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upgrading brakes

M

mellow yellow

Street Cruiser
hi, can someone tell me if changing over to steel brake lines will improve my braking or do I need to upgrade something else? thanks :)
 
Generally Stainless Steel lines improves lever feel and firm the lever some. But really does not shorten the stopping distance. From that point of view you will not stop any faster, but you might get less spongy lever and better feedback. Upgrade pads versus the stock pads are a worth while item in most opinions. With stock rotors EBC HH pads or Carbone Lorainne pads from Murphs are a nice upgrade. The best improvement comes from upgraded brake calipers. You can upgrade from the stock 2 pot calipers to 4 pot or 6 pot calipers. Both work equally as well. The 6 pots need longer brake lines due to the mounting position, where the 4 pots can stick with the stock brake lines. -- In order to do this you need the calipers off ebay / craigslist, etc AND some new brackets that mount the new calipers to our forks. The brackets used to be made by a COG member zrxmopar, but recently has not been making them due to moving. There is a guy in AUS making them, but I dont have a link off hand. The caliper brackets zrxmopar used to make were made to fit the stock 300mm rotors or 320mm rotors. 2 different brackets. Need to specify what rotor size when you ordered. Which brings us to the rotors. You can get 300mm rotors in the nicer wave / pedal rotor design. And you can get those in a larger 320mm rotor. In order to install the 320mm rotors you need to have new brackets that reposition your brake calipers. Whether it be stock calipers or 4/6 pots you need to have brackets that are designed to position calipers in the right location for 320mm. Step1. SS lines and upgrades pads is the general first step that many do. Many call it good here. Step2. 4 pot calipers. I mention 4 pots because you do not need longer lines. I have 6 pots and love them. If you ended up here, no worries. It ####ing awesome and worth the cost of new lines too. Step3. Wave Rotors. I mention calipers first and rotors second, because from those who have done both as a separate step, the calipers is where its at. I agree that both would be really cool. But stock rotors with 4 pots wins over stock calipers with 320mm wave rotors. And is probably cheaper to get into as well. Its generally so effective that most dont consider going for the upgraded rotors. Myself I have brackets for the 6 pots with stock 300mm rotors and 320mm rotors. I am sticking with the stock rotors until they wear out. At that time I will upgrade to 320mm. In the mean time no point in just spending the money to spend it. The calipers simply work so well. 320mm rotors and 4 pot calipers with HH pads and SS lines it about a cool as the Connie is gonna get.
 
thanks for the reply. will try the brakeline upgrade and if not completely satisfy and the fellow cog member starts making his brackets again, will consider performing the other upgrades that you mention. :)
 
I just put on HH Pads and I think the brakes feel mushier than before. I bled the lines, made sure there was plenty of DOT4. I do have an 01 and she's running the original brake lines which would be about 13 years now.

I think I'll upgrade the lines first. If that doesn't help, I'll put on new calipers.
 
Upgrading to Spiegler or Galfer lines definatly improves braking over what you have with 8+ year old factory lines...
it simply cannot be disputed; the nylon inner liners are actually stiffer, and have a smaller I.d., which will render higher caliper pressure naturally by reduction of distortion that the rubber lines currently exhibit... the pressure delivered by the master cylinder goes right to the pads, and isn't wasted "ballooning" the lines.
 
What makes me nervous is the distance I have to pull before I actually get brake response. I have it set 1, which is the farthest out setting for the brake lever. It's just too much movement before something happens. It's a safety issue at this point.
 
Sport Rider said:
Upgrade front end to ZRX1100 or 1200 and you get 6 piston calipers on each side.  WOW!  :great:
Click to expand...

Ill go the brake lines route first. If that doesn't improve things, I'm assuming I can use the same lines?
 
The steel lines should help with lever feel, not to mention they are overdue for replacement.  When you replaced the pads, how did they look?  Was one pad on the caliper worn more than the other?  Did you clean the pistons as well as clean and lube the caliper pins?  The pressure from the master cylinder not only has to apply pressure to the pads to slow down, but it needs to overcome friction in the pistons and the caliper pins.  Having these moving with minimal friction will help the feel at the lever, too, since less effort is needed.

You can also try the trick of using a clamp or bungee to hold the brake lever back overnight.  If the lever is firmer afterwards, it means you still had air in the system somewhere.

HTH,
 
Hazy,  for now tightly wrap a bungee around your front brake lever and let it sit over night.  You can sometimes get any residual air out of the system this way
 
secarob said:
Hazy,  for now tightly wrap a bungee around your front brake lever and let it sit over night.  You can sometimes get any residual air out of the system this way
Click to expand...

Hmm... I'm not familiar with this trick. Do I need to take the resevoir cover off as well? I'll do this tonight!
 
Hazy said:
Hmm... I'm not familiar with this trick. Do I need to take the resevoir cover off as well? I'll do this tonight!
Click to expand...

You can do it with or without the cover.

HTH,
 
That's what I love about this board. You all have ALL the answers!!!!  :great:  :beerchug:
 
Hazy,  the thought is with constant pressure in the system that any air bubbles will migrate "up" and back into the reservoir from the lines/calipers.  Another thing I like to do is after bleeding the lines i'll take the top off of the reservoir then down on the pad side push the piston/pad back in a little.

I have found that even when using a mighty-vac there will still be a little air left over in the lines and that pushing fluid backwards helps get rid of it
 
Hazy said:
What makes me nervous is the distance I have to pull before I actually get brake response. I have it set 1, which is the farthest out setting for the brake lever. It's just too much movement before something happens. It's a safety issue at this point.
Click to expand...

You may have to disassemble your brake calipers and clean the gunk off the pistons.  The calipers do not have a dust boot like an automotive caliper. The calipers on the zg (and 99% of modern bikes) have a dust seal (and the main seal further in the bore).  When new pads are installed without cleaning the pistons the dirt gets pushed passed the seals.. 
I was having the same symptom as you until I disassembled and cleaned the calipers. (I now have 320mm rotors with 4 pot calipers)
I personally hate ss braided lines.
rk.
 
secarob said:
Hazy,  for now tightly wrap a bungee around your front brake lever and let it sit over night.  You can sometimes get any residual air out of the system this way
Click to expand...

In following my age old motto... "Do the easy stuff first"... I zip tied the brake lever overnight. WHOLY MOLY!!!!!!!! The brakes feel better than when I first did the rebuild. I had the lever set to 1 (the farthest setting) before and was way mushy. Now they feel really good when I set the lever to 3 and feel nice and stiff.

Thanks Rob, I owe you lunch when we finally get to ride together. It's the least I can do for saving me $100.  :great: :beerchug: :motonoises:
 
I personally hate ss braided lines.
rk.
[/quote]

I put SS lines on almost every street bike I have onwed over the last 25 years.  I'm curious as to your objection to SS lines?    :eek:
 
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