Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

My front wheel is Fireblade-fitment, which with Honda's standardisation means I've got a choice of a few different discs. Usually I use SP2 320mm discs but they're a wee bit overkill frankly, very very strong. So, I was thinking off going down to CBR600RR 310s when I found out that the 954 Blade had a 330mm disc- found one cheap on Ebay and decided to see what happens if I on;y use one...

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...cfromfront.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...scfromside.jpg

Obviously the caliper and mounts are all still there for the RHS disc, just with nothing to bite on. So it does look a bit silly. So first question folks, does it just look daft? Try and imagine it with no caliper etc.

The weight saving is quite solid- discs and caliper together is nearly 2 kilos, even with just the disc removed it's noticable on steering. The weight's moved out a little on the one larger disc though, and it's around 100 grams heavier.

Performance... Meh. It's very damp here so I can't exactly test it properly, but it has next to no initial bite. I quite like that, but there's a big loss of power. I actually expected a loss of feel, with the 18mm master cylinder now pushing half as much fluid, but it's not worked out like that. What remains to be seen is how much real power it loses- I've tried some hard stops on shellgrip, and it takes a lot more effort but it does stop pretty sharpish. If I could combine this gradual initial bite with more power as I brake harder it'd be lovely...

Anyway, just thought I would post this up as a work in progress, the weight reduction is pretty nice but I'm not sure it's worth it, I need to decide if I'm going to work with it- maybe with a different caliper or stronger pads- or if the looks are just too offputting :scratch:

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

Nah put the other disk back on. It looks like you have a 400. Also why the weight saving :?: You going racing :?: Get the other disk back on and have nice light braking.

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

I dont know if that looks right, but I think its because you have an S.

I reckon that'd look better on a Naked.

Oh and nice touch with the shelby stripes up the top box :cool:

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

Bingo... does look like a 400, that's exactly my first thought. I don't actually like the look, I was avoiding mentioning that though in case I steered anyone's thoughts that way! Usually I work on my mods til I'm happy with them before I do pics etc, but this one I'm really not sure about by which is why I'm doing that now.

You don't need to be racing to notice the weight difference though, just like with the wheel it makes steering and changes of direction easier- not so much faster, just less effort, sort of like longer bars do but without the drawbacks. Very nice for those "oh s**t moments".

I'm quite liking the reduced power in some ways, it's making me think that the setup I have normally isn't just powerful, it's too powerful... I need to be a wee bit careful with it, and it's not always much fun in the wet. Maybe I'm a wee bit too cautious of the power, not sure. This might be too far in the other direction. Or possibly, I just need to get used to it.

Fizzwheel, the box stripes are electric tape, just to give it a quality look to go with the mud and massive scratches in each side of the box :wink:

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

all i can see is your headlights?

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

Hmmmmmmm, really not a big fan of the look. Why not go for a couple of nice wavy jobs?

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

I like it, like a single sided swing arm.
Get the caliper off & get the rear to match :)

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

Tried that, I prefer boring round ones that look like brake discs ;) Actually, what I really like cosmetically is totally plain, undrilled discs, or slotted discs. But mostly they're ductile iron, which isn't very practical for a bike that sees winter.

Right, wee follow on performance wise, I had a play in a nice dry multistorey car park. It's not lacking in stop at all really, it'll still stoppy frinstance, but I needed an extra finger on the lever. So, I've shifted the entire master cylinder along the bar, which moves my hand position further away from the pivot and increases the leverage, and now it's back to 2 fingers. Still a lot less strong than the dual discs, but I need to ride about a bit more and decide if that's an issue.

I'm also managing to convince myself it doesn't look rubbish. Slowly. But I think it probably does :smt045

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

Oh yeah, there's no reason at all the disc couldn't go on the other side, other than that it's easier to access the left hand side in my garage as it's a bit pokey. That'd be a bit less obvious, but then if I'm looking for less obvious I suppose I'm admitting I don't like how it looks :scratch:

You know, for a £25 experiment this is using up an awful lot of brain.

Re: Seem to have mislaid a disc
 

I was expecting a thread about the government here with names & addresses...........................







I'll get my coat.

Seriously, I think on the looks front, it doesn't look right, but for weight saving & if there is no real drop in brake performance, then, why not?