Not sure which bike should get the Blue dot calipers....

[X-Ray]

my personal opinion, and to answer your question, is because they look cool.

+1, they do look nice on the bike. (I'm into nice things,  ). However, with the Project '92 sitting in my shed I will be rebuilding the standard calipers with the aforementioned EBC pads, and putting new brake lines on, that is the other thing to do as well. Braided or new std lines make a big difference.

[fj1289]

To add on to what a couple people have already said - the advantage of the blue-dots is the stiffness of the caliper.  The stiffer caliper should give better feedback and more braking power for the same lever pressure because more of the force should be directed to the brake rotor vice flexing the caliper.   I guess it is similar to steering inputs made on a flexible chassis with with worn suspension components vice a well made stiff chassis with sport tuned suspension.  Both may get you to work or thru the mountains, but one will behave better for you - especially the more you demand from it.  

[CutterBill]

Having tried every combination of M/C, brake line and pads on both types of calipers, my personal opinion, and to answer your question, is because they look cool.

Hey, that's a good reason!   

And I didn't know that the blue dots are a mono-block design.  Sure, they will be stiffer than split calipers but as Noel says, I doubt I could tell the difference in normal street riding.  Maybe you can.  Thanks for the info, all.
Bill

[Bones]

Somebody weighed the blue dots once against the standard calipers and turns out blue dots are also a bit lighter. That can only be a good thing.

[Steve_in_Florida]

There's another effect of "dots".

If you see an FJ on the road sportin' "dots" of some sort, it's probably a rider that hangs out HERE! (Or they bought the bike from someone who does...)



Steve

[the fan]

Aside from the monobloc and weight differences there is one additional difference in the 'blue dots'. The 2001 R6 monobloc and the 97 YZF600R monobloc which are the most common types are both asymmetrical designs meaning that there are two different sized pairs of pistons in the caliper. This will definitely alter the 'feel' of the system over the earlier FJ calipers which has the same sized pistons at all pots (shared with several other bikes including the 94-96 YZF600).

I happen to be both a dumb engineer as well as a dumb mechanic but unfortunately only have experience with the two calipers on my 94 YZF600.

My YZF was delivered with the same front calipers as the later model FJ's and a 5/8 master cylinder and rubber lines. I tried the following (not necessarily in this order...)

Mod step 1: clean stock calipers, new HH Pads, stock 5/8 master, rubber lines. Worked well but lacked modern feel and power.

Mod step 2: clean stock calipers, new HH Pads, stock 5/8 master, Steel Braided lines. Worked well but lacked modern power. feel comparable to modern bikes

Mod step 3: 2001 monobloc from R6, used stock 2001 R6 Pads, stock 5/8 master, Steel Braided lines. I felt this was a step back. Power was good (not great) but feel was very wooden, Might be OK for sane street riding but that was not what I was into

Mod step 4: 2001 monobloc from R6, used stock 2001 R6 Pads, 14mm master from R6, Steel Braided lines. Very Good feel and Power. Great for street some issues at track with fade

Mod step 5: 2001 monobloc from R6, Race Pads (ferodo HH and SBS dual Carbon, 14mm master from R6, Steel Braided lines. Great feel and Power. SBS pads requires some time to heat up prior to working well but neither set prone to fade except in the extreme circumstances

Mod step 6: 2001 monobloc from R6, Race Pads (SBS dual Carbon, 16mm radial master from R1, Steel Braided lines. Amazing feel and power, never experienced fade even in extreme circumstances,some of the best I have ever ridden. Compared very favorably to full race (brembo) systems on AMA DSB R6 and GSXR600

All of this was on a bike that was at least 100 lbs lighter than the FJ (435lbs with 2 gallons in the tank) and which had very good suspension. Of course I weight about 100 lbs more than the average FJ rider at the time.

[Tapartacus]

Changed mine to R6 blue dots a while back and well, I'm no engineer but I found the difference to be night and day. 14 mm master is a must. Now I can stop on a dime with 2 fingers! Although in a critical stopping situation this may not be ideal when panic sets in and you grab a fist full of break lever and find yourself over the handle bars. I suppose with practice and practice we must, this would be avoided.

Oh ya... and they look cool.  

Andrew

[Dads_FJ]

I purchased "dots" when I upgraded the front end on my '84 to a 17" wheel.  The forks I purchased came sans-calipers so purchasing loaded R1 (or whatever they were from) calipers was the cheapest route for me - and that included the R1 master because my old one needed attention anyway.

just my .02