I have two bikes with the Hayes HFX 9 brakes. They are quite possibly the worst disc brakes I've ever tried on a bike.
There is a company called Hope that makes 2, 4 and 6 piston monoblock calipers coupled with floating rotors for Downhill and Freeride bikes. They seem to be the current state of the art for MB brakes. When the cash is good, I intend to upgrade at least one of the bikes to the 6-piston HOPE setup in the front and 4-piston in the rear. -Sean
I am still on a Trek 1200 road bike. Had a composite 2100 but it got ripped off along with my Trek mountain bike when I lived in Fort Liquordale Fla. I am looking for a good mountain bike. Have a Harley dividend check to spend.
I e mailed Kawi off their web site to bring it to the USA back in Dec. The write ups in the UK mags had me ready to lay $ down. If enough of you e-mail them, possibly it will show up here. Since then I bought a Buell Lightning XB9S and am thrilled I did. Sorry Kawi you snooze you lose.
When it comes to a daily driven, all weather commuter bike, nothing beats shaft drive. I'll gladly give up a few HP to never have to lube, adjust, and clean up after a chain.
Naw, use an aluminum wheel but have a perimeter rotor bolted to each side. The heat would be spread out to the entire rotor so I don't think it would be a big problem. Heat must not be a biggy on the Buell perimeter rotor. Mostly I just want people to think outside the box so to speak. Disc brakes today are powerful but they don't seem to have a retractor mechanism designed into them so they always drag even after you let off the brake.
Japanese in-line fours are rediculously reliable. Earlier this year BIKE magazine (UK) did a test where they ran a Ninja 600 without any oil or coolant just to see how long it would last.
The exhaust glowed red hot at one point (they took some amazing pictures of the thing about to melt down in about four diffent ways).
It never completely failed. When they were done they filled it with fluids AND IT RAN.
So, yeah, Japanese fours are more common than empty beer cans in a frat house. But ya can't kill 'em.
Come to think of it, KPaul has a Ninja 600. Hey, dude, apparently checking the oil is optional.....
Why'd you decide to get the 9S instead of the 12S. I like Buells and just am curious. I'm actually seeing them once in awhile on the streets. Mostly 9's.
None of my (motorcycle) disc brakes have any pad or caliper contact to the rotor when the lever is released.
If your motorcycle is lightly dragging the pads on the rotor, you should shim the caliper so that that side doesn't contact. If it drags evenly on each side, you should rebuild the caliper, to get rid of the stiction in the pistons.
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