ebc 320mm rotor upgrade

[natey]

OEM brake rotor fried(read: serious warpage), squealing at every stop. Way too much high speed trailbraking on back road esses for that little disc. Anyway, got my 320mm ebc with conversion bracket , bolts. brake pads foe 219 dollar shipped.

now the fun begins: no directions included. That's great, a one time conversion, probably the only time, and no direction...the mystery begins. Removed the wheel and rotor........now i know what a warped rotor looks like. Wow! Whole center section is out of the plane of the rotor's braking surface.

Movin on......thought the bracket would merely attach to the present caliper, but noooo. After looking at it for a while and holding it up in every way i could, I resorted to our instant library and searched til i found pics and vids describing the process. No we got the idea.......split the bracket from the caliper and remove one pin and the rubber grommets and attach to the caliper.

That wasn't too bad. Now bolts issue.........thought that this was meant for the xr650l? did I get the wrong kit? One bolt is supposed to be longer for the top mount, but both bolts are the same. Bottom bolt works anyway.

Got it together and spin the wheel.......scrape, scrape, scrape. I noticed the shiny outer edge of the new rotor is too shiny. Started to mess around thinking maybe the oversize bracket was not lined up or off center.......trying not to disassemble again. Anyway, turns out that the OEM top brake clip was dragging across the outer edge of the rotor, removed it and crimped it down and replaced.......scrape, scrape still. Apart again and filed brake pad clip completely away. That cured that issue. The new pin bolt with the kit is obviously coated or a hair larger as it cut the threads complete with filings in the rotor like you would do with a tap.

Well, I may as well use it as the OEM will be now too loose. OK, no problem. That is, until i went to insert the little cover screw over the pin screw. Could only get two threads so it sticks out instead of going in flush. Oh well. leave it in and if it fall out, I guess we'll find out if it's worth having. Recommend not using the pin bolt.

Anyway, this 320mm is huge and looks like a serious upgrade. Hope to find that out today as it's supposed to get into the low 40s here today. will report later.

[Old Dog]

Can you post some pics? That way I can see how it compares to the one I had on my XRL. Btw, I had no problems with the mounting/caliper/bracket on mine ... everything bolted up correctly (bolts were the right size and no dragging). The only problem I had with mine is that it warped within a couple of months and I had to reinstall the stock rotor.

[natey]

Can you post some pics? That way I can see how it compares to the one I had on my XRL. Btw, I had no problems with the mounting/caliper/bracket on mine ... everything bolted up correctly (bolts were the right size and no dragging). The only problem I had with mine is that it warped within a couple of months and I had to reinstall the stock rotor.

Warped after a couple months? That's not what i want to hear.You must have had a different kit if all the bolts fit and it had directions. How long ago was this and what was the model number, brand, size, etc? I thought that the whole purpose of the flaoting disc, i.e., open space between the center section and outer brake surface was supposed to alleviate warpage.

[Old Dog]

Warped after a couple months? That's not what i want to hear.You must have had a different kit if all the bolts fit and it had directions. How long ago was this and what was the model number, brand, size, etc? I thought that the whole purpose of the flaoting disc, i.e., open space between the center section and outer brake surface was supposed to alleviate warpage.

The brand was EBC and it was two years ago ... can't remember if it came with instructions or not (I "think" it did). Even though it is a "floating" system, the actual outside working part of the rotor is even more susceptable to warpage because it's circumferance is bigger and the actual rotor doesn't have the strength of being all one solid piece. I think that the larger rotors are more designed towards a street/Sumo application than they are to a dirt one ... when I had it installed on my Sumo rim it worked well and stayed true the whole time, it was only after I moved it over to my dirt setup that it got warped.

[jjast]

I put one on a couple years ago and so far no warpage, I ride more dirt then street.

here is a link to my write up:

http://www.thumperta...l/page__hl__ebc

[natey]

I put one on a couple years ago and so far no warpage, I ride more dirt then street.

here is a link to my write up:

http://www.thumperta...l/page__hl__ebc

nice write up. When I searched, didn't come up with your thread. I don't know why. The number is SM6010C(came with Super Moto MXS185 sintered pads).

Rode them briefly yesterday and they work well in terms of one finger braking in the esses. I heard a strange high pitched whirring vibratory noise twice during high speed left lean with substantial trail braking. Startled me enough to divert my attention. Had earplugs jammed in but will ride today without them to repeat and maybe hear this noise better.

Since in installed a new e705 shinko, new pads and rotor, there are other possibilities. Wouldn't care if i knew the cause, so I'm going to check everything over before I ride and then try to find out the real way.

The other possibility I just thought of, maybe something to do with front wheel install procedure. Tightened axle bolt, then 4 axle holder nuts, but didn't drop off the jack to compress forks several time before this step. Skipped this step cause, which I usually do on the my other bike(superhawk). I don't know if it's really necessary with a coerce fork brace installed, but maybe should anyway? I'm gonna do it now anyway.

will report later.

[natey]

I don't ride much dirt other than an occasional fire trail. Mostly, I use the xr to extend my riding through the PA winters. With that background info, this rotor conversion is worthwhile if you like to ride esses like a sportbike. From the beginning, the OEM front brake was marginal for strafing the twisties, and so i upgraded to a SS line and this felt better. After 17,000 miles however, the oem rotor was sreaming like a crow on steroids at every stop. After sandblasting, pad changes, and squeal stop spray, it was time to move on. When I removed it this time, I discovered that it had warped into a concave shape, but was still working and quiet until approaching a stop. $219 got me a 320mm rotor plus pads and this has taken the xr's braking strength to a whole new dimension.

I took it out for the second ride today, about 75 miles, and this set-up works One finger braking, smooth, strong and predictable is how i would describe the performance and if you use your xr like I do and have a couple bones you can part with, by all means do it.

Now if they can withstand highspeed trail braking, for any length of time, I'll be satisfied. If they don't, I'll be sure to post it here.

[Old Dog]

I agree, a 320mm rotor and an SS line is a huge improvement over the stock rotor and brake line (both in dirt and on the street). I would have left it on there if it hadn't warped so bad that I could see it visually wiggling around while riding and looking down at the rotor and caliper. I have a second 320mm rotor that I'm going to put back on my Sumo wheel, but I'm a little leary because this one is marked "strictly for track use only" ... it has different float fasteners than the other 320mm rotor and the instructions say to replace them after each race/track day.

[natey]

I agree, a 320mm rotor and an SS line is a huge improvement over the stock rotor and brake line (both in dirt and on the street). I would have left it on there if it hadn't warped so bad that I could see it visually wiggling around while riding and looking down at the rotor and caliper. I have a second 320mm rotor that I'm going to put back on my Sumo wheel, but I'm a little leary because this one is marked "strictly for track use only" ... it has different float fasteners than the other 320mm rotor and the instructions say to replace them after each race/track day.

Maybe you should send that warped POS back to ebc and find out why you could beat the hell out of a little old OEM rotor with no fancy buttons for years and their's wouldn't hold up for a couple thous miles. Something surely has to be wrong with this particular rotor and they should at least owe you an explanation.

i don't ride dirt much so I could be mistaken, but it seems like this set up should be overkill for dirt.

As far as "track use only", I wouldn't be too worried about that considering your experience with the EBC meant for the street.