Rotor turning/resurfacing in Colorado?

[rgoot01]

Yeah thats the problem with these forums sometimes. What I don't unterstand is how no one criticizes you or fredintoon for doing this. I would like to clarify to some that I did NOT say I was going to run rear brake only on XS, I stated that my KZ1000 had rear only. I am fully aware of loss in braking power with this set up but have been running like that for about two years now. Due to the fact I don't have full braking capabilities I have had to adapt to following distances in order to be certain I have adequate distance to stop. I was merely saying that even if I didn't get the rotors perfect, the braking power couldn't be any worse than a rear only set up, maybe unpredictable, but definately not any worse.

[frogdink]

We have a small machine shop here at the NAPA store and I resurfaced my rear rotor the other day on the flywheel grinder, it came out amazing. If anyone wants they can contact me for the address and I will do yours also. I am aware that you are probably not supposed to resurface these so I would have to have you agree that I have no liability, just to protect my self of coarse. Let me know. It would be $25. Thanks. -Joe

[Ivan]

The shame doesn't come from negative opinions, it comes from scraping a body off the pavement. Its especially shameful if someone dies because they are stupid.

I am not discriminatory in my criticism of stupidity. Hand grinding a brake disk or removing the main brake source due to looks falls under that category.

I was not aware that Fred runs no front brake, nor redneck. If that is the truth for either one, feel free to not ride with me whenever you like.

Using a hadgrinder or a dotco with a straightedge and a mic on your disk warrants that same invitation.

So anyone who says I am too negative can piss off. I am tired of seeing people go down because they were riding outside their abilities. Making the machinery less than safe only detracts from those abilities as a base line and makes absolutely no sense what so ever.

BTW, I am getting setup to buy a Turbo Porsche Powered Mooney, and I don't like the looks of that vertical stab or tose damn floopy looking ailerons. I think I will remove them when I do my Allison turbo prop conversion, cause, you know, looks are everything.

[rgoot01]

The shame doesn't come from negative opinions, it comes from scraping a body off the pavement. Its especially shameful if someone dies because they are stupid.

I am not discriminatory in my criticism of stupidity. Hand grinding a brake disk or removing the main brake source due to looks falls under that category.

I was not aware that Fred runs no front brake, nor redneck. If that is the truth for either one, feel free to not ride with me whenever you like.

Using a hadgrinder or a dotco with a straightedge and a mic on your disk warrants that same invitation.

So anyone who says I am too negative can piss off. I am tired of seeing people go down because they were riding outside their abilities. Making the machinery less than safe only detracts from those abilities as a base line and makes absolutely no sense what so ever.

BTW, I am getting setup to buy a Turbo Porsche Powered Mooney, and I don't like the looks of that vertical stab or tose damn floopy looking ailerons. I think I will remove them when I do my Allison turbo prop conversion, cause, you know, looks are everything.

I never said the other two guys were riding without front brakes. This discussion is on resurfacing the rotors not eliminating them. The rear brake only set up is mentioned by ME regarding my KZ. I was stating that with hand worked rotors the stopping power could not be any worse than running the REAR ONLY on MY KZ. Also, I DON"T RIDE OUTSIDE OF MY ABILITIES. This is not the first time I have ever ridden a bike. As far as scraping people of the roadways, I used to work for a recovery unit here in CO, for several years I was unfortunate enough to have to be the one to do the scraping. I have seen first hand the resuslt of ones stupidity and I can ssure you I don't plan on being another statistic.

[DGXSER]

You know, I have said it alot lately, from experience unfortunately. These machines are overpowered and under braked. The power did nto bite me, but the brakes did. Due to long stopping distance, I bit a guard rail and now my right leg tibia is half metal and attempting to grow back together. On top of that I cracked or broke 9 of my ribs on the right side, seven in two places, and my right collar bone is covered by a plate and screwed together.

So, if I get a little concerned with people doing anything to make these machines less safe than they are, it is because I hate to see anyone else go through this process of healing that takes two to three months if I am lucky. I'd rather I or someone else here offend someone or hurt their feelings than see them in my position or worse. Feelings can heal quickly, its strictly a mental decision. Bones however, do not heal any quicker no matter how you think about it. And if your less lucky than I am, well, healing may not enter into the discussion.

[fredintoon]

Now thats a nice rotor! Thats what I would like. I just want it cleaned up and drilled. The rotors I have are good to go, just want them drilled and cleaned up like that. Think I will drill them and then just clean up rust with coarse scotchbrite. I like bikerphils rotors with the 3/8 holes rather than 1/4. I was thinking of doing the same pattern,but doubling up on it. Are there any limits to number and size of holes I drill. Also anyone got other pics or variations of patterns.

Hi Robert,
you can drill 'em yourself. Minimum tooling is a bench drill & cobalt steel drill bits. Technique is heavy bit pressure, slow drill speed and lotsa coolant.
The swoopy spiral patterns look nice and that's how our XS650 & XS750 disks are drilled but almost any hole or slot pattern will work provided it's symmetrical enough not to unbalance the disk. Holes 3/8" or smaller actually add to the disk's surface area. I have seen a disk that had computer-milled slots in a pattern of an obscene nature cut through it, and I betcha that worked too.
But that was on a show bike. Segueing into show bikes vs bikes that are ridden on the roads, this string has become quite heated about the "rear brake only" thing.
Let me make my own position quite clear:-
A road-going bike should have all the brakes, suspension and fuel capacity that modern (OK, for the XS11, 30-year old) design can provide.
Show bikes are an art form and intended for display.
Someone actually riding one on the highway should be aware that he is taking real risks by doing so.

