Twinpot Brake upgrade on 78 Skunk

[Suzuki_Don]

Tapping new threads this weekend, Don, thanks to your advice. Both of my GS1000s have spoked wheels with hubs tapped on both sides for rotors; on one of them I had no trouble running the rotor bolts in all the way, and the Salty Monk conversion is underway, with the elderly Suzuki rotors soon to be replaced with less elderly F3 disks.

On the other wheel, for some curious reason, the bolts bottomed out after three or four turns. I've got a tap and some machine oil. All I need is a little time, and a jar or two of Steinlager to steady the nerves . . .

The Steinlager's good, but don't worry about the nerves. Follow my instructions and you will be good to go. Don't forget to look into the CBR900RR Fireblade rotors, they are a good option as well and only have to be drilled out to 8mm and then bolt straight on to the hub. But they need to be the 296mm rotors and not the 310mm ones. So if you go that way check with buyer before you purchase.

[salty_monk]

900RR rotors tend to be rarer & more expensive over here in either size.
Guess they didn't sell so many. They still need a spacer to work with the setup Jack has I think as the offset is still not right far as I can tell.

Dan

[jskellington]

Here's a photo of the twinpot mod, Salty style. Rebuilt the calipers, which were in good shape to begin with. New EBC brake pads and a Kawasaki ZX6 master cylinder combined with Russell steel-braided brake lines. Result after about 50 miles of driving: huge improvement in braking power and control at the lever.

I learned to ride my first heavy bike (a 1979 GS750) on the streets of San Francisco in the mid 1980s. My most frightening mistakes always involved coming downhill, typically with a passenger, and braking too late at intersections. The moral of the story is, of course, think ahead. And get some better brakes.

[Tom MLC]

Looks good Jack. I can't wait to finish up mine. Still waiting on those rotors...expecting them on Friday, and the parts order for the caliper re-build...no delivery date yet!?!

In the mean time I'm cleaning up the caliper bodies for their new pait job. Red is my favorite color!

Hey! I might take you up on that colortune party. I only have one plug so I have to do them individually. Do you also have the plugs for the GS1100/1150? Our friend Ken (jadesystem) might like to join us. And do you have a Carbtune syncronizer? I can bring mine to the party!

[salty_monk]

Looks good Jack. One of the things that prompted me to do this mod was how scary the stock brakes were (mine were in good condition with decent pads etc) coming downhill with the Mrs on the back.... I felt like I was at times approaching the limits of how much squeeze I could provide at the lever.

I guess if you're a much bigger guy than me maybe you would be able to put in my pressure but I'm not a complete weakling

Dan

[jskellington]

Yeah, I can remember a few times standing on the rear brake while bending the handlebars to get leverage on the front lever . . . I was younger and stupider then, that's for sure, but with loads of adrenaline on tap, which is probably the only reason I'm still walking.

Tom, I got the Carbtune and the "professional" Colortune, both fresh outta Dublin, UK. If memory serves, the four plugs are 14mm thread. Do the 1100/1150's have a different thread, or are the plugs more deeply recessed?

[jacora]

Just some pics of the latest on the skunk... Soon to be replicated by one Mr Tom MLC (no doubt in red!) & Mr JSkellington.

Dan

Dan, that's sincerely AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!
So, there's no need of four or six pots???
I have a GS1100E, which is your advice??

[salty_monk]

You *should* be able to run the exact same system but so far nobody has fitted it to the 1100.

If you want to be the first I will refund you (minus postage) if it doesn't work out. We measured the fork & it seems that everything is in the same place so I'm pretty confident it would work....

Dan

[Tom MLC]

Dan & Jacora (and anyone else lurking). The kit should fit the forks on the '83 GS1100 if it's the one with anti-dives. But it WILL NOT fit the '80/81 GS1100. The bolt spacing is about 1/4 inch wider on that one.

But wait! Dan, didn't you build the brackets with an oblong hole at one of the mount points? Hey, maybe it will fit after all. I'll hafta size it up on my 1100.

[salty_monk]

I built it with a little bit of additional "tolerance" as I wasn't sure how good Suzuki's was from year to year....

It might well fit or if not then you could maybe open it up a little more to make it fit. There should be no real forces in the up/down plane as the caliper is basically being pulled through the forks from the back (that's the force acting on it) so all the force is shear in the opposite plane pivoted around the top bolt if my thinking is correct.

Dan

[Tom MLC]

OHH MAN! I finally got my rotors! Can't remember when I've been so excited!

[imlost]

interested in this mod

salty monk you have pm

"To fit this swap.. you just need to get a kit from me, some CBR F3 Rotors & Some Kawasaki twinpot pistons."

[salty_monk]

You have one back... you need a lot more than that as you have a 550E. You need to upgrade to a dual front end first before you can do this.

If you are willing to mess around with making your own bracket you may be able to use a CBR 900RR Rotor & 1 Kawasaki twinpot caliper. That will give you a decent setup. It's been done before by "Suzuki-Don".

Dan

[Duke900]

Hi,

I have been searching for a brake upgrade solution for ages.

I have a Katana. It is was a 750 but is now 1135 and is standard other wise.

I am currently fitting wire rims:

18inch front 3.5 wide 120/70 tyre
17inch rear 5.0 wide 170/60 tyre

GS Hubs
GSXR sproket carrier to provide chain clearance
GPZ off set front sproket

So I would like to fit brakes which work... I have read quite a lot regarding this upgrade and are truly impressed with what you all have achived.

So I need the following

Kawasaki calipers, going with the later model 650R.
Honda 900RR rotors
mounting kit from Salty Monk

Can anyone see any issuies here?

[Nessism]

You might want to talk to Salty, or search on the various brake threads he has here to get an idea of which calipers you need. Same for the rotors, you need a specific diameter.

Good luck.