Thanks for the pics. That was of help.

Ok, yes, I am familiar with the "non-descript Tokico caliper" after rebuilding and using a few. Easy to work on and proved to be good. Yes, abit bubbly looking compared to the older nissins. I have zero experience with the older Nissins to base an opinion except that I was still outbraking a lot of GSXR's in the early 90's (Were they using Nissins?). That means nothing really on the Nissins qualities of course or availability for now except they have sharper edges and more screws.

Now (05 to present), I would give the nod to the newer radial Nissins and radial M/C's. Still easy to repair, offer adjustability/rebuildability at an affordable price. Maybe abit overkill for the eliminator 125cc and a 550 Zephyr, but still viable for the open class machines. How many brake specialists or race teams have you contacted with this same question? I am always willing to learn as well. lol

 

You mean The 900/1000 Eliminator! We're playing with the big boy, similar engine to the early ZX900 and the Concours 1000. These guys like to ride fairly fast and could use better brakes for some of them.

You are backing up what I'm learning from another rider in another forum when it comes to the plain Tokicos - they may not look trick, but they work well. He posted up a report that listed some actual specs for MC pistons, caliper piston sizes, and hand lever ratios. Like I said, my experience has been mainly twin piston single side calipers, both single and double disc. They work well, but I think there is better to be had for reasonable money.

I really like a strong set of brakes and would like better than the present twin piston pair on the 550. I tend to ride it fairly hard, part of the reason for not going bigger supersport - I like my license and my money in my pocket. So I do like a good set of anchors when playing a bit harder. I know I'll end up with four pistons if anything. The sixes are just an adventure. Maybe I can set up a couple of guys with 125 Eliminators with six piston sets - decelerate ten times quicker than acceleration... hee, hee, hee. ;^D

I won't be contacting any racing teams, racers, or braking specialists. They are dealing mainly with actual racing conditions, not general road riding per se. It isn't hard to find what the trick set ups for racing and track days would be, heck all you have to do is look in some magazine or web site at some project bike that has unlimited funding and you'll see what's latest and greatest. What is hard to find is what will work well for reasonable money for general road use, although I am finally getting some information more about road riding than racing. That's why the questions about feel and such for various older sportbike calipers versus others. Ain't no brake specialist or racing team playing with ten year old calipers for non-supersport street bikes.

 

hahaha, don't forget to add some more fork spring to that combination to support the bling factor!

Never know until you call around. As you are doing your research, there are some good brake designs that are "old" to some, but work when dialed in as a package as you are finding out.

You have the same brakes that I have on my KZ1000 or of the GPZ 900's. They all work well as a modified package deal (lines, pads and yearly flushing). Would a 4 piston setup benefit a "brisk riding style"? (Heavy a*s ride, long wheel base, etc.) Maybe, with some tweaks to get the modular braking feel that I prefer over massive initial braking hit. (similar to what William was mentioning above). Beware of washing out the front end on a raked bike with less than desirable (untuned) suspension with too much brake force.

You made a funny! lol I say the same crap every time I hop on my (actually the wifes, but she does not ride yet) Ninja 500.

Which brings to mind that the ninja 250/500 twin calipers are abundant as well. I did a "brisk ride" with the "wifes" bike at Oregon Raceway Park in July, and the brakes worked out quite well for that being stock and all. ( Just a note, corner clearance on a stock 500 ride grinds down lowers badly. Find the nearest flower store and hope she forgives you for grinding down the pretty plastics.)

That is about all I can offer on this topic KLX678, please keep us informed on your studies of the topic as well as the outcomes.

edit: The flower idea was a futile attempt

 

Well, at this point I've got a few sets of calipers coming, including the master cylinders, so I can play a bit. I found six piston calipers are out of the question for the Zephyr since the mount points are in like - left field and would require some really bizarre placement with a rather large aluminum plate to mount them. I'm hoping for some good stuff with the Nissins and/or the Sumitomos from the CBR and the YZF. I'm going to get the non-descript Tokicos eventually and figure they'll be the Eliminator version for the most part.