SuzukiSavage.com - Front Brake Upgrade

zipidachimp Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1385 surrey, b.c. Gender:	Front Brake Upgrade 07/21/20 at 23:14:29 Never paid much attention to brakes until last 2 rides. Anyone know of a simple front upgrade? Searched this forum but nadda. Better pad? Better caliper? Thanks for any info. Cheers!
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Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2625 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Front Brake Upgrade Reply #1 - 07/22/20 at 03:52:05 Search Shawn’s big brake kit (BBK).
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zipidachimp Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1385 surrey, b.c. Gender:	Re: Front Brake Upgrade Reply #2 - 07/22/20 at 04:38:21 Thanks, I'll start with a braided line and new pads until the border opens and I can pick up parts. Cheers!
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Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2625 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Front Brake Upgrade Reply #3 - 07/22/20 at 06:10:31 Shawn ships...no need to pick up parts. The pads and SS line will help a little, but the brakes will still suck. I went that route at first, but brake fade returns just after a few stops and the brakes always feel like they are made of wood. The BBK is a floating 320mm rotor and a caliper from a first generation Yamaha R1.
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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Front Brake Upgrade
Reply #4 - 07/22/20 at 09:47:40

Aww, Hayull,, ya dont NEED a brake to stop,, all ya need is someone turning left across ya,, to hit..

I WAS gonna do an upgrade, but I decided to see if I could just start squeezin on the lever until th front tire chirped,, and it did and I let off before I fell.. Im not gonna be road racing, Ill never see brake fade from hitting too many corners dropping from high speeds,, Its not a bad brake,, as is,, IMO..

That said, it Would be nice if people wouldnt do things that made bad stuff happen so quickly that ya dont even have time to grab th brake,,

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Gary_in_NJ

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Re: Front Brake Upgrade
Reply #5 - 07/22/20 at 10:15:30

Justin,

The better the brakes, the wider the gap between "just slowin' down" and front brake lock. A locking brake is not an indication of adequate brake performance of how short a stop you can perform. Ideal braking performance happens "before" brake lock. When the front brake locks you go from being the operator of the vehicle to a passenger.

Your advice is borderline dangerous.

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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Front Brake Upgrade
Reply #6 - 07/22/20 at 11:22:15

I decided to see if I could just start squeezin on the lever until th front tire chirped,,

Im not stupid,, I know what a grabby brake is,,
Nothing I said indicated anythig less than a predictable addition of stopping power until the front tire CHIRPED, and my immediate release of the brake did what? Well,, it didnt drop me,,
So, I performed a Max Braking moment test,, and as far as Im concerned,, the oem Front brake is plenty good for riding on the street on this bike.

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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

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Dave YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 17802 Camp Springs, Kentucky Gender:	Re: Front Brake Upgrade Reply #7 - 07/22/20 at 14:52:28 If you can cut/weld/fabricate.......mounting an SV650 caliper onto the stock forks and disc makes for a whole lot of improvement. http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1506653047/11#11 Thanks to Tinypic......all my photos are gone.
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philthymike

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Re: Front Brake Upgrade
Reply #8 - 07/22/20 at 15:07:15

I'm happy with the dual brake setup using the ZL900 front end. Bike stops on a dime now and the better forks make the handling ideal.

I've since had several opportunities to ride on wet roads and glad to report there's no issues at all with brake control. No unintended lockups or sliding.

I've also practiced locking up both wheels at 50 mph and it's perfectly controllable. Takes longer to come to a stop obviously and road irregularities tend to cause squirrelly behavior but for the most part it's no sweat. If I ever panic and go into total lockup I can survive it.

Traffic blunders that used to have me staining my undies are only an annoyance now.
This bike needed this brake setup. Huge safety improvement IMO.

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Ruttly

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Re: Front Brake Upgrade
Reply #9 - 07/22/20 at 22:57:40

It’s about feel ! Can’t explain it ! The single piston caliper just doesn’t have enough pinch power , once it gets warm it’s all about fade. Now with the upgrade fade really isn’t an issue, cause it applies more than enough pinch power so the bike is slowed much faster. In turn you let off sooner allowing brake to cool & no need to get into the fade zone. Stock brake you squeeze harder with less results so you hold brake on longer causing more heat that causes more fade. I think even JOG will understand it explained this way. Maybe a rider that never breaks the speed limit the stocker is barely acceptable, then there are other riders like myself who won’t be happy till we can break the speed of light or dark( that’s for you BOT ) require bigger better brakes so we can stop before we puncture a black hole and screw up the space/time continuum, my big word for the day !
So I approve the big brake upgrade , I may ride too fast at times but I do it with confidence knowing I can stop fast !

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philthymike

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Re: Front Brake Upgrade
Reply #10 - 07/23/20 at 05:58:19

On the interstate and highways around my neck of the woods the average speed is 80. I have no choice but to ride fast or get mowed down. At those speeds the stock brake is woefully inadequate and the only way to save yourself when cut off is to swerve onto a shoulder and risk a blowout.
Conversely when riding in the city with cagers aggressively changing lanes without looking and running red lights constantly you need to be able to stop instantaneous like while having to stop for a light every block. The brake fade factor is a serious problem then because the brakes never get to cool because constant use and low speeds.

It's probably best that Suzuki discontinued this bike. It wasn't designed for safety in modern traffic conditions.

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07 S40 (Thumpy): 666cc big bore, stage 2 webcam, dyna muffler, 412 shocks, Barnett clutch, Kawasaki ZL900 FE

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Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2625 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Front Brake Upgrade Reply #11 - 07/23/20 at 06:08:40 Here's how strongly I feel about the subject; ALL of my bikes have big brake kits, SS lines and are kept in perfect operating condition. I really don't care much about big horsepower numbers. But braking...I'll gladly spend ALL of my modification money on brakes. Brakes > Suspension > Comfort > Horsepower
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ohiomoto

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Re: Front Brake Upgrade
Reply #12 - 07/23/20 at 06:29:07

The stock brakes are just fine for my use.

I pretty much just ride bikes within the limits that they were designed or built. This bike is a crude'ish cruiser and it's performance it on par. My version of this bike is a 70's UJM and it's performance is on par with a 70's UJM. It handles well enough, it stops okay, it's not really all that comfortable (better that stock for me though) it's not really that fast, but it has personality and it's reliable so I'm happy with it. I like the melding of performance and personality as long as it's reliable and safe.

I'm not saying the upgrades don't make them better, I'm sure they do. If you want better performance, got for it!

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LANCER Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Savage Beast Performance Parts Posts: 10589 Oklahoma Gender:	Re: Front Brake Upgrade Reply #13 - 07/23/20 at 06:58:13 I like control on the road and better brakes improves that. I also just happen to like better performance that does not strain the engine. Yep
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