Time for brakes!

[great white]

I wanted to match the clutch lever/master to the new brake master. So I found an FJR clutch master going cheap. But there was a catch:



Bent lever. No other damage apparent. Classic "bike fell over" type of lever damage. I'm good with it though, a bent lever gets me a cheap purchase price.

So, with some patience and a little heat:



Good as new!

And most importantly; cheap!



The clutch switch was another problem. The FJR uses a different switch with a different plug in. A quick test with the meter shows which two of the fjr's pins give the clutch signal the FJ is looking for. Then I simply saw off the plastic surrounding the pins, solder on a couple blades and the FJ harness plugs right in.

Good to go!

Lol!

[Tuned forks]

The bent lever had a kinda cool curl to it.

Joe

[T Legg]

The bent lever had a kinda cool curl to it.

Joe

When I was a kid all of my dirt bikes had that style of handle.

[Millietant]

Hey GW - spotted these on eBay

This first one doesn't seem like a bad buy, even at the Buy it Now price !

https://www.ebay.com/itm/01-05-YAMAHA-FZ1-Rear-Brake-Caliper/163498455550?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D6f05cb32e577494e876ac00d28e07a41%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D323679416280%26itm%3D163498455550&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-YAMAHA-FZ1-FZ-1000-FAZER-REAR-BRAKES-CALIPER-MASTER-01-02-03-04-05-3/323679416280?hash=item4b5ccbefd8:g:br8AAOSw7MNcV1NA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2001-Yamaha-FZS1-FZ1-FZ-1-FZS1000-1000-Fazer-Rear-Disk-Brake-Caliper-Bracket-01/192848660665?hash=item2ce6ad08b9

There are quite a few available in the USA - must be worth putting a bid on one of them

Yep, I seen them. The thing is, after exchange and shipping, even the $33 one is going to cost me close to $100.

Or I can take a little time and modify what I have here already and not have to put out any cash other than a bit of welding wire...

Shipping costs over there are something I can't fathom - I bought a pair of brake discs from China and their shipping charge to the UK was only $20 (Canadian).

But, if you have the toys, why not use them 

[great white]

Hey GW - spotted these on eBay

This first one doesn't seem like a bad buy, even at the Buy it Now price !

https://www.ebay.com/itm/01-05-YAMAHA-FZ1-Rear-Brake-Caliper/163498455550?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D6f05cb32e577494e876ac00d28e07a41%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D323679416280%26itm%3D163498455550&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-YAMAHA-FZ1-FZ-1000-FAZER-REAR-BRAKES-CALIPER-MASTER-01-02-03-04-05-3/323679416280?hash=item4b5ccbefd8:g:br8AAOSw7MNcV1NA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2001-Yamaha-FZS1-FZ1-FZ-1-FZS1000-1000-Fazer-Rear-Disk-Brake-Caliper-Bracket-01/192848660665?hash=item2ce6ad08b9

There are quite a few available in the USA - must be worth putting a bid on one of them

Yep, I seen them. The thing is, after exchange and shipping, even the $33 one is going to cost me close to $100.

Or I can take a little time and modify what I have here already and not have to put out any cash other than a bit of welding wire...

Shipping costs over there are something I can't fathom - I bought a pair of brake discs from China and their shipping charge to the UK was only $20 (Canadian).

But, if you have the toys, why not use them 

A lot of the problem is the exchange rate. Anything out of the states and the shipping charges are in usd. At roughly 70 cents on the dollar, it gets expensive pretty fast.

I don't even want to think a out GBP.....

[Millietant]

Hey, with the low exchange rate, now's a good time for you to buy things from the UK  (except that everything is far more expensive here anyway than it is over there, regardless of the exchange rate).

Regarding the back brake, just wondered if you'd come across Marc Rittner's work on his FJ - he's fitted a R1 caliper to a FZ1 mount on his Thunderace rear wheel/swinging arm conversion.

http://www.fjmods.co.uk/MarcRittner3.htm

Marc's a first rate bike tinkerer - he's active and well known on a few forums and also one of the members of the team that's broken the 200mph barrier on an Aprilia RSV Mille ("The Punisher").

[great white]

Hey, with the low exchange rate, now's a good time for you to buy things from the UK  (except that everything is far more expensive here anyway than it is over there, regardless of the exchange rate).

Regarding the back brake, just wondered if you'd come across Marc Rittner's work on his FJ - he's fitted a R1 caliper to a FZ1 mount on his Thunderace rear wheel/swinging arm conversion.

http://www.fjmods.co.uk/MarcRittner3.htm

Marc's a first rate bike tinkerer - he's active and well known on a few forums and also one of the members of the team that's broken the 200mph barrier on an Aprilia RSV Mille ("The Punisher").