[Guy_b_g]

Maybe I was too hard on you in my last post...

Look at it this way, if a car pulls out from the right 100 yards in front of you and you are doing 60mph, you take those numbers I posted earlier and on a modern bike with both front and rear brakes, you have 1.75 seconds to see the obstruction and start braking, and you will stop at his door. On the same bike with no front brakes you have .125 seconds to make the same decision. If the guy pulls out at 289 feet or less and stops for traffic, (with only rear brakes) you hit him.

It has nothing to do with abilities, it's simple physics.

I don't care how good a rider you are, no way can you even guess if a driver has eye contact with you at 100 yards (or at 289 feet for that matter).

Giving up that safety margin for looks is foolish, period.

I hit an 82 year old lady when I was 18 and broke her leg, she had crossed the road in front of me and as I neared the crossing she suddenly decided that she had forgotten something and stepped back out into the street. I just clipped her and skidded about 6 feet past her. I would have given anything to have those 6 feet back at that moment. If all I had were rear brakes I probably would have killed her.

You have made your choice and I don't expect to change your mind about riding (any) bike with no front brake. I hope you never want that reaction time or those feet back, for your sake and the others you put at risk.

[rgoot01]

Topic of discussion is on rotor turning not brake elimination.

I DON'T PLAN ON REMOVING THE FRONT BRAKES FROM MY XS!! The topic of disscussion here is on resurfacing the rotor NOT elimiminating the front brakes. I have no intentions of removing my front brakes from the XS as I have done to my KZ. Whats happening here is that we are now on one and half pages of posts that do NOT pertain to resurfacing. So to anyone that wants to post whether or not a rear only setup is substantial, start another thread and go from there, but don't muck up my thread about something that doesn't even pertain to the topic of THIS discusstion. If you want to express your opinion on how stupid an idea like running a rear only on my KZ is than do it in the KZRider forum, not on the XS11 forum where I am clearly going to keep my front brakes on my XS.

[crazy steve]

I'll go back to my original post; DO NOT attempt to resurface these by hand. Your chances of maintaining > .006" runout and uniform thickness are near zero. Particularly the thickness; any variation here and you'll have a 'grabby' brake under heavy braking. While it may seem fine in 'normal' use, under emergency conditions is that when you want to find out you screwed up? When the wheel locks up?

Fred's the only one who could get away with doing this because he rides a sidecar. If his rear locks up, the hack will keep the rear end from coming around and he'll stay upright.

I'd even be leery of having them done at a machine shop, because even if done with care, any deflection in the rotor while machining will introduce problems. And why spend the money when good used ones are all over EBay for about the same money or less? If it's all about appearance, the 'new' surface will quickly look like the old one if you ride the bike, so what's the point?

'78E original owner

[fredintoon]

Bodgin' takes skill

- - - Fred's the only one who could get away with doing this because he rides a sidecar. If his rear locks up, the hack will keep the rear end from coming around and he'll stay upright. - - -

Hi Steve,
FYI, the rear disk was on a 750 V4 Honda solo bike and the sanding disc on the angle grinder took off the chunks of friction-welded steel brake pad backing plate quite handily.
The technique was to leave the brake disk on the bike and slowly spin the back wheel with the sanding disc running on the brake disk surface.
And yes, I did run a dial gauge on the brake disk afterwards and it was true to better than your 0.006" limit.
My son could just about afford to buy new brake pads but a replacement brake disk was way beyond his means.
It's effin' amazing what can be made to work if you are too broke to buy new parts but know what you are doing.

[Guy_b_g]

I am glad you are planning to keep the front brakes on your XS11.

You asked for help with the resurfacing of your front brakes, and when someone differed with you (and other members) on the advisability of using hand tools on your rotors, you offered this as the minimum standard of what you expect from a braking system.

I appreciate everyones concern towards doing it myself,but I know how to use abrasive power tools, am confident in my abilities, and know that the results will still be better than running my chopped KZ1000 with nothing more than a rear 650 wheel and only braking be that of rear drum.

But we mucked up your inquiry? You didn't expect that to raise a few eyebrows and maybe elicit a response?

I was stating that with hand worked rotors the stopping power could not be any worse than running the REAR ONLY on MY KZ. Also, I DON"T RIDE OUTSIDE OF MY ABILITIES. This is not the first time I have ever ridden a bike.

If you don't want commentary on a public forum about such practices, then it would be better to leave such responses out of the discussion and relegate them to PMs to your like minded rear brake only enthusiasts.

Good luck with the front rotors.

[John]

All this brake discussion make me wonder...

Which brand of brake pads do you use? Castrol or Dunlop? What size...130 x 20w50?

[Guy_b_g]

Gee whiz, John...we already mucked up this thread enough without adding the dreaded tire viscosity stuff....LOL

[rgoot01]

Which brand of brake pads do you use? Castrol or Dunlop? What size...130 x 20w50?

Yeah real funny! HA,HA!

[rgoot01]

Hi Steve,
FYI, the rear disk was on a 750 V4 Honda solo bike and the sanding disc on the angle grinder took off the chunks of friction-welded steel brake pad backing plate quite handily.
The technique was to leave the brake disk on the bike and slowly spin the back wheel with the sanding disc running on the brake disk surface.
And yes, I did run a dial gauge on the brake disk afterwards and it was true to better than your 0.006" limit.
My son could just about afford to buy new brake pads but a replacement brake disk was way beyond his means.
It's effin' amazing what can be made to work if you are too broke to buy new parts but know what you are doing.

Thank you Fred!