Aftermarket Rotors worth it???

I'm looking to the experts for general knowledge..

I'm looking to really work on my deep braking as i try to get faster on the track and udnerstand how to truly ride a liter bike "the right way"... point and shoot...

Can anyone help me understand if/why i meet need to invest the money in aftermarket rotors for the front wheels? Does it provide a noticeable difference in feel or stopping power? And what makes it do so?

appreciate the help...

thanks,

aj

 

No

(This opinion is based on pure observation with no comparative experimentation whatsoever.)

 

thats deep. thanks for the insight.

 

I'll admit it: I don't think I even know what full-floating rotors do better.

 

i toasted the stock rotors on a reduced weight fzr1000(stock weight in excess of 500lbs) during a track day. have since used iron rotors(beringer) on that bike(at daytona) with no ill effects.
in fact, i liked them so much i put them on my ducati while saving the stock discs for the rain set-up. in combo with some vesrah rjl pads, i have as much brake control/finesse/confidence as any one has a right to when squeezing the lever.

vesrah rotors with rjl pads are equally impressive tho' there's a slight notice of roughness most likely due to the cross-drilling.

 

I put dimpled/slotted rotors on the front of the Suburban, definitely improved the performance. Didn't really notice a difference in feel, though.

Or were you asking about bikes?

 

lol.. kinda asking moreso about bikes! lol

 

Better feel and power out of the galfer wave rotors then my stock ones.

 

AJ- I had 3 fronts with 1 of them EBC light weight setup.

The ligher, harder surface of the EBC front allowed me to turn it in a lot faster. I was also able to brake more effectively (or efficiently?) using less space. I was deep & out braking a lot of folks. I could get it done with the stock, but the EBC had a much sharper bite. I used the stock setup to practice or for damp conditions, but the EBC setup I used to race. (dry)

You know me, I'm by no means an expert. Just relaying my experience. You have to consider what the worth is for yourself. I would go with the good setup for racing. In the end, you know that your suspension is connected to the equation as well.

 

Oh, and the difference in feel & stopping power is VERY noticable.

 

I dunno about riding a 1000 "point-and-shoot" style, but I think this still applies:

Brakes just slow you down.

Some of my biggest "break-throughs" in laptimes have come when I've been fighting massive brake fade. To the point where the lever came back and was hitting my 3rd/4th finger knuckles and I still wasn't slowing down enough. Eventually I just said F-it, and let go of the brake the lever and tipped in.... Presto, I found a new corner entry speed.
YMMV

 

Probably the single biggest "break-through" in my riding was when I got the confidence last year to just say "fuck it", let off the brakes, throw it in and hope for the best. Doing so allowed me to carry much more speed into and through the corners, and allowed me to keep my momentum up.

On the 675, the majority of my passes are either on corner entry or around the outside at apex (depending on the layout/situation/next corner etc) and I do so by braking less and carrying a lot more entry speed.

 

See what you're saying here, I'm the man on the brakes then I stop myself into and through the corner way too much. It's a horrible habit I'm trying to work on. I just don't think brake fade is the right method to find that consistent entry and corner speed.

Buck, the experience you're talking about, was that on your GSX-R1000?

 

Is that what you were working on when we were at Road Atlanta?

To be honest, some of that "problem" is the bikes you have been riding...they are so strong out of corners. Even the 848 has an assload of torque and you can get away with slowing down more and firing out.

On the 675, I really can't get away with that. I have to try to carry speed in, through and keep my momentum up. That is basically what I have been working on this year.

It isn't so much that the 675 isn't good out of corners, because it is. But it doesn't have the top end and it just takes it so long to "spool up" and access the HP, if that makes sense. It doesn't rev anywhere near as fast as an I4 so the more speed I can carry into and through the corner, the quicker I can reach my top speed in the straights. At least that is my theory anyway .

I am hoping to continue to get better at carry more entry/corner speed and then when I eventually get a more powerful bike, be able to use those skills while also having more HP.

 

+1

There have been many times that I just KNEW I was going to crash because I was going to fast and couldn't slow down because the lever wasn't their. I've made it every time.

 

Yeah, some of that for sure. Like I told you, I was cruising on the straights but picking up some pointers through a couple corners. If that bike wasn't set up right when I rode with you, I don't want to see what it does when it's right. You looked to me like you were flicking a 250. :wow: Going through 10A/10B and the esses you were definitely pulling on me, although I was trying harder through those sections than some of the other places just to see how I staked up with somebody that has a more of a corner speed style. Cause I don't.

Speaking of which, my racebike is a GSX-R1000. I hope you never have to pick anybody out of a lineup because you are blind. I got the 848 at home, still in street trim. Thinking about it for next year, partly because I hope it'll teach/force me to carry more speed...

 

Maybe if you switch to Iron or CMC......otherwise they're all just stainless steel. I think better feel/power comes much cheaper through better pads or the proper ratio master cylinder for your calipers/riding style.

 

Yeah, believe it or not, it wasn't handling right then. It was way off and Kent (GMD ATL) spent like 4hrs on it Saturday. I mean, it handled "ok" on Friday, but not like it should. I could still flick it pretty quick, but I was working my ass off to do so and having to muscle it back and forth.

I know your racebike is a Gixxer 1k...I remember it well. But at RA you were on your 848 and it (just like your 1000) pulls hard out of the corners (hence me saying "bikes" ). On those bikes, you can get away with more of a brake hard, then "point and shoot" kinda style because of how hard they fire out.

 

I was on the GSX-R1000 at RA...

 

On a modern supersport, I have worn out a few sets of rotors, and changed to EBC or Galfer or the like, and to be honest there was very little difference in the feel. So little that I had a hard time telling if it was the rotors, or just that I had brand new pads when I installed said rotors.

Maybe on some of the bikes that dont come with as good of brakes OEM they make a bigger difference, but I dont think they make much on a GSXR, R6/1, ZX, CBR etc.