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Whoa Cubed

5K views 28 replies 6 participants last post by  ZedExMuse 
#1 · (Edited)
Back in August I went on my annual California, had a phenomenal trip for the most part. Two negatives occurred, 1) I developed heat stroke in a parking lot in Lassen Nat'l Park - suck! My hands/arms were shaking uncontrollably. But I dealt with it methodically. In trauma situations I get incredibly focused, I don't panic. There was a mountain creek near by, I was wearing gear for hot weather. I was able to rehydrate it - sat in the creek with my leathers on, soaked my helmet liner. It was a 103° day. A man and has family gave me 2½ litres of water with minerals/enzymes. Well, it all turned out well in the end.

But revelation number two was the braking system was woefully lacking. I was riding roads through the Sierra Nevada Mtns - these are BIG mtns! Low pass heights were 6K+ ft in elevation. Most of them were 8K-9K+ high! Then I went west and rode Hwy 1 (PCH) along the Pacific Ocean - some of the roads dropped off 100-300 ft with little chance of ever making it back up. A rider has to have total faith in your bike's braking.

And... I could not go that extra nth°. So, I came home pondering my options. I knew the first stop would be EDR Performance of Beaverton, OR. These dudes build dozens of race bikes & performance street bikes each month.They know what works. Thus, I started off with Gale Speed Variable lever Ratio Control master cylinder. Yes, over Brembo... this setup is true 1-2 finger stopping, smooth like crème brulé. Yummy; amazing; trust worthy. But... I just had to go with the complementary clutch perch with adjustable 32-34mm. Gawd, like bud-da.
 

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#10 ·
I use both; my initial step may be down shifting. I actually use the rear brake (only) to adjust my turn-in point by applying a wee bit (+/-) of rear brake because that will sharpen the apex of your cornering - not necessarily the corner's apex - making you turn in sooner, thus allowing you to wrangle the bike out of the corner earlier on the fat traction rich middle section of the tire.

The other thing I learnt from Troy Corser was to drag the front with one finger. This compresses the front forks, so whenever there's a corner that is bumpy at the entrance, one can negotiate the turn with far less drama.

And yes, there are those sphincter puckering moments on unfamiliar roads where one has potentially bit off more than they can chew during supralegal velocities... When one's guardian angel is working vastly too hard, and is grossly under paid, that you need a little help from friend, in the guise of a super fabulous master cylinder. Crisis (demise) is averted.:scared::eek:mg
 
#6 ·
Seems there is an on going issue with Brembo RCS m/c... needing to be rebuilt or even replaced on a semi-regular basis when used in moderate to severe situations. I know a number of members on the Aprilia (RSV4) Forum were especially critical. The dudes that tend to inhabit that particular board are usually are intelligent & savvy.

Thus, I went up to EDR Performance (≈ 50-mi N of where I live) to discuss the issue. To tour EDR's facility is nothing short of orgasmic! (EDR Performance). They build dozens of race/heavily modified street bikes a month. These katz know their shit! They echoed the issues with Brembo, and seconded the switch to Gale Speed.

In a vein of open honesty, I had previously used Gale Speed wheels on an R1 race bike, thus was a fan of their work. Their quality is absolutely second to none.

The buy-in is comparable to Brembo RCS m/c. So, though more costly than pair of anodize levers, they are not out of this world. If you seriously want/require the best in stopping, look no further. Give Anton at EDR Performance a call and get, a quote; tell him Mark with the ZX_6R sent you - he might make it a more attractive price than you might think.

To be honest I've also posted a thread on my new set of Brake Tech rotors: "The best damn SS rotors on the planet"

I've used Brake Tech on my last 2 race bikes, both R1s, and on my CBR 1000RR. I believe them to be the absolute best stainless steel brake rotors, period. Once you use them you won't want to settle for anything less. The bonus for me, is B.T. has just released a new line of full floating rear rotors. So, I received a nice deal from our own Hard Racing on the full set. Shoot them a PM if you are looking to up grade your brakes.
 

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#7 ·
Good to hear. If I'm ever in that area, I'd love to stop by EDR. Anyone that is into sport bikes and hasn't heard of EDR or seen the bikes they build is missing out on some serious bike porn. Sometimes I check out their site just to look at pictures of bikes :) Too bad they don't need any engineers :/....I'd totally move to Oregon for that! lol

What brake pads are you using with this combination of rotors and MC? I'm using the SBS dual-carbon, and I really like them so I don't plan on changing anytime soon...but brake pads are sort of like tires. To each their own. My initial thought, in order to keep costs down, was to just get a Brembo OEM MC off an R6. The problem with that is from what I've heard Brembos use a different thread pitch on the brake lines bolt than the stock Nissin, which would mean I would have to buy another adapter for my XT brake sensor for my data logger, and that's like $100 or so.
 
#8 ·
They've just moved in to a much bigger site, with a lot more room, but the garage part is still stuffed to the gills with over a dozen bikes waiting to be torn down; then there's a dozen that are in various phases of tear down; then there's a dozen that are on work benches in various phases of build up. The have a full engine room upstairs, and the dyno room is upstairs, too. Your brain just goes on overload. They have bikes from ⅔s of the lower 48 states in their work area - that's why I said it's orgasmic... If you're a moto-gearhead. And they are so friggin' nice and helpful. I needed a banjo bolt for two brake lines with a brake light sensor 'cuz Kawasaki's actuator is 90° off from what everyone else uses, so they were gonna drop ship it to me (no charge), what came was mostly correct, except it was still for a single Iine, so they told me to keep what I had and contacted the supplier for yet another and had the second one in two days (no charge). Do you think I'd ever do business with EDR - hell yeah... in a heartbeat.

I'm a Carbone Lorraine guy, but I have a full set of
SBS since I had both front and rear on hand from a previous bike that will slip in perfectly. I really like SBS on dry conditions, but I love C. L. in the wet. Yes, we're going to the wet months, but like I said, these were on hand, and their are limited suppliers of C. L., and though they are not as costly as my top choice, Vesrah (vesrah.com), which are the best pads, but Lordy, they come dear.
 
#9 ·
Like I said, people's choices on brake pads are the same as with tires :)...I've only used Vesrahs once and didn't care for them that much. They did the job fine, but didn't seem to last long. Similarly with the EBC EPFA and GPFA pads. I have almost a full season on the SBS pads so far and they still look like they have about 50% life left (all track riding that is).
 
#21 ·
I have an up date with this project, I have the rear rotor on. But to be honest, I have not tested it because we're having massive rain storms - thusly, the conditions are deplorable to be on a bike. I will give an assessment when things clear up a bit.

The 1st picture is showing heavy rain fall. This is around the clock. The last picture is showing backside of plate which has to have small relief area removed to clear buttons. Score another for the Dremel tool!
 

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#24 ·
Heat stroke is nothing to mess with. It takes a long time to get over it once you get into trouble with it. Electrolytes and minerals are essential. People die from heatstroke. Learning to recognize the early signs are important to get it under control. Glad you came out well. We take a yearly class on CPR and such. Good info that gives us the tools to save lives when presented with the opportunity.
 
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