Bandit Alley
MODEL SPECIFIC => SUZUKI BANDIT 650 and 1250 - WATER COOLED TECHNICAL => Topic started by: enginezzz on December 18, 2012, 07:57:49 PM
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Hi Everyone,
I've had a go at improving the hydraulic part of the front brake system on my B650, I did this a couple of months back but didn’t want to post until I had put some miles in to test the brake properly.
The modification was to fit the ‘upgraded’ Collector that is fitted to the GSF650(S)A k9 onwards, GSX650FA and the GSX1250FA. This part is identical to the part fitted to my bike (k8 650 ABS) apart from the addition of two bleed nipples.
I acknowledged that Suzuki must have made this change as they thought air was getting trapped at the end of the collector banjo bolts, which was causing the sponginess felt at the lever.
Having felt the levers on several new and used bikes in dealerships (and getting some funny looks...) with and without the improved collector fitted I decided that it was worth a shot for the relatively low cost of approx. £65 assuming the part was compatible.
To be perfectly clear the part is compatible with the ABS variants of the GSF1250 k7 onwards and the GSF650 k7 onwards. The only thing that I could not confirm before I ordered the parts, was whether the dowel pin would be correctly positioned to fit into the hole in the 650’s lower triple clamp, as it turns out it was. I have included some photos showing the old and new collectors side by side as well as a photo which will hopefully show where the bleed nipple ports are in the new part.
Having fitted the new collector and bled the system thoroughly I was disappointed with the result. If anything the lever was spongier than before, I continued to bleed the system with no improvement and decided eventually to stop. I made sure there were no signs of any leaks at the collector and tied the lever back overnight hoping for some improvement. I released the lever the next day and was surprised to find the lever was solid, not just ‘acceptable’ but had very little sponginess at all. Just to be sure I double checked the collector for leaks and there were none to be seen.
I put about 200 miles on the bike in the next couple of weeks and found that the lever gradually became slightly spongier, but nothing like the lever was before the new collector was fitted. So I tied it up again overnight and released it the next day, as expected the lever was firm again. I have now done nearly 2000 miles with the new collector in place (including some track time) and the brake lever is still firm.
In my opinion (comparing to a ‘02 R6 and a ‘07 FZ6 that don’t have ABS) the lever feels comparably firm to the fz6 and maybe slightly spongier than the R6. (Probably because the R6 has aftermarket stainless braided brake lines whereas the Bandit and FZ6 are still using standard rubber lines).
In conclusion I’m very happy with the results as I feel the hydraulics are now up to the job. Unfortunately, with the EBC HH pads I have fitted at the moment I still have a ‘wooden’ feel to the front brake as there is very little initial bite between the pad and the disc. My opinion is that this is down to the disc material as the fz6 and r6 mentioned earlier are both using the same EBC pads and both have good initial bite. I can’t justify the cost of changing the discs at the moment so my next move is going to be to change the pads for Brembo SC pads which have a higher friction coefficient than the EBC’s and see if this improves on the ‘wooden’ feel.
I would highly recommend this modification to all those that have ABS machines with the old collector as it does drastically improve the hydraulics.
Here’s what you will need if you want to do this mod yourself:-
1 x 59500-46H00 (Hose Collector)
6 x 09161-10009 (Banjo Washers)
Any questions or queries at all please feel free to ask
Regards,
Jason
P.S. Couldn't Attach the photos as the files are too large, heres a photobucket link:
http://s1275.beta.photobucket.com/user/enginezzz/library/Bandit%20ABS%20Brake%20Upgrade