Calling Retired Gentleman - Brembo Upgrade Questions

Downeaster

Everything in XS
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I had occasion to ride my daughter's Ninja the other day and was reminded what real brakes feel like. Wooooo! :)

So now I'm thinking my next upgrade to my '79 will be brakes.

Search function brought up your bike that appears to use stock discs with Brembo calipers.

Couple of questions:

1. Is it really that straight-forward? Brembo pots, custom mounts and maybe master cylinders? No machining special spacers or wheel hub mods or special discs?

2. Roughly what should I expect to spend to do this?

3. Sources?

Thanks,
Another Old Retired Fart.
 
Hi DE, what ever you do, don't go with the original twin disc setup that some XS models were released with as you receive minimal extra braking for a whole lot of extra hardware and weight. I know as I went this way and am regretting it now. RG's setup is far better and MMM at 650central offers a lot better options.
I haven't done the exercises so haven't done the sums but will be following this post to see your results.
 
Yeah, I'd already nixed the idea of dual disc. Unsprung weight and all that.

More surfing indicates that Dan @ Pandemonium has a kit with the necessary bracket, spacer and hardware, which will simplify things.

Probably should drill the disc too, if for no other reason than that it looks cool!
 
good morning DE
I used the Pandamonium brembo kit for the front and I have the template that RG gave me for the back :thumbsup::thumbsup:
You can use the stock disks on front and rear there will a spacer needed to move the disk and a bracket for the caliper. the mod isn't hard I did every thing in my garage with drill press hand files for the Pandamonium kit. It will take bit more for the rear
 
I don't have the skills/equipment to make the spacer and mounting adapter, so I'll get the kit for that.

I printed out the spiral pattern and center-punched it onto my spare front rotor. I'm drilling on it now. Just taking a break to let things cool down.
 
Downeaster,

I just installed MikesXS Part #08-0255 master cylinder with a single Speigler SS brake line and that really made the stock caliper work. You might want to try that first being as you will want to replace the MC and brake line anyway.
 
Downeaster,

I just installed MikesXS Part #08-0255 master cylinder with a single Speigler SS brake line and that really made the stock caliper work. You might want to try that first being as you will want to replace the MC and brake line anyway.

Thanks, Pete. I'll add that to the list of options I'm contemplating/researching.
 
I had occasion to ride my daughter's Ninja the other day and was reminded what real brakes feel like. Wooooo! :)

So now I'm thinking my next upgrade to my '79 will be brakes.

Search function brought up your bike that appears to use stock discs with Brembo calipers.

Couple of questions:

1. Is it really that straight-forward? Brembo pots, custom mounts and maybe master cylinders? No machining special spacers or wheel hub mods or special discs?

2. Roughly what should I expect to spend to do this?

3. Sources?

Thanks,
Another Old Retired Fart.

Yes, it really is quite simple. I made up my own adapter plate from 3/8" aluminum, but you could buy the kit you mentioned. My album on this site shows more details of the adapter plates. I enjoy making things, which is probably why I made my own. Well, it is cheaper, as it only cost me $10.00 CAD for the aluminum used for the front caliper.

Correct, no special spacers along as you move the stock disc from the right side over to the left side. If you wanted to keep the stock disc on the right side, you have to use some type of spacer for the disc or the caliper mounting. I did have to do some minor machining....................the throat of the caliper is designed for thinner discs, so you need to grind away some material to allow for our thicker discs. The grinding is easy an take only a few minutes.

The 65 mm mounting, Brembo 4 piston caliper is a natural fit to our bikes. When mounting, you will likely have to use 1 or more shim washers to get the perfect
alinement. I used 1 shim washer.

The stock 14 mm M/C is too strong for the Brembo. It will work, but because the Brembo 4 piston calipers are so powerful, its too easy to lock up the front brake and cause skidding etc. I replaced the stock M/C with a 12 mm M/C and it works very well.
This gives much better modulation of the front brake.

A minor problem area. The Brembo calipers come with semi-metalic pads which give amazing braking , but they really wear the stock discs on our bikes. I changed over to Galfer "green" Kevlar organic pads. They still give excellent braking, but they are more gentle on the stock discs.

I bought the Brembo calipers from www.gothamcycles.com. They only sell them in pairs, so that's what I bought, assuming I would sell the left one. However, once I had them, I found that the left caliper was an easy fit to my front wheel, and the right one was an easy fit to the rear wheel. I paid $149.99 USD for the pair, back in 2011, but I see now that they are $199.99/pair. These prices are for used calipers. Shipping cost is extra.

Perhaps you can find a single caliper on Ebay if you shop around.

Its a considerable improvement in braking. It reminds me of when cars changed over from manual brakes to power brakes. I could not go back to the stock brakes now.
 
Excellent! Thanks very much for the detailed explanation and the tip on the pads.

Assuming I go the Brembo route, I'll do just the front for now.

Need to start scrounging around for the caliper.
 
im building a 82 xs650, generally custom. i bought the bike from a friend which included Brembo calipers for the front(brakes came off a ducati monster), master cylinder,brake lever, and rotor to go with the brakes. im in a bit of a time crunch to get this bike built and on the road and out of the shop of the company i work for. im running 12" ape hangers with a 2'' spacer in the forks. im looking for suggestions and references in purchasin the right brake cable for the bike.

much appreciated,
jeff
 
eagletoot, with the bars and master cylinder on the bike, the caliper on the forks, use a jack to lift the front of the bike off the ground.
Use a 3/8 inch hose, put one end at the master cylinder, route the hose down along the bars, behind the headlight to the caliper.
Mark the hose where it reaches the caliper.
Remove and measure. This is about now long the brake line need to be The banjo fitting are an 1 1/2 inches or so, You might need to subtract this much from the measurement.
Leo
 
Downeaster - If you do use the 4 Pot Goldline Caliper, consider getting the matching Brembo MC. You can buy it from places like Bevel Heaven online for example. I also have the PDF schematics of the GoldLine somewhere i can upload if you need them. It shows all the offsets which can be handy if you need spacers made in the case of aftermarket rotors or you are doing something weird.

If you go the pandemonium kit route, all the info is there and no more machining required other than a small mod to the caliper.

I bought my caliper NOS from Ebay italy for about less than 100us.
 
Thanks again everyone for the input.

Looks like this will be an over-winter project. For right now I've drilled the front rotor and am waiting on some new pads. I suspect the pads on it are the originals...
 
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