Still too crazy to buy in the uk. I used to make a trip there once a year for work and would bring stuff back in my luggage. Always got a weird look at the airport when they would pull out a CBX750 headlight or a set of nc24 rotors...

I have seen that page. Problem is the R1 bracket isn't long enough for the fzr1000 rotor. So it's buy an fz1 caliper to fit the fz1 bracket, modify the fz/r1 bracket or buy an r1 rotor.

Least expensive of those options is modify the FZ1 bracket to carry the R1 caliper.....

[Millietant]

Hey, with the low exchange rate, now's a good time for you to buy things from the UK  (except that everything is far more expensive here anyway than it is over there, regardless of the exchange rate).

Regarding the back brake, just wondered if you'd come across Marc Rittner's work on his FJ - he's fitted a R1 caliper to a FZ1 mount on his Thunderace rear wheel/swinging arm conversion.

http://www.fjmods.co.uk/MarcRittner3.htm

Marc's a first rate bike tinkerer - he's active and well known on a few forums and also one of the members of the team that's broken the 200mph barrier on an Aprilia RSV Mille ("The Punisher").

Still too crazy to buy in the uk. I used to make a trip there once a year for work and would bring stuff back in my luggage. Always got a weird look at the airport when they would pull out a CBX750 headlight or a set of nc24 rotors...

I have seen that page. Problem is the R1 bracket isn't long enough for the fzr1000 rotor. So it's buy an fz1 caliper to fit the fz1 bracket, modify the fz/r1 bracket or buy an r1 rotor.

Least expensive of those options is modify the FZ1 bracket to carry the R1 caliper.....

Yeah, I'd guess there must a few different R1 calipers - from what Marc did, his R1 caliper fitted directly onto the FZ1 bracket - he just welded on the boss for the torque arm mounting (but I can see from your photo's that your R1 caliper is nowhere near fitting the FZ1 bracket).

Can't wait to see the finished set-up - I wish I had your equipment and skills, it would make tinkering a whole lot more enjoyable. I reckon I might live in the garage altogether 

[ribbert]

Unlike a lot of guys, I like a powerful rear brake. I learned to use it when racing when I was a pup and it's something I've always used on the street. I use it for everything from settling the chassis, to tightening a line to reducing braking distance. I'm used to a powerful rear brake and that's what I need for my riding style.

Have you considered just getting used to a different feel. Pretty much any other bike on the planet won't have a rear like the FJ, nothing has a rear brake like an FJ. But, you can only use so much and the harder you're braking the less you can use, to the point where the distance taken for a maximum rate stop with or without back brake becomes the same.

I have a standard FJ and one with a 600RR brake. Trail braking hard into a bumpy corner at speed with grippy pads and the brakes right up to temperature is scary stuff on a standard rear brake, breathing on the pedal is enough to lock the wheel up momentarily on a bump (which is one moment too many).

I find the smaller rotor has plenty of power but waaay better modulation. As with all brakes, the right pads help too.

Just a thought outside the mods box but I think I know the answer....

.....keep cutting, grinding and welding!

Noel

[Motofun]

The use of the rear brake at track speeds requires a very high level of skill.  I struggled quite a bit and eventually abandoned the technique on my GSXR 750R.  My new GSXR1000R has all the high tech gadgets so I might try again to understand how to do it effectively once the track season starts again.  For street riding at sane speeds it helps with stopping distance but again, practice is required.  Stomping on it in an emergency might not give you the results you want.
Just my opinion but I agree with not trying to significantly increase its effectiveness.  The last thing I want on the street is a sudden or graby rear brake.  Front brakes are a completely different story.  Properly set up with good pads (I like Vesrah RJLXX) I can modulate much better with my finger tips than my foot.

[great white]

Unlike a lot of guys, I like a powerful rear brake. I learned to use it when racing when I was a pup and it's something I've always used on the street. I use it for everything from settling the chassis, to tightening a line to reducing braking distance. I'm used to a powerful rear brake and that's what I need for my riding style.

Have you considered just getting used to a different feel. Pretty much any other bike on the planet won't have a rear like the FJ, nothing has a rear brake like an FJ. But, you can only use so much and the harder you're braking the less you can use, to the point where the distance taken for a maximum rate stop with or without back brake becomes the same.

I have a standard FJ and one with a 600RR brake. Trail braking hard into a bumpy corner at speed with grippy pads and the brakes right up to temperature is scary stuff on a standard rear brake, breathing on the pedal is enough to lock the wheel up momentarily on a bump (which is one moment too many).

