I  bought my 1993 gs a little over a month ago, and I am getting a little worried about my brakes. I know that I need to replace the pads, but the rotors also have a lot of grooves in them. I know that having rotors re-surfaced isn't always a good idea on cars, but what experiences have you all had with the gs?

I would rather replace the rotors, but the cheapest rotors that I can find are 179 (front) and 125 (rear), so if I can get away with new pads an resurfacing the rotors my wallet would appreciate it.

you can't resurface motorcycle rotors...   well, you could, if you wanted to make them some nice shiny paperweights, but other than that... just don't.

I have a front rotor for sale @ $30 + shipping

If nobody else wants it, I'll take it.  But goat gets priority over me.

Just because I ONLY have 30,000 miles on my rotor....

Actually I have 2 rotors. I thought one had less wear but they both measure 0.15" (3.8mm) at the thinest area. Service limit is 0.16" (4.0mm). They are smooth with hardly any grooves or ridges. So if anyone wants them just pay shipping.

I guess I'd better check how thick mine is, eh?

According to the mid-March thread Is this rotor done? (Pic), the thickness when new is 4.5 mm and Srinath has worn them down to 3.5 mm "without any ill effects".

Hmmmm....

I'm thinking that I would rather just put new ones on, but thanks for the offer dgyver.  If they were a little thicker, I would take you up on it.

I see two types of brake pads for sale on bikebandit.com: Sintered and organic pads.  There is about a $5 dollar difference in price, is there any advantage to either type?

http://www.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/productlist.asp?pd_id=931122&sel_path=3

Now that I know that I am going to be doing some work on my bike, I figure that it would be a good idea to do a more thurough checkup on it since its 11 years old and only has 6k miles on it. I know that I need to check the hoses (fuel, brake) but aside from cracking on the outside, how can I tell if a hose needs to be replaced? Does anyone have any other suggestions on what to check?

Is there any way to tell what kind of oil is in my bike? I'm not sure that I have oil with the correct additives in it.

Thanks,
Goat

Whoops, I forgot to put this question in my last post. Does anyone use aftermarket brake rotors? I would rather get them becuase they are a lot cheaper than the suzuki rotors, but I don't want to have to modify anything to get the new rotors on my bike.

Dgyver rotors are literally un used... I bought one couple months ago... and saw all 3 he had, they are not all that much thicker than 4mm when new, the minimum 4mm is over caution... I have let mine down to ~3.5... and they wear very very slowly if you aren't making metal contact with the pads.
Cool.
Srinath.

I just recently purchased an EBC Pro-Lite rotor. I ordered it from BikeBandit or DennisKirk. I'm going to check my order history for the price. Part no. 1519442; $202 with shipping (on sale, $204 normal).

My current rotor is seriously warped, so bad that I purposely put air in the line to absorb some of the pulsing.

Hoses: cracking on the inside.

Some oils have detergents that will get rid of the old oil on your next oil change. The only other way to tell what kind of oil is in there is to contact the previous owner.

Chaparral has the EBC front rotor for $165, but it's currently out-of-stock.   :x

In general, I understand that organic pads are easier on rotors but don't have the GRIP that sintered pads have.  A couple years ago I replaced my OEM pads with EBC Kevlar pads (an earlier version of their current Organic offering).  Before the new pads were seated I wondered what had happened to my brakes - it seemed to take forever to stop!  I'm used to them now - which is a good thing because I have another set to use up.

If you have a broadband connection it may be interesting to download the PDF version of EBC's official 224-page USA & Canada Motorcycle & ATV Applications catalog.  There is some good "overview" info about their rotors and pads in the first several pages.

If you're not dead-set on EBC products, you may want to check out the pads offered by Galfer.
richard bought a set of their Black 1052 pads, and I would have too if I didn't have that 2nd set of EBC Kevlars waiting in the wings:

Quote from: http://www.galferbrakes.com/products/brake_pads.htmBLACK 1052: GG-rated compound.

The 1052 is a semi-metallic compound that works in any terrain condition.

It is composed of carbon and basalt fibers. This makes the 1052 a fade-free material. It is a long-lasting brake pad.

The 1052 does not damage rotors, as opposed to some of the OEM full metallic pads. This is an organic based compound.

APPLICATIONS: Touring, Off-road & Sport.

COMPOSITION: Semi-metallic compound with carbon and basalt fibers.

