Brake Blues

[ribbert]

After several years of salivating over the prospect of better brakes I finally acquired and fitted my Blue Spots then set out for a few hundred k's of twisties.

I was disappointed!  To be generous, they are almost as good under normal use but at speed and constant use no where near my old brakes.

The difference is, my old calipers ('93 4 pots) have EBC HH pads, the Blue Spots have standard  pads, but not for long.

My point is, unless you're running the EBC pads (and yes, Randy sells them), your not getting the most from your upgrade.

While I'm sure the new brakes will be great when I replace the pads, I don't think the caliper upgrade (from OEM 4 pots) is as great as changing to better pads.

M/C upgrade, braided lines, EBC HH pads and OEM 4 pot calipers give you pretty good brakes if you want to save some money.

Noel

[yamaha fj rider]

I think Noel will have a different opinion after he replaces his pads.

Kurt

[1tinindian]

I swapped my entire stock 1991 front brakes out with a FZ1 m/c, Spiegler lines, R6 calipers and stock Yamaha R1 brake pads.
Night and day difference, most of which came from the calipers and m/c.

My stock calipers had EBC pads, and I was not impressed.

Obviously, your results did vary.

Leon

[fj11.5]

I had standard calipers with ss lines and 14mm master , didn't matter what pads I used or how much $ they were , they suckkkked compared to blue spots,

[yamaha fj rider]

The R1 calipers and braided lines made a big difference on my FJ. Don't brake pads have some break in and used pads have more?

Kurt

[JCainFJ]

Noel,

It sounds like the pads in your new blue spots are bad. The new EBC pads should help, but don't forget to clean your discs. When ever I change brake pad type I also remove the discs and glass bead the friction area of the discs, Doing so removes any contamination (and it sounds like your discs are contaminated now) and reestablishes uniform surface tension. The local racer boys bead blast every few race weekends. Good luck.

[markmartin]

Let us know if the EBC pads make a difference.
I'm kinda surprised that you didn't see a big improvement.

I made the swap all at once; blue spots, FZ1 master, and EBC pads from Randy.  The stock brakes I had before had been fitted with SS braided by the PO, so that's not a variable here.  Anyway, it was a night and day difference in brake performance.   Two fingers if you want to, and it is so much easier to cut off speed without causing the nose to dive as compared to  stock.

[SlowOldGuy]

The front brakes on my '85 are actually worse now with the monoblock calipers and the stock master cylinder.  The old stock 2-piston calipers have more piston area than the 4-piston monoblocks.  So, I lost pressure efficiency going to the monoblocks by retaining the 5/8 master cylinder.

For the record, I had GREAT stock brakes on my '85.  I think it may have been largely due to the Ferodo pads, they were very good.  Much better than any EBC pad I've ever used.  But, I haven't tried any HH pads yet.

I don't really mind, though, I'm not a big brake user.  The setup I currently have would work better with a 14mm master, but what I've got is plenty powerful (if lacking in modulation).  I'm just about to replace the "used" pads that came with the calipers when I installed them about 10 years ago.  I go through about 3 sets of rear pads for every front set.

DavidR.