I find the smaller rotor has plenty of power but waaay better modulation. As with all brakes, the right pads help too.

Just a thought outside the mods box but I think I know the answer....

.....keep cutting, grinding and welding!

Noel

It's all about what you're used to and how you use it.

I'm used to a powerful rear brake and know how to modulate one. It takes a light touch, but that's how my brain to foot interface is programmed. Where most guys would have the rear brake locked up and the arse end skittering around, I'm just motoring on by.

Same with the front brakes; I like them to come on hard and quick. Probably what most guys would consider "wooden" and immediate. I developed a touch for brakes like that a long time ago (30+ years ago or so). Even on bumpy or broken roads, I can modulate "fast" brakes. I probably can credit that to running on local beat up tracks when I was younger and racing. Well, I called it racing. My bro's back then would probably call it turning bikes into balls of scrap!

Turned out I was better at building them than racing them and eventually gave racing up to build/work on bikes for others and settled for street riding on twisty back country roads. Much safer, as opposed to me going 10/10ths at the track, which was probably more like 13/10ths the way I was going. Much less expensive than "wadding" a bike every weekend too! LOL!

I was the same with almost everything that required a light touch. Running aircraft hydraulic carts and pressurization rigs used to give a lot of guys fits trying to transition from "on to off" or creeping up to a very specific number, but the "feel" just came natural to me. Same with running fuel nozzle test rigs, oil analysis rigs, machining, etc...

I call myself a 90/10 emergency braker. I don't go over 90% braking on the front, to keep a bit in reserve. The other 10% comes from the rear brake, which I modulate easily. Without the rear brake, I'm leaving 10% on the table. Not to mention, if you're all on the front brake, you're in a bit of a pickle (chassis wise) if anything else happens and you need to change your maneuver. If I have to go into "my reserve" on the front brake, I'm auto-programmed to reduce the rear in that case, but then I'm commited to braking only and not much latitude for anything else should the situation change. I just don't think about modulating, it's automatic for me. Same for if the rear starts to "dance". My brain is just auto-programmed to do what it needs with the right foot to bring it back in line. Whether that means less brake, or more.

As previously mentioned, I also use the rear brake for things like settling the chassis in mid corner or straight line, as well as using it to tighten up a cornering line. As with stopping, it's auto-programmed into my brain after all these years. I feel the contact patch and react to what it needs to handle whatever "funk" is going on. I've even been known to tap the rear brake to regain traction on a spinning rear during a "drag race". Just a tap to allow the rubber to grab again, without having to let off the throttle. It's not an easy maneuver to get right, but it works for me.

Everyone likes something different because everyone needs something different. I like my brakes fast and touchy, where a light touch or two finger graze brings them on "right now". I guess mostly because I just have a "feel" for them and it's easy for me to modulate them right at the break over point.

I should also note that I don't ride track speeds on the street. That would just be foolish. I'm far too old and heal far too slowly these days to push much past 75-80%. But I still use the rear brake in all the above scenarios in street riding. Seems silly to me to leave capability on the table, no matter how fast you are riding.

[great white]

Chop up one FZ1 rear brake bracket and one R1 bracket:



A little shaping and fitting and:



Tomorrow, V out the weld lines, weld it up and some finish shaping.

Good to go!

[great white]

Welded up:



Looks a little ugly right now. Thats fresh off the welding table. Still needs some cleanup and shaping. The front welds are about looks as much as strength, so I'll smooth those for appearance sake. The weld on the rear of the bracket I burned in hot and deep without thought to its appearance (ironically, it looks nicer than the welde on the front! Lol!). The rear weld penetrated nearly all the way through and will carry most of the structural loads, so I can afford to shave the front welds down and make it "pretty".



I had to space the wheel to the LH a little bit when doing final alignments and lost the caliper center:



Its off roughly a mm. Its close enough as is, but I may shave down the caliper bracket a MM to center the disc in the caliper. As it's an opposing piston caliper, technically I don't need to center the disc, but it will eat at me if I don't....

[ZOA NOM]

As expected, an elegant solution. Looking forward to the finished look. Well done.

[great white]

Oh no, what have I done to myself:



320MM rotors from an SP1. I knew I had a set hanging around,  but I ran across them while digging for something else and couldn't resist dropping them on the FJ wheel to have a look.

That would go on soooo easily with such a super simple and easy to make adapter. Then an adapter plate to move the calipers...hmmm, or maybe some radial 6 pots on "remanufactured" lowers .....