FEEL: This compound feels as good as a stock pad but it outperforms the feel of a stock pad when they are hot, it retails around $22  per caliper. We make these pads for several other companies and they sell it as their sport / performance pad.

Chaparral lists the front pads for $19.99, but they are currently out-of-stock  :x .  richard bought his set at OnlineParts.com.  (Current price = $23.95.  Phone orders only   )

"And now, for my final act..."

The Dennis Kirk Metric Bikes 2003 (printed) catalog lists brake pads from several other brand names: sbs, DP, Parts Unlimited, and Vesrah.  Here's an interesting tip from their sbs page:

Quote"Sintered metal brake pads should NEVER be used in calipers that were not OEM equipped with sintered metal pads."

For what it's worth....

Do not forget to clean the rotor when changing brake pads. Use a red scotch brite pad (for metal use) to remove the old pad material. Most pads require a brake-in proceedure (varies by brand) but Vesrah pads do not.

Sintered pads will stop you quicker than Kevlar but are harder on the disc rotors.  Depends what you want.

You're taking a chance wearing the rotor below the recommended thickness.  If they are too thin, they are more prone to cracking - a thin disc heats up and cools down more rapidly than a thick one, which can result in fatigue cracks.  At worst a disc (particularly cast iron type) can shatter - suddenly and unexpectedly.  

If you are running a disc thinner than spec, check regularly for any sign of craks.  If you find even the smallest hair-line crack, junk it.

Quote from: KerryI'd better check how thick [my front rotor] is...

Here is the Haynes data, along with current measurements from my bike.

         New Thickness    Service Limit    Runout Limit    MY THICKNESS
=========================================================================
FRONT     4.3 to 4.7 mm       4.0 mm          .03 mm           4.1 mm
REAR      5.8 to 6.2 mm       5.5 mm          .03 mm           5.6 mm
Both rotors are only .1 mm thicker than the service limit.  But apparently the rotors can be as little as .3 mm thicker than the limit when they're brand new!

I have no idea how thick my rotors were originally, but I've put 30,000 miles on both of them.  I guess I've got several thousand miles to go yet....

Depending on the original thickness, you have between 5000 & 15000 miles left on them. I am really surprised that the factory thickness for the front is only 4.5mm +/- 0.2mm.

Quoteyou can't resurface motorcycle rotors

FLOATING disk no, the older Fixed disk yes you can. providing they arent warped much, a vertical Mill with a rotation table does a great job.

Thank you all for your thoughts/experience. Now I just have to find my parts and buy them. I found a place with both front and rear galfer pads in stock (not an easy task) but I have been unable to find a place the sells the non-wavy galfer rotors for the gs (ok, I found one but the guy doesn't post prices and I haven't heard back from him yet). I think I'm just going get the EBC rotors.

Does anyone have any idea why is it harder to find rear brake parts? Do they wear out that much more slowly, or is there another reason that I am unaware of?

Hey goat -- did you ever replace your rotor(s)?

My new EBC Pro-Lite rotors arrived today.  I ordered the front rotor and rear rotor from Chaparral for $164.99 and $113.99 (US) respectively.  They were the cheapest I could find (see my compilation of Brake Parts Sources and Prices).  It still hurts a little to sit down....  





At the time I placed my order the online catalog said the front rotor was Out of stock.  Now it says Usually Ships in 2 to 3 Days.  I don't know if they brought in several at the same time, or if they just updated the page to reflect the realities of their supply chain.  :dunno:

I measured the brand-new thickness of each rotor with my new SAE / Metric Dial Calipers from Harbor Freight.  (It was nice to just read the value off the tool and not have to multiply!)  The front rotor is an even 5.0mm thick, and the rear was ~5.7mm.  Compare these figures to the OEM "New" and "Service Limit" thicknesses in my previous post.

My plan is put them on tomorrow in the daylight (well, at least the front one) and take pictures of the wheel removal process and so forth....

Hey Kerry, nice rotors...seem kinda thin tho'. Maybe you otta go bach to multeeplyin'...JK  :lol: Should that decimal be one place to the right?? I love my GS and I love this forum including the moo moo guys.

C.......

Quote from: cernunosHey Kerry, nice rotors...seem kinda thin tho'.  [...] :lol: Should that decimal be one place to the right??

Aaargh!  Do you know how long it took to craft that post?  And I goofed it up after all.  :x

Fixing now....