1981 R80g/s shit front brake

charlie batty · Oct 1, 2022

Front brake on on the g/s is dire ... calipers were refurbed, new pads, new master cylinder, braded lines .... breaking is shit. ... aside from that and the suicidal side stand I love it.

I am aware of the Motobins/Motoworks upgrade of the bigger disc ... so 2 questions 1) is this worth it, is it a great improvement? 2) are there any other options?

Many thanks in advance :aidan

Charlie

cookie · Oct 1, 2022

Big disc with the original caliper or Harrisson 6-Pot on the original disc.

I had the 320mm disc on mine and although nothing like a modern brake, it was a lot better. I've ridden a friends G/S with the 6 pot, and was surprised how good that was. I did't think it would make much difference, but it did.

Pukmeister · Oct 1, 2022

Appreciate its now an old bike but are any improved compound pads available to fit the standard caliper? It can make a big difference.

(I once bought an R1 fitted with cheapo "Goldfren" front pads that were truly terrifying. Fitting a set of Bendix MRR fast road/trackday compound pads changed it to being capable of one-fingered stoppies.)

timeandtide · Oct 1, 2022

Duncan (Arkwright on here) always swore by Lucas TRW pads for airheads - do a search for exact spec.
Bigger disc in combination with them is vastly better!

tuftywhite · Oct 1, 2022

Get the big disc conversion. Works wonders. 2 finger braking.

SteveHop · Oct 1, 2022

I cleaned mine out , the disc and all the holes and the pads a couple of times as well.
Also fitted a new brake hose with the very small diameter and it seems to work ok now , not as good as a modern bike but ok.

batman1 · Oct 3, 2022

Definitely worth it!

Think of it like this, it seriously could save your life for much less than the price of a quality crash helmet!

You can remove it from your bike when you sell it and possibly get 70% of your money back.

It’s a no-brainier!

ChasF · Oct 3, 2022

Stardard set up with good metal sintered pad works well but still no substitute for a 320 mm disc or a 6 pot caliper.

King Rat · Oct 4, 2022

Why do you want brakes?

They only slow you down.

I hardly use mine, the engine is plenty retarding enough.

charlie batty · Oct 5, 2022

.....thanks for the comments...think I'll go for the big disc :thumb2

SteveHop · Oct 5, 2022

Just a question to those who have done the big disc conversion.
Having a improved brake/disc but only having one disk on one side of the wheel , does it cause the forks to "twist " to one side on heavy application ?
Just wondering ?

SteveHop · Oct 5, 2022

ChasF said:
Stardard set up with good metal sintered pad works well but still no substitute for a 320 mm disc or a 6 pot caliper.

I noticed the Germans refering to pads as - hot or cold ?

Think the cold must be organic ?

ChasF · Oct 5, 2022

SteveHop said:
Just a question to those who have done the big disc conversion.
Having a improved brake/disc but only having one disk on one side of the wheel , does it cause the forks to "twist " to one side on heavy application ?
Just wondering ?

There are several aftermarket fork braces which are intended to limit the effect. But yes, you can feel the twist under heavy braking, however, emergency stop type braking only generally happens in a straight line and the effect isn’t that serious anyway.

tuftywhite · Oct 6, 2022

I've not noticed any fork twisting under heavy braking. If I'm braking that hard, I'm probably going to be worried about something else.

I have the original fork brace on mine, so that probably helps, as Chas says.

Tbolt · Oct 6, 2022

Arkwright (RIP) put the large disc kit with a Flatracer lower fork brace and Skrunkwerks triple clamp on the G/S I bought from him.

https://www.flatracer.com/bmw-fork-brace-kits

http://skrunkwerks.com/skrunk/products/#triple-clamp

I am surprised the twin disc upgrade has not been mentioned yet. However, I am aware it is a far more complicated option than the bigger disc.

cookie · Oct 7, 2022

I had the 320mm disc and BMW fork brace on my G/S, and yes you could twist the feeble forks with application of the brake.

solidstate100 · Oct 14, 2022

Tbolt said:
I am surprised the twin disc upgrade has not been mentioned yet. However, I am aware it is a far more complicated option than the bigger disc.

It isnt really an upgrade. The bigger single disc has a greater effect. All the twin disc set up does is add very unwelcome unsprung weight, increase the lever pressure required and adds virtually nothing to the braking force.

barny · Oct 14, 2022

If you do need a new M/cylinder go for a smaller one for better feel.

SteveHop · Oct 15, 2022

Siebenrock do a Organic ,ceramic brake pads , for the original setup.
Im going to try a set of them.

1981 R80g/s shit front brake

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getting away with it so far!

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