Fork Brace/Bigger Brakes

[pt]

All USD converts stop reading now.

I have just purchased 6 pot calipers for my little gsxr600 and am wondering about the results of fitting them. they fit fine to the RWU forks, but i am wondering whether it will effect the handling at all to have the increased braking power. i know that RWU forks flex a little under braking, is that going to be increased with the extra force?

and finally, will a fork brace improve handling noticeably? if so how much do they usually cost?

[Tony OW31]

What sort of six piston calipers? are they like the ones that came standard on the '96 750? If so there probably wont be an increase in braking power, they where pretty much a fashion thing, 4 piston calipers did just as good a job.

[rod185651]

Hey Pete, I borrowed my mate's TRX on Sunday for the Ride out to Road Warriors. It has had a lot of work done on it suspension and brake wise. It has got R1 four pot calipers, full floating discs and the forks are braced. Have to say mate it was a pleasure to ride and I didn't experience any flex at all. Some say the brace just adds to the unsprung weight, but fucked if I know if this is true.

[miniman1]

Anyone know where can I get a fork brace for my TRX?????

[pt]

quote:Originally posted by Tony OW31

What sort of six piston calipers? are they like the ones that came standard on the '96 750? If so there probably wont be an increase in braking power, they where pretty much a fashion thing, 4 piston calipers did just as good a job.



yeah the ones that appeared on a heap of late 90s bikes pretty much right through until they went radial. tokico 6 pots. i rode a bike with them on an felt they were an improvement on mine. i reckon they might be a bit better with some decent pads, discs and braided lines.

anyway, you reckon there will be a negligible amount of extra flex?

anyone know about frok braces?

[Jockney Rebel]

pete i used to use fork braces on all my bikes.. way back when ...and they were a definate improvment [stopped the forks tryin to tie themselves in knots ]but ive only used em on old 70's and 80's stufflike me ZED and the RDs

[Fish]

The 6 pot tokico brakes are awesome. I've got them standard on my bandit with stock discs and braided lines and the stop a bugger load better than my gixxer with 4 pots, braided lines and wave rotors. can't say i've had anything to do with braces though, not even on my teeth. :D

[Tony OW31]

quote:Originally posted by Bitchfish

The 6 pot tokico brakes are awesome. I've got them standard on my bandit with stock discs and braided lines and the stop a bugger load better than my gixxer with 4 pots, braided lines and wave rotors. can't say i've had anything to do with braces though, not even on my teeth. :D

I thought they where crap on my gsxr750, and on my zrx1200. Changed the zrx ones over to cbr954 calipers and it was a huge improvement.

[Tony OW31]

quote:Originally posted by pt


quote:Originally posted by Tony OW31

What sort of six piston calipers? are they like the ones that came standard on the '96 750? If so there probably wont be an increase in braking power, they where pretty much a fashion thing, 4 piston calipers did just as good a job.



yeah the ones that appeared on a heap of late 90s bikes pretty much right through until they went radial. tokico 6 pots. i rode a bike with them on an felt they were an improvement on mine. i reckon they might be a bit better with some decent pads, discs and braided lines.

anyway, you reckon there will be a negligible amount of extra flex?

anyone know about frok braces?

I'll have to ask the wife about the frok brace[:p], but fork braces if not set up correctly can cause stiction in the forks, and increase unsprung weight. They where popular back in the seventies and eighties due to the usually small diameter front wheel spindle. They did nothing for fork flex as such, because the flex happened at a moment around the bottom of the bottom yoke. What a fork brace does is keeps the sliders moving in the same plane which is especially helpful to keep the suspension working when cornering. Most modern bikes, probably yours included have a wheel spindle that is strong enough to do this without a fork brace, so by fitting one all you would be doing was increasing the weight (unsprung weight which is even worse)

[pt]

yeah i was worried about the stiction thing. and i would say the forks are plenty strong enough to avoid the flex a fork brace addresses now i think about it. no fork brace it is!

i'm gonna put the calipers on and see how they feel, i did a bit of digging accross the net and the answer may lie in a different M/C. there were a few bikes that made them work and others that didnt. i'll see when i get them on!

cheers for the replies