EBC Drilled Rotors: Worth the price?

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KYWinger

KYWinger

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While the bike is laid up this winter, I'm going to add braided stainless brake lines and was thinking about putting on EBC drilled rotors...BUT...

$200 X 3 for new rotors is kinda pricey...

Any good alternatives to that? I'd appreciate input from y'all :good:

Peace out - John
 
this is just me but ....stainless lines and brake system up to par with as in MC and bled good is what makes since to me ...drilled rotors may be somewhat better but i dont buy into it as much as others do ...on bikes there just not heavy enough to cause the heat problems that maybe cars do ...that might benifit more from it ...ive never gone for it on my wings ....

if you had a drill press witch i do it could be gig up to do it rater esay but would take some time and drill bits and lots of oil to ..

personaly i like the solid rotors and would not do it ....and im the kinda guy that dose a lot of extreme mods to wings...jusy my thoughts :mrgreen:
 
MSGT-R (a member here) has installed the EBC rotors, S.S lines and the Randakks front master cylinder.
She said this has been one of the best upgrades so far on the bike and when talking to her on the phone it was obvious she's very pleased with the improvements.
 
Check what's available at CycleBrakes: https://cyclebrakes.com/index.html

I had a '98 Moto Guzzi V11 with linked brakes, and I got two full-floating cross-drilled Galfer rotors for the front, new front pads, and front/rear s/s lines, for less than $600. If you're going to replace the rotors with drilled ones, I'd delink the brakes too (I'll eventually do that to my GW, I still would rather grab a handful of front brake lever to haul the bike down from speed, not the foot pedal). If the stock front master cylinder isn't up to handling both front brakes, one can always go on eBay, Craig's List, or a m/c salvage yard and get one that will do the job. I used a Brembo master cylinder I had from a Ducati I used to own, which was replaced with a mc from a GSX-R1100.

I recently bought an EBC Prolite rotor, Galfer s/s line, and new organic pads for my '84 Ascot from CycleBrakes. A friend of mine back in So Cal is going to install them, so when I go back for Xmas I'll have it ready to ride in the twisties!
 
bronzestarvue & dan: thanks
I have never had a bike before with linked brakes, so maybe i'm old school. Perhaps just redoing the lines and unlinking them would do it - not sure. I have read here and on NGW and goldwingdocs about poor (stock) wet weather performance, so that's what peaked my interest in drilled rotors....
 
I had a 1978 Moto Guzzi V50 (500cc) street bike, that had three integrated disc brakes, operated off the foot pedal. From what I remember, on that bike it worked pretty well, because it was relatively light compared to my '98 Guzzi V11 and '83 GW standard. The bike would "squat" under braking, as opposed to "dive", so I got used to it on that particular bike.

However, on the '98 Guzzi, I didn't like how the linked brakes felt, so I got some parts from Cycle Brakes and delinked them. Only thing I didn't get from them was a new front master cylinder, since I had a Brembo one available. One neutral, or even negative result of delinking the brakes on my Guzzi was how the rear brake felt. Very little feedback, if at all, felt like I was pressing down on a block of wood. But with two thirds of the brakes up front, being able to haul the bike down from speed with the front lever made me immensely more comfortable and confident. I see that as something I'll eventually do to my '83 GW, but I'll do it all at the same time (rotors, pads, s/s lines, master cylinder, etc).
 
dan filipi":2tym512s said:
Test ride a gl 1800. The front brakes are amazing, almost too good.
Click to expand...
I test rode my neighbor's '06 1800 and was surprised that his braking wasn't all that different than mine. He did mention that the newer 1800's had improved (he is always test riding new bikes and just bought a FJR?)


My '82 is not linked and I also agree that when you pull the front brake at highway speed to stop fast...the front end dives and it is real easy to get the back wheek locked up when applying both front and back full.
 
Adding SS brake lines will make the the feel a little stiffer. I had SS lines on the front of my '81 brakes that I installed on my '82. When I rebuilt the '82 system and put it back on, the '81 SS lines were setup differnt because the '81 calipers are only single piston and the brakes lines come in to the caliper differently. I still had the '82 rubber brake lines and installed them and I can tell you they are not as tight when I pull the front but still work good. The SS are tighter.
 
All this talk of replacing factory rubber brake lines with s/s lines reminds me of this question. Why are some s/s lines not DOT-approved? They've got to be better than factory rubber lines, don't expand, will last practically forever, probably have higher bursting strength, etc. Why would they not be DOT approved?

If the bike I'm riding doesn't have them, that's usually one of the first upgrades I do, certainly before rotors or pads. I consider s/s lines and cross-drilled rotors a good investment over the long term, and pads, like tires, are just normal wear and tear items. I usually don't own a bike long enough to replace rotors, once I've switched to either cross-drilled (like I did on my Ascot) or full-floaters (like on my Guzzi), so I don't really consider rotors to be a "normal" wear and tear item.
 
Are the crossed drilled any better in wet conditions then the grooved rotors on some wings?? they both allow water to move away from between the pads and rotors for better wet stopping..... As far as the linked brakes.. if they would be all 3 linked on the pedal and worked as well as the Guz 50 I am all for it... and as far as the braking percentages 2/3 is close but they say it is 70% up front and 30% rear.. when not linked front to rear..

Remember some of the early 70's "big bikes" the 750 and the 550's.. my 550 only had a single up front.. and IIRC the 73 750 was also 1 rotor up front..
 
KYWinger":23r35ouf said:
bronzestarvue & dan: thanks
I have never had a bike before with linked brakes, so maybe i'm old school. Perhaps just redoing the lines and unlinking them would do it - not sure. I have read here and on NGW and goldwingdocs about poor (stock) wet weather performance, so that's what peaked my interest in drilled rotors....
Click to expand...
Had an 86 wing and didn't like the linked brakes on it either :shock: .Didn't have the bike for long probably would have gotten used to it with time and appreciated the technology imposed :roll: .Who knows :headscratch: .
 

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