noob brake question

[slow650]

Right now my bike has a single front rotor/caliper.

Would it be beneficial for me to get another front end setup with two rotors/calipers. I know I would need new forks,calipers,bmc and a wheel.

Would it be worth it or would the gains be marginal.

[spyug]

First off, welcome aboard. Secondly, when asking questions like this it is helpful if you give some details on your bike. I guess from your name it is a 650?

I can't speak specifically to your bike but I did do the same conversion to my Yammie XS650 which would be quite comparable. While I was planning it for mostly cosmetic reasons ( it is a street tracker moded bike and it looked more balanced to me) it worked out to have practical benefits.

With the correct parts including drilled rotors, high performance pads, stainless steel lines and a master cylinder from a two brake sport bike the braking is phenominal. Two finger stops are now the norm. Braking is almost effortless and I think I have been able to stop in about 1/2 the distance I had before.

I think the modification was good for me on that bike. You may or may not get the same results but if you have the time and money it can be a good and fairly easy project.

Let us know what you decide to do.

Good luck with the project.
Chers,
Spyug
For me I think it was

[Eli69]

you may not need a new wheel. if there is a plastic hub cover on the side without the disc it might be covering the bolt holes where a disc is mounted. check it out.

having two discs is definitely better. i have two gs1000's and one has a single disc. i have to really reef on it and still don't stop as quickly as the two disc bike.

[Steve]

you may not need a new wheel. if there is a plastic hub cover on the side without the disc it might be covering the bolt holes where a disc is mounted. check it out.

You might have to be careful if you explore this option. I have heard it said that the disks from the two-disk bikes are a different diameter than the single-disk bikes. If you use the same wheel, you might have to replace the disks, along with the forks and everything else. 8-[

.

[waterman]

As Steve states, you will have to replace rotors, single disk bikes are larger diameter. Good chance you can reuse wheel. Forks, calipers, hoses, master cylinder will need changed. This could be slightly problematic if you have an L model since you will most likely need to use E or G forks to get the double disk setup. The problem lies in that the L model uses leading type forks with the axle in front of the forks while the axles on a G fork are in line. This will slightly change trail and wheelbase, most likely quickening up steering.

Will your single brake lock up the wheel? If so, the only gain you will have is less lever pressure and different feel. Ultimately, braking is only a matter of stopping the spinning wheel, if both setups can do this, there is no physical gain. I have the same issue, my 650g will brake with two fingers, while the 550L uses a whole hand. Both stop fine, the difference is the feel.

If you need more brake bite, I would try vesrah pads and maybe a change to stainless brake hoses.

[chuckycheese]

I wouldn't.

I wouldn't even consider it. I'd get a different bike before I made all those changes and I don't think the additional stopping power would ever make any difference that you'd be forced to notice. Just my opinion.

[Eli69]

Originally Posted by Eli69 View Post
you may not need a new wheel. if there is a plastic hub cover on the side without the disc it might be covering the bolt holes where a disc is mounted. check it out.

You might have to be careful if you explore this option. I have heard it said that the disks from the two-disk bikes are a different diameter than the single-disk bikes. If you use the same wheel, you might have to replace the disks, along with the forks and everything else. 8-[

.

yep, the discs usually are a different diameter, but you can still use the same wheel if you can scrounge up the necessary calipers, discs, hoses and forks. it's easy when you've got a pile of bike parts in your garage. might be a bit expensive if you have to go looking for the stuff.