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Drilled brake rotor to fit 79 550 L?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kcorbin
  • Start date Start date
K

kcorbin

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I'm replacing my front fork seals and while I have the front end all apart I thought about picking up a stock cross-drilled front rotor from a slightly newer/larger GS on eBay but didn't know what models would be a drop-in replacement. How can I find this out?

It's a '79 GS 550L. Eventually I want do a dual-disk conversion, but that's waaaaaay down the road. I still need to replace my intake boots and o-rings...paint my tank/panels...get new handle bars...new windshield...etc...etc.:shock:


Many thanks!
 
There is no drilled disk available in stock at that size. The single disk models have a larger diameter disk.

I looked for a late 550 one but though drilled they "appear" to be the smaller diameter from my research (asking a seller a question on Ebay).

Rather than do a dual disk conversion I would look to creating a bracket to fit a twin pot Kawasaki zx (86 - 90 ish) or Honda Shadow or SV650 caliper to your single disk. Likely to be cheaper & more powerful! Any caliper without opposed pistons should be made to work.

Dan :)
 
Your '79 has the old style caliper with the round brake pads. The later style brakes, with the slotted rotor, use a different caliper that takes rectangular pads. I don't think the rotor interchanges but not sure. I do know the later rotors are thinner but beyond that, just speculation on my part.
 
Thanks for the great info!

Now I know; I have a more definite course of action now and am not even going to worry about the brakes for now. (well except for replacing the pads since one of them has a large chunk missing and the brake fluid is really brown/cloudy and...)

LOL, thanks again.
 
The rear rotors aren't thinner... and the fitting is the same. I think the later 550's used the rear thicker rotor with smaller diameter off the bigger bikes... just speculation though.

Dan :)
 
I'd replace the front end with a dual disk setup. On a light bike the result is dramatic. My 650 essentially has the brakes of an 1100, it really stops.

I went with SS brake lines, a new kit in the Master cylinder and new pads. I can lift the back wheel off the ground.
 
What are the diameter of your fork tubes? I have a "kit" I assembled to convert my 1978 GS 750 to dual-disc, it's listed in parts for sale. If your tubes are 35mm diameter, they should slip right into your triple-trees.
 
There is also a guy on Ebay that will drill your rotors after grinding them smooth at about $45 dollars each plus shipping (more for patterns with more holes). I haven't used him, but have seen positive comments on him from others in here.
 
duaneage said:
I'd replace the front end with a dual disk setup. On a light bike the result is dramatic. My 650 essentially has the brakes of an 1100, it really stops.

I went with SS brake lines, a new kit in the Master cylinder and new pads. I can lift the back wheel off the ground.
Click to expand...

Hi Duane, could you explain your setup in full please? Is it a complete front end off another bike or just discs and calipers and if so which ones.
Cheers. Don.
 
I've seen the guy on eBay and thought about having him do my rotors. $45 isn't bad, but I'm gonna see if there's anybody here in town that does that kind of work. There's several custom shops so I might be in luck. If I remember right, it's like at least $20 shipping as well for the eBay guy.

I'm thinking though that maybe with the new pads I'm putting on now, a new MC kit, some homemade SS brake lines, and drilling the big stock rotor and my braking will still be more than sufficient for my level of riding.

jknappsax, your kit setup looks awesome, but too rich for my blood right now (too many other parts to buy still). Thanks for the suggestion!

Suzuki_Don, the link to his stuff is here: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=123232


Hmm, although I'm having a hard time finding a MC rebuild kit for my particular year/model. Anybody have a good source?
 
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