
Shake my head.
"Lemme paint you a picture." I say:
This is NYC. The roads look like Dresden in '46. Following distances in traffic are measured in inches. You're heading up the FDR drive at 70 MPH (which is the speed you have to travel so as to not get run over from behind) behind some Trust Fund Trinket sleeper in a 911 Porsche. Suddenly the driver sees a pothole that could swallow a refrigerator, thinks about blowing up about $4K of wheels, and stomps on the brakes. With big honking tires, brakes that could stop cancer in your lymph system, and lots of groovy electronics, the car stops in about 108'.
So do you, except you do it by hitting his rear bumper at 50 MPH.
As you're flying over that ass-engined Nazi slot car, the wing-tipped wonder boy behind the wheel is speed dialing his lawyer to sue you for rear-ending his toy. You spend the rest of your life in a metal chair with big wheels on the side, pissing into a bag taped to your waist.
Bank stare.
"Uh, what should I do?"
Besides the tires, ditch the old/hard/nasty asbestos brake shoes. Install EBC brake shoes, scuff up the drums so they'll seat, new brake cable, dismember everything, lube pivots, repack/shim wheel bearings, adjust carefully. Stop better. Be less dead.
He went for it : )