So being a beginner to sport bikes, and being the total anti-squid that I am, I have still been practicing in large open lots as well as large medium traffic parking lots (for stop and go/stop signs and low speed maneuvering practice). Anyway, I have not had the bike out of 3rd gear. There is a nice long stretch that allows me to accelerate rather nicely and provides plenty of room for me to brake sufficiently without doing a stoppie. I am becoming more and more confident with low speed stop sign first and second gear clutch and roll maneuvers. Yesterday, on the straight patch, I decided to practice juicing the throttle and fast up shifting and downshifting. I shifted first around 8k and second around 11k and cruised in third until I ran out of pavement and downshifted while revving to match the road/engine speed. I noticed that while braking rather firmly that the bike did not slow as fast as I would have liked. Let me give you some background on the bike first!

History: The bike is a 2001. I have no records of maintenance. The first owner purchased it in 2001 in South Dakota. 2nd owner purchased it in 2007 here in Arizona with 6500 miles on it. He did not ride it much and didn’t take too much care of it but I wouldn’t say that it had been Abused to the point of neglect. So needless to say the 2nd owner rode it 900 miles in 3 years which means it sat quite a bit. As soon as I purchased it I replaced both rims with brand new ones. Both tires with brand new PP’s. Brand new battery, fresh Mobile 1 MT-40 oil and K&N Oil filter, bleed both front and bake brakes thoroughly and replaced with fresh Galfer DOT4 and numerous other little tweaks like chain clean/degrease/adjust as well as bootleg slip on and air resonator delete. After the bleed and refill, the brake lever is nice and firm and the lever doesn’t depress more than 1/3 of the way. I just think the rubber lines may be eaten up from the long periods of time the bike has sat. When I flushed the old DOT 4 out it was like concentrated horse ****! Very dark yellow.

Ultimately this post is to ask what brake upgrades you guise suggest. Brakes are VERY important to me as I’m sure they are to many of you. After stopping from a fast acceleration like I did, I was not 100% happy with the result…

I am leaning towards Goodridge stainless braided brake lines seen here http://www.indysuperbike.com/custome...at=29215&page= and possibly a fresh set of stock OEM pads (necessary? They look to be ok?). I was initially leaning towards the Galfer kit seen here, http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1...lfer-ssbbl-atv
bc I love the company/products but I have read that their kits are somewhat not as nice as Goodridges. It seems Goodridges lines are of a smaller diameter as well for better/quicker/more consistent pressure.

Oh also....I know the install of the braided lines is rather straight forward...but a link to a step by step would be great!

Thanks guise!

 

I have the goodridge front lines on mine and love the lever feel... combined with some good pads (I'm partial to EBC), I get great braking. Couldn't be happier with the feel.

Only down side is the brake dust but I'm ok with that if it means better braking.

 

Thanks. Yes I would def. only do the fronts. Where did you buy the Goodridges from and how was the install? SO I assume there is more dust than normal with non-oem pads? I have read that the OEM pads are great, and to stick with them!

 

you could buy my 6 pot calipers and with a little fab. mount them to ur bike lol.. thatd give u all the stoppin power ude need haha..

 

I was gonna put them on my f4i but since i did the r1 fork swap im gonna use r1 calipers now....

ill let these go for $100

 

I orderd the goodridge lines, haven't gotten them in yet. I like the stock pads and get great milage out of them [28,000 miles on the first set, at 12k on the 2nd and their fine]. I'd replace your lines and leave the pads in there as they don't go bad over time. If the lines don't help then think about pads or a master cylinder swap.

 

Thanks bored-PLEASE post here and let me know how they work out! Ya I figured the pads are fine seeing as the bike only has 7700 miles on it. I read that not only are the Goodridges better than say a Galfer kit bc of the smaller diameter line, but also bc the Goodridges dont come with a T junction! I guess the T junction is not ideal and that each caliper should have its own designated line instead of T juctioning the two together. Where did you buy your Goodridges from? Also, a detailed write up of the install would help a noob like me out tremendously (yes I know its pretty straight forward but tips always help!) Thanks!

and Zmds...stop trying to sell my chit I dont need!! j/k man

 

Wouldn't yellow brake fluid be ok? I thought dark fluid was bad.

 

Stainless steel brake lines are a nice upgrade for the cost, but they will only go so far to improve braking. They will actually not do a whole lot for every day city riding. They will last longer and work better at high temperatures and regular use (as in like on the brakes constantly, like racing).

While it's possible that the rubber brake lines have degraded slightly over time, I think it's a bit more likely that you just don't realize the potential of your bike's brakes. No offense, but I have a hard time believing that someone who hasn't seen higher than third gear is braking as hard as the bike is possible. Not that I blame you - it takes a while to become comfortable and willing to push things (unless you're a squid, which you're not).

I'd recommend the brake lines if you have the money to spend. You certainly can't make things any worse adding them, they look nice, and they have benefits. If you really want to upgrade the brakes, you'll want to look into getting a better master cylinder.

 

Thanks Aken-From what I've read I agree that the money is money well spent should I have it to spend! My Brother had a 2000F4 and he said it was the best mod he ever did!

As for my noobiness and hard braking, you are correct that I have not taken it to its full braking power potential...I have though, gotten on them pretty hard coming down from a 13k rev in third ~70mph to a halt. Now obviously I'm not stupid enough to lock em up but I get on em pretty hard. I dont think I have air in my system as my brake feel is pretty tight...the bike just doesnt slow as fast as I'd like! I mean I'm not expecting or assuming the F4i has amazing brake power, I just thought it would slow a bit quicker that's all. I actually read your post and went out to charge the battery (meaning riding around in 1rst at 3k+ and I try to keep the rpm's up as much as possible so the stator charges the battery) so needless to say I got on her a few times and same feeling!

Heres a random question, I read that the earlier years 01/02/03 had "clunky" gearboxes. I can confirm this. Obviously everyone has that clunk down from N to first (which I love that feeling), and I can feel the smack from upshifting with medium or heavy throttle into second, but after that into third the upshift feels almost non-existent! I know I'm not missing the gear but rather it is soo much softer than first and second! Is this normal? (i.e that the higher gears seem to slip in easier)


And Kdub-brake fluid is a clearish yellow but mostly clear...the darker, the worse it is...just look in your MC window..that's your fluid!