Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > My Trackbike + 6 pot brake conversion

[Iconic944ss]

Ok...its time to come clean, with the reason the unintellegent Ebay engine has been a bit busy of late.

I've also been desperately preping a bike (but sadly, not a DD machine...if only I'd of held out a few more months - oh well).

I've hinted at my little RF600 Suzuki in the past - but since its largely unremarkable (apart from a genuine 100 bhp at the back wheel ) - I've not bothered mentioning her too much.

Well - today was a bit of a disappointment as I was signed up to do a testing 1/2 day at a local motorsports park and they have had to cancel at the last minute, due to the paddock being resurfaced, end of diatribe.

I'm really chuffed with my 6 - pot conversion so I thought I'd write it up while I can still remember anything about it.

The std brakes on this bike were naff. Two piston sliding calipers, which I have not seen for sometime. Soon after buying the bike last year, it was obvious all was not well - so I bought a complete Tokico 6-pot setup complete with matching master cylinder from Ebay for £100.

Sadly, there was no way they would fit the bike and the only place I found to offer building conversion plates wanted £150 ish and were very busy at the time.....
(Pro-mac 01455 213233 - contact mick edwards, good guys very helpful).

I decided that I could do the job myself

Obviously I got there in the end but, little did I realise what I was taking on. The only smart move I made was to buy myself a digital micrometer from an autojumble, I really couldn't have done it without buying this super item..........

Oh....and an angle grinder.....

and a drill stand.....

and a huge slab of Aluminium !!! Get the idea.

So, how I decided to do it:
I'd split the calipers to overhaul them and since I had half a caliper to work with, I could hold the edge of the caliper above the center of the brake disc edge and that would tell me what distance (off-set) there was between the caliper mounting holes and the original mounting points on the fork legs.....

Still awake gentle readers ???

Of course there were complications I had to work around - new calipers needed 10mm bolts, originals were only 8mm.
So my plan of attack was to fabricate TWO plates - one to fit onto the new calipers - the second to bolt to the fork legs - then they could both be bolted together.

Ideally I was after some 13mm thick plate, which would of spaced the caliper out exactly from the outer edge of the fork mount, sadly this would of cost shed loads of money - but (yep, Ebay again) I found a sheet supplier that was selling 12.7mm high grade Aluminium - sorted.

Next - time to get busy with little pieces of cardboard and make some templates for the actual plates...may sound a little naff but as one wise biker once said 'measure twice, cut once' !!!

Apart from having to trim the caliper plates so that they would clear one of the body bolts, the hardest part was making sure the brake pads didnt hang off the edge of the disc and followed the profile of the disc correctly.

I didnt get this right at the first attempt and had to slightly "slot" a bottom mounting hole to make sure it was right.

Lessons learned:

Mounting bolts: I was recommended to use hi-tensile steel hardware with nyloc nuts where possible and this is what I have followed.

Be VERY, VERY, careful when using angle grinders !!!!!!!!

Thats about it really - dont think I'll ever attempt this on my Ducati, especially with only 40mm spacing what a nightmare (yes - I know Tokico make a 6-pot with 40mm spacing - at a price).

Piccies attached - first is the evil machine today! minus fairing, apart from fitting a Toby damper and a GSX-R seat rear all I've done is just standard service work and a through check over really (she now sounds MINT when fired up).

Second pic is the new 6-pots. Only the outer plate is visible and I've cut it down to look a bit fashionable - I was getting worried about weight until I realised its on the forks / front end and NOT the front wheel so, I'll try em first and see how I get on.......

Cant wait! - Cheers - Frank

[skidlids]

Good going Frank, I've lost count of the amount of brake conversions I have done. Never used only half a calliper before to do it, I usually use a complete one and sit it over the disc with a bit of suitable wire to give clearance. Then the carboard templates get made, followed by thin (about 2mm) aluminium sheet ones as these are easy to make with the guillotine at work along with the pillar drill and they are strong enough to be able to mount the calliper using nuts bolts and loads of washers as spacers. If all's well then the alloy plate gets marked up, cut in the bandsaw, cleaned up in the mill then holes drilled and if necessary taped to size.
when finished there is a nice feeling of achievement

[Iconic944ss]

Cheers - Kev,

Yep there really was blood, sweat but thankfully no tears !!!

Time will tell how good they are - SBK pads, goodrich hoses and the swines are proving difficult to bleed and get a 'solid' feel. I'm using one Russel speedbleed at the very end of the hoses and have a banjo with a nipple fitted at the handlebars as well.

I might need to angle the calipers a little to get the bleed nipple to the 'high point' maybe or perhaps its time to invest in a mity-vac or whatever.

Frank

[skidlids]

Its them bridged hoses, I find two hoses split at the mastercylinder the best, if you get air at the top of the bridge over the mudgaurd its awkward to get rid of

[Harv748]

Originally posted by Iconic944ss

Apart from having to trim the caliper plates so that they would clear one of the body bolts, the hardest part was making sure the brake pads didnt hang off the edge of the disc and followed the profile of the disc correctly.

Great effort Frank...is it just the angle of the dangle or on the second pic does it look like the caliper pistons don't follow the shape of the disc? It looks like certainly the bottom one is about halve off the disc area? Or is this before you adjusted them via the slot?

[Iconic944ss]

Cheers guys, I forgot about the 'bridge' I'd made with the hoses - but I remember a post saying this was the way to go and did the same on my Duke with good results. I'm waiting for another speedbleed to arrive, if that does not give good results I might resort to running single lines but, I've already paid for a double handlebar banjo with bleed nipple and it would pain me not to use it - lol - yes there must be some yorkshireman in me.

Harv - ta - the piccy was taken at an angle to the bike but, I see what you mean. Dont worry the pads are in FULL contact with the disc and use more of the disc than the original calipers ever did.

Now all I need to do is learn how to ride again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frank

[skidlids]

Originally posted by Iconic944ss
Now all I need to do is learn how to ride again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Frank

Easy just fit the stabilisers back on

[Ian900SLV]

Nice job Frank,
I did a similar job to mount some 4 pot tokicos to my RD350 LC2, all done with a jigsaw, file and emery plus loads of sweat and time ?????


The brakes are that good now, they will bend the forks

[Iconic944ss]

Nice.....I like the way you sculpted the plate around the piston housing, looks classy.

Frank

[ali]

Looking good Frank. Not sure about the colour, but it looks like those mounts are built like a brick ****house!

Have fun on your next track outing, and get some more billet on there soon.

Cheers,

Ali