Front Brake Upgrades For '89 FJ1200?

[~JM~]

Which ones are the most desireable & what is the reason?

Thank you
~JM~

[rktmanfj]

Any of the monoblocs are pretty good, but some people prefer the ones without the external hard line.

There's nothing wrong with those, IMO.

IIRC, the gold dots are lighter than the rest.

[~JM~]

Is it just an esthetic issue?

These were the newest ones that I could find. The others were '02 or older. I just figured the newer the better.

Are they usually ready to bolt up, or should I pick up rebuild kits?

Thank you
~JM~

[rktmanfj]

Is it just an esthetic issue?

These were the newest ones that I could find. The others were '02 or older. I just figured the newer the better.

Are they usually ready to bolt up, or should I pick up rebuild kits?

Thank you
~JM~

Some prefer the looks of the others better, some couldn't care less.



Again, from memory (surely someone will correct me if I remembered it wrong)... the one with the internal fluid passages are slightly stiffer and lighter, and the gold dots ones have lighter pistons than blue dots.

Any of them are pretty damned good.   

[aviationfred]

There are some minor differences in the R1, R6, YZF600R, FZ1, and FJR calipers. The axial calipers from all of the stated models will work. IMO, any of these, (Blue, Gold, Silver, Blue with silver center and a tube) will be an improvement over the OEM FJ brake calipers.

As far as rebuilding the pistons. For piece of mind, do it before you install on the bike.

I have R1 Blue dots on my white/Silver 89' and R1 Gold dots on my 87'. For the 87' I got the Gold dots specifically to match the gold graphics. Both sets work great and I can not distinguish any breaking differences between the 2 bikes.

Fred

[~JM~]

I was looking for "Gold Dots" originally, but was unable to find any of the correct year range ('99-'06 correct?).

My '89 FJ is a Blue & Black model with the gold brakes & rotors. Figured the Gold Dots would match the rotors better.

Where is a good source for rebuild kits & what all is involved? Has anyone done a post on rebuilding their calipers?

Thank you
~JM~

[simi_ed]

Here's a set.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=200981550956

No affiliation ...

[~JM~]

Thanks for the heads up, but I already pulled the trigger on that other set-up.

So... It looks like the Blue Dots & the Gold Dots are from the same years. I wonder what was the differentiation between the models?

~JM~

[RichBaker]

Gold dots were on the Warrior muscle cruiser....  It has upside down forks and 17" front wheel with the gold dot calipers.

[rktmanfj]

Gold dots were on the Warrior muscle cruiser....  It has upside down forks and 17" front wheel with the gold dot calipers.

Some R1s also had gold dots.

[Harvy]

Gold dots were on the Warrior muscle cruiser....  It has upside down forks and 17" front wheel with the gold dot calipers.

Some R1s also had gold dots.

Yep....early 2003 models had axial and by mid 2003 they were replaced by radials......AFAIK.
I have the early 2003s on my FJ. I am lead to believe that the pistons are lighter than the blue dots (same size but aluminium v steel).

Harvy

[RobbieKNobbie]

I see a lot of talk about Blue Dots and Gold Dots for upgrading the late 1980's front brakes, what about "silver dots?"

I found this complete setup from a 2006, is this the same (functionally) as the Blue/Gold dotted calipers mentioned elsewhere?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/383059101411?fits=Model%3AFZ1&hash=item59301a06e3:g:weoAAOSwLmhdMje2

Right now my 89 has a completely stock setup with steel braided lines (installed by previous owner) and the front binders are, predictably, pretty sad. Are the steel braided lines transferrable, or did later models get smaller banjos or something?

Thanks guys, sorry 'bout resurrecting the zombie here

[RPM - Robert]

They are the same as blue/gold. Something to do with materials of the pistons? Pat knows this info. I think one are steel pistons and the other aluminum...

You should be able to use your braided lines that are on there. You might have to swap the left to right and vice versa, because of the angle on the ends.

[Millietant]

In terms of a rebuild kit, there's usually no need to go overboard, unless you can see the pistons are pitted. Just grab a seal kit, pop the pistons out, clean everything thoroughly and fit the new seals - no need to unscrew the "dots" - and fit new pads if they're needed, but don't waste your money if they're not.

With the cash saved from not getting the bits that aren't really necessary, stump up for a 2001-2005 FZ1 master cylinder, to match the calipers (or a FJR 1300 master, but these are rarer). IMHO, it's not really worth going for the "dot" calipers unless you're going for a matching master cylinder - the original FJ one "works", but doesn't give the real improvement you're looking for with the "dots". AND, you get can usually get the span adjustable lever with them.

And one more thing - don't worry about the colour, just paint the dots gold - I got blue dots and a bit of careful masking and spraying and "hey presto", they're gold. I've lost count of the number of times people have commented on my "gold" dot calipers 

[RobbieKNobbie]

Thanks for the insight!

Does the master cylinder in the set I linked to above (in the ebay auction) look like a good choice? I'm assuming its the matching OEM part for the FZ-1 so that *should* be a keeper? (then again the original master cylinders on the FJ were a 'matched set' too...)

I was expecting to replace the seals/springs/piston and clean them out no matter what - IIRC, I've never rebuilt a caliper in my life that needed new pistons, and if they turn out to be ~that~ bad, I assume I could just make a new set anyway, maybe aluminum. Has anyone done this already?