GS 850 caliper upgrade?

[Anonymous]

Anyone know of a bolt-on caliper upgrade for my 850? Or will I need to swap fork components, etc? All advice welcome :roll:

[Anonymous]

you have a 79 850, the only 850 that has the caliper that takes round pads.

later 850's take the rectangular pads.

these may be an improvement over what you have, i don't know...

[Anonymous]

1100GK, thanks, I didn't know that. OK, the biggest problem seems to be that the pad on the piston side tends to corrode into the fixed bracket over time, effectively seizing up and not contacting the rotor. Are the later calipers dual piston or are they still the pin slider type?

[bwringer]

The brakes found on the later GS850s (and 1000 and 1100) are a definite upgrade from the earlier brakes, but they are single piston.

I know someone a few months ago said they had done this upgrade and it was well worth the improved braking. I'm not entirely sure if the calipers will bolt to the earlier fork legs or if the later rotors will bolt up to the earlier wheel, but there's a good chance everything will bolt on.

You would need to get the whole braking system -- master cylinder, brake calipers and brackets, and vented rotors. Not to mention you'd want to pop for stainless brake lines if you don't have them already.

The brakes on a later GS don't have the sheer eye-popping power of the stoppers on a modern sportbike, but they are pretty close, expecially when you consider how much more a GS weighs.

[Anonymous]

I'm not entirely sure if the calipers will bolt to the earlier fork legs or if the later rotors will bolt up to the earlier wheel, but there's a good chance everything will bolt on.

You would need to get the whole braking system -- master cylinder, brake calipers and brackets, and vented rotors. Not to mention you'd want to pop for stainless brake lines if you don't have them already.

The brakes on a later GS don't have the sheer eye-popping power of the stoppers on a modern sportbike, but they are pretty close, expecially when you consider how much more a GS weighs.

the rectangular pad brakes on the later 850's are the same as the ones on 1000G's and 1100G's, standard and "L" models.

i know for certain that the newer calipers will bolt on any 1979 850, since the front fork holes are placed exactly the same.

the solid rotors will interchange with the slotted ones, no problem there.

the master cylinder is different on the 79 as opposed to the later models, round on the 79, rectangular later on.

don't know for sure whether it's necessary to replace master cylinder with the more recent rectangular one.

brake lines will interchange with no problem.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all; I'll be checking out the local M/C yard for these calipers and overhaul them rather than my old ones. (I did re and re the pads and free them up so I DO have brakes!!)