What effectively improves front brakes?

what effectively improves front brakes.. eating less pies the night before

proper servicing is the best way (good, clean pads, good fluid) nice amount of grip on the tyre helps too


you wont get the same stopping power as a blade or gixxer but you shouldnt expect that on a budget bike, for me it stops me enough to lighten the back considerably and controlably so its enough.

a few people have put complete gixxer front ends on, they arnt "that" expensive and it deals with the break/ front suspention all at once

and for funs... (slightly related)

http://www.sv650.org/audiovisual/break-wheelie.mpe

just dont spend too much time/money on it or it kinda looses the point of buying a cheap bike

Originally Posted by lammypie

you wont get the same stopping power as a blade or gixxer but you shouldnt expect that on a budget bike, for me it stops me enough to lighten the back considerably and controlably so its enough.

Believe it or not just few years back sv was one of fastest stopping bikes. 4th best out of 76 bikes tested. Better than cbr's and gsxr's. Got beaten by triumph speed triple, vfr800 and r6. There are bunch of cruisers that stop better than gsxr's. . Don't judge it by looking at it, there is a lot to it besides brakes. And sv calipers are not that bad as people think. Just because there are no pistons on opposite side does not make it stop any worse than 4 pistons.

The std Sv brakes are great! But the three ways they can be (simply) improved as as have already been posted, Better pads, better fluid and braided lines.

And of course having them working right in the first place!

I'd also add that changing the discs to "racing discs" like EBC Pro lite will make them a lot better too. Its a coarser grain structure to the mtal so the pads have more to get hold of. EBC pro lites knocked 30 yards off my braking point on the GSXR 600.

and with the mods above I was braking the Bucket from flat out to a hairpin bend in 80 yards. = Bloody scary but possible. On the GSXR the braking point was 180 yards.

C

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Berlin

I'd also add that changing the discs to "racing discs" like EBC Pro lite will make them a lot better too. Its a coarser grain structure to the mtal so the pads have more to get hold of. EBC pro lites knocked 30 yards off my braking point on the GSXR 600.

I would second this but not practical on a road bike unless you intend to devote much time and attention to looking after them, they rust like a bugger very quickly in my experience.

I used the prolites with matching EBC pads on my dry race wheels and they are outstanding, far more bite and less prone to fade through a race. On wets I used standard discs, partly because the pro-lites were very expensive and I didnt want to buy an extra set unless I really needed to, but also because I wanted a less harsh brake feel when it was wet. Seemed to work well for me.

On the subject of braided lines, the other benefit I would add is that they are far less prone to degradation. The internal tubing lasts far longer than the 'rubber' hoses and of course in addition is protected by the outer braided sheathing.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by lammypie

just dont spend too much time/money on it or it kinda looses the point of buying a cheap bike

You do not want to know how much I have spent then

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

If yours are OK you may not be missing anything.

His bike is at least 8 years old, there is no chance those lines are OK. It is one thing in the manual that makes sense, they probably do need replacing every 3 years!

Originally Posted by zadar

And sv calipers are not that bad as people think. Just because there are no pistons on opposite side does not make it stop any worse than 4 pistons.

For me it is mostly feel why I don't like them, I could never get them feeling as nice as 4 pots.

Originally Posted by flymo

I would second this but not practical on a road bike unless you intend to devote much time and attention to looking after them, they rust like a bugger very quickly in my experience.

They are fine, just have to give them a kick every morning to break the rust off the pads! (and after stopping for a brew, or petrol, or traffic lights....)

[punyXpress]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

His bike is at least 8 years old, there is no chance those lines are OK. It is one thing in the manual that makes sense, they probably do need replacing every 3 years!

er . . . " Candy Blue '02 SV650S " are they original pipes?

[yorkie_chris]

Nobody anywhere in history of bikes has ever bothered to buy new rubber ones from suzuki except for them slightly p*ss scented concourse rivet counters. They are like 3x price of braided ones.

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Nobody anywhere in history of bikes has ever bothered to buy new rubber ones from suzuki except for them slightly p*ss scented concourse rivet counters. They are like 3x price of braided ones.

£42.50 for the hose from the M/C to the splitter
£53 to the calipers each

I'm sure they are original - they are black bubber and I have no paperwork otherwise to say they have been replaced. There are no bulges or anything I could see, but hmmmmmm!

I guess it cant hurt (except the wallet ) to get some new braided.

A friend of a friend of a friend apparently knows a friend of a friend that knows of a JCB place that will do briaded hoses any length dirt cheap. Time to get calling!