July 2003

    After a few too many track days, my brakes weren't working just the way I wanted. Mike at Edge Motorsports said the rotors were warped. (Bike rotors warp like paper plates, not like vinyl LP's.) I decided that I wanted cast iron rotors, instead of the more popular steel discs. Either way, I was getting full-floaters, just like the race bikes have. I tried to get them from Mallard Racing, but they weren't taking orders anymore. A Google search led me to RevLimiterRacing. Soon I had my rotors in the mail, unfortunately not it time for my July track day at VIR. 

    Anyway, here are the particulars of the install.

    The shop manual said I had to remove the fairing lowers and undercowl. I didn't think that was necessary, so I didn't. I did start off by removing both brake calipers. I used a piece of safety wire, looped around the lower triple-clamp,  to support the weight of the calipers. It's not a good idea to have the weight on your brake lines. Next I loosened the axle pinch bolts one side of the wheel. I guess I'm getting old, here's where I donned gloves to keep my hands clean.

removing caliper	caliper on wire	loosen one side

    With the other side still tight, I loosened the axle. Next I loosened the other pinch bolts and put the bike up on the front stand.

loosening axle	loosening pinch bolts	on stand

    I made a "workbench" out of a couple of tires to keep my rotors off the ground while I worked to remove the existing rotors.

off the bike	expensive bench	twist and shout

    The old rotors weighed 51 ounces each, as opposed to 45 for the new ones. I chose black carriers instead of gold ones to show off the green wheels more. While the wheel was off I decided to wash the fork legs and such. Unfortunately, I took the wheel of the bike while it was still in the garage, so I didn't want to bring the hose in to rinse. I used my son's squirt gun.

old (left) and new	naked wheel	hope my kids don't see me

    I had heard that waxing your wheels makes the brake dust easier to clean, and since I had the wheel off and the disks removed, now was the time to try. (The dust problem is especially severe for me because the Ninja has light green wheels and I'm using carbon-metallic pads.) Since the wheels are sand cast with only the rims polished, the surface is quite rough. Time will tell if waxing helps.

wax on, wax off	definitely cast

    I used a bristle brush to clean the old thread lock off the wheels and disk bolts. I wasn't anal about getting every last bit off, however. I applied new thread lock to the bolts and attached the new disks to the wheels.

cleaning wheels	and bolts	new locking agent

    Using a torque wrench, I tightened the bolts in place. As the cliché goes, installation was the reverse of removal. These disks came coated with black Kal-Guard over the entire surface. What doesn't get worn away by the pads will still have the coating to keep from rusting. I'm supposed to use the existing pads until the swept area of the rotors is clean, then put new ones in.

tighten up	looks good	hope they feel good

    I had no installation problems, other than these rotors seem to have more "offset" than the old ones, causing the brakes to drag a little. Since the pistons can (and have to) move in the calipers, it shouldn't be a problem, unless they're way off and the new pads won't allow any wiggle room. I'll monitor the situation. I haven't ridden much (~ 5 miles) on them yet, so I don't have much feedback to offer. I'll be at BeaveRun September 5 and 6, so I'll should have plenty to say then.