t500 disc brakes question

[oldjapanesebikes]

Nice looking disk. Is that the one they developed for Hammie's Chromeageddon?

No idea at all Richard - in the product catalogue is does say they are stainless steel, but I would hope it would be a different alloy mix than on the originals. Not sure how to go about finding out.

[oldjapanesebikes]

Use modern aftermarket brake pads instead of old-tech NOS. EBC sells them.

Has anyone else had trouble with EBC pucks sticking in the calliper puck holder ?

Also worth considering are modern stainless brake lines instead of old-tech NOS.

Agreed - this probably makes the single biggest noticeable difference of anything you can do on these.

[oldjapanesebikes]

i have converted my 550 to dual disc using gs750 hydraulics and it is still a handful to slow down. katana rotors are the simplest cure.

We did a thread on this topic a while ago which can be found here. If folks have additional confirmed information (ideally with photos) for other models I could update the chart and repost it for use as a site resource.

[jabcb]

hows the performance of that caliper?

Tamadrmr26,
i don't think the caliper is the issue with poor braking. the material that the disc is made from is the problem. the stainless steel is greasy and even worse when wet. they came with a warning sticker to that effect.
i have converted my 550 to dual disc using gs750 hydraulics and it is still a handful to slow down. katana rotors are the simplest cure.

I switched the OEM brake lever on my GT750 to a power lever. Was pleasantly surprised with the improvement in level of effort required. But don't know if my results are common or just for those with similarly sized hands. If you are unhappy with the level of effort required for dry weather braking, then I suggest you give power levers a try. Are still available and are pretty cheap.

From a historical perspective from what I've read, the manufacturers first tried drilling/slots/grooves to address wet braking. Then found changes in brake pads provided substantial wet performance gains. Going with drilled GT/GS rotors and modern aftermarket pads will provide these benefits. Won't give you current state-of-art braking, but that's not what vintage bikes are about.

[jabcb]

Has anyone else had trouble with EBC pucks sticking in the calliper puck holder ?

Looked into what a GS forum had to say about brake pads. Figured that would provide some insight since early GS bikes would have the next generation of Suzuki brakes. Have the impression that they prefer the Versah pads over the EBC's.

The EBC FA55 & Versah VD-301 are both organic pads for the GTs. Looks like Versah also makes semi-metalic pads (SD-301) for the GTs, but they don't appear to be available in the US.

Anyone have more insight into this?

This site looks to favor Ferodo pads for vintage bikes: http://www.vintagebrake.com
Any thoughts on Ferodo as compared to the others?

[Coyote]

Looks like Versah also makes semi-metalic pads (SD-301) for the GTs, but they don't appear to be available in the US.

I have 2 sets of the Vesrah pads if anyone is interested. The number on the box is a Suzuki number 59100-18840. No ID of SD-301 but these are semi-metalic as you can see.

[advant63]

The above statement from titan is borne from the fact they have only been playing at bike professionals for ten minutes, and merely exist on plagiarism.

Pedro,
you're a dickhead. or in your native tongue, cock end. your post brings nothing to the thread.
i can't remember a post when you didn't boast of your bottomless knowledge and experience,
while taking a steamy crap on some other member.
feel free to pinch one off on me as i have no respect for any thing you say.

[tz375]

Pedro raises the interesting point that people have been putting better brakes on race bikes for years.

That classic Lockheed/Griemca/Brembo conversion is still popular in vintage racing because it works.

Modern 4 piston calipers won't generally fit on the old spoked wheels without a wide spacer and then the disks tend to hit the fork legs. Thare are exceptions of course. Some Brembo GoldLine GP Billet calipers will slip straight onto a stock disk and all they need are deep pockets and a fork leg adapter.

Single sided 2 piston calipers are quite easy to fit and are available from many 90's Jap bikes. I fitted SV650 calipers to a more or less stock GT750 front end with CBR600F3 disks shown on this blog:
http://pinkpossum.com/GT750/phattrakka2/p5brakes.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They don't need larger diameter disks though. A single modern disk and caliper will work better that two GT/GS disks with stock calipers and pads.

BTW Pedro, I know that Lockheed are the favorite race set up followed by Grimeca in the US because Lockheeds are hard to import and hardly anyone uses the P108 Brembo. Are there any significant differences between them on the track?

[tz375]

Hi Richard, no mate there is no significant difference in stopping performance between the calipers with the same discs fitted.
Usually its down to customers wallet, personally I prefer the lockheed but not for any tech reasons just availability and price I can get them for...............

Thanks Pedro. I do like the Lockheed caliper for a race bike but UK suppliers are not allowed by their insurance companies to ship them to the US. I did strip a Brembo P108 caliper and compared it to a Brembo Glod Line GP and the clamping area and bolt arrangements are almost identical, so I would expect the clamshells to be stiff enough - unlike say an old RD cast iron caliper which flexes.

[Tamadrmr26]

glad to see everyone's getting along. i will be using the stock calipers from the gt550. they will do fine for me since im not building a race bike. the link posted by "oldjapanesebikes"/Ian is great so thank you. on the other hand, pedro's post, about being able to do the conversion in the uk, was also very helpful to me...since i live in new york. the forum should be here to help people and discuss topics like this, not to randomly shoot someone down for sharing useful info.

[tz375]

Pedro, you don't happen to have an adapter to fit a Lockheed to a TZ350E by any chance or a Brembo P108 to that same bike?

[johnakay]

[quote="PEDRO I am up to my eyeballs at the mo.[/quote]
WHAT!NOT LIKE THIS!!!!!

[titan performance]

As you say Tamad....if it's a street bike you are building.....they'll do the job !

You can always make them look a little more sporty by polishing the calipers, and drilling the discs..

Paul Titan Performance.

[rbond]

So does this mean almost any GS rotor will drop in say a GT500 and with new pads work better? Any suggestions on which rotors?

[jabcb]

Also, which aftermarket pads work best with the GT rotors? Which is best for the GS rotors?