Kawasaki Triples Club

I have a question to the forum about front brake set up on my H2c.

When I bought the bike it had the original single disc and caliper. I got the bike running well and started to use it a lot but found the braking woefully bad. It was more important to me to be able to stop effectively than to be faithful to originality so I bought a modern six piston caliper which bolted straight onto the fork and used the original disc and master cylinder with braided hoses.

The braking is as good as it could be within the limitations of the forks/frame and tyre and I've been happy for a few years but there's always something in the back of my mind that niggles me about the mismatch of 1975 bike and hi-tec caliber. I've always kept my eye out for a twin disc conversion but in two years I've never seen one come up for sale except from the States for an unjustifiable amount of money.

Recently I saw a post on another forum with an H2 wearing twin callipers and the owner tells me that they are a kit from Z Power supplied with a second disc, caliber, splitter and hoses. Z Power confirm that they supply this for a little over £400 (which is less than just my caliber cost).

So my question is can I have some opinions about what the braking performance of these is likely to be? I'm presuming that they will be better than the original single set up but will they be as good as my modern set up or fall somewhere in the middle? I don't want to go to the expense and trouble of doing this conversion to find that I'm back to that wooden brake feeling but both Z Power and this guy say that the Z1 brakes were better than the H2 brakes anyway.

Also, is there a choice of different brake pad material available for Z1 callipers or do you have to use what you can get?

Of course the appearance would be better and I always wanted a twin disc H2 anyway.

Opinions?

It's about £400. I think you do wan to spend that sort of money. Get on with it !!

M( and then sell me your modern calliper . : )

Don't forget to ask for your 10% club discount either Bic

Isn't it part of the fun that the brakes on H2s are shit.

Cant say the brakes have ever bothered me?
Just ride very slowly and carefully within your limits
Thats what I do

malc87 wrote:Cant say the brakes have ever bothered me?
Just ride very slowly and carefully within your limits
Thats what I do

.
Me as well, I've never EVER pushed the braking abilities on a H2 . . . But, (and this is seriousness ) Bic, has young kids and sort of needs to look after himself - as you all know I am somewhat reckless in my riding . . . Because I don't have kids? But to answer the question, the"Z1" brakes are better than the stock H2 double disc as the caliper is FAR more rigid - add some uprated pads and they will perform FAR better than you ride
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Thanks for all the comments.

I think I will try out the Z1 twin disc set up. To offset the cost I would consider selling my six-pot so if anyone is interested then I will dig out what I paid for it and consider what it's worth. It's a great piece of quality machining.

On this debate about braking all I can say is that I like to have my fun riding bikes and my expectations is that on any bike the braking should at least offer some sort of match for the engine performance. You can ride an H2 gently and enjoy it that way but it's also fast and you can get up to some speeds very quickly that you need to scrub off quickly when you find yourself approaching a corner and all too aware of the limited ground clearance and tyre limitations. I spent my whole teenage years going through hedges and generally crashing through too much enthusiasm and corner speed.

Having a better from brake makes the bike more fun to ride in my opinion because it gives a better sense of security and reassurance. And the thing that I will not sacrifice nowadays is the ability to stop quickly when cars do silly things like pull out of side junctions, turn right in from of me, jump lights, open side doors, change lanes without warning and generally try and knock me off and put me in hospital.

It's just self preservation and the constant thought of what a front end write off our a low side crash would cost in terms of getting back on the road if I did have an accident. It doesn't bear thinking about!

Bic_Bicknell wrote:Thanks for all the comments.

I think I will try out the Z1 twin disc set up. To offset the cost I would consider selling my six-pot so if anyone is interested then I will dig out what I paid for it and consider what it's worth. It's a great piece of quality machining.

On this debate about braking all I can say is that I like to have my fun riding bikes and my expectations is that on any bike the braking should at least offer some sort of match for the engine performance. You can ride an H2 gently and enjoy it that way but it's also fast and you can get up to some speeds very quickly that you need to scrub off quickly when you find yourself approaching a corner and all too aware of the limited ground clearance and tyre limitations. I spent my whole teenage years going through hedges and generally crashing through too much enthusiasm and corner speed.

Having a better from brake makes the bike more fun to ride in my opinion because it gives a better sense of security and reassurance. And the thing that I will not sacrifice nowadays is the ability to stop quickly when cars do silly things like pull out of side junctions, turn right in from of me, jump lights, open side doors, change lanes without warning and generally try and knock me off and put me in hospital.

It's just self preservation and the constant thought of what a front end write off our a low side crash would cost in terms of getting back on the road if I did have an accident. It doesn't bear thinking about!

There. Told you were going to do it anyway.
Now take loads of photos and write endlessly about fitting the system, then send it in to Malc87 as a an exciting new article to fill his next Club mag ?

( PLEASE !!!! It`ll reduce the amount of space for him to print pics of himself at Mid Ohio guzzling red wine /)

The downside is your adding a lot of weight to the front end
Go find yourself a Z650 four stud spocked wheel, at some point Kawasaki did a thinner drilled disc for the same bike, the diameter is the same as the H2 disc
Try that with your modern caliper
Here's some more ideas, my set up is on the bottom of the page
http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/caliper/conversions.htm

While you're at it have a look at Improving the front suspension
http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/tips/forkmods.htm

Hope this helps

Gary T

Neil the Don wrote:
( PLEASE !!!! It`ll reduce the amount of space for him to print pics of himself at Mid Ohio guzzling red wine /)

Neil,
I can tell you factually that it wasn't the red wine he was guzzling because we watched him....it was the Guinness..and he guzzled several cases...then he scarfed down the wine as a chaser<LOL>!! And don't you comment Kenny.....you were right there with him, bottle for bottle......Mark was a little more refined.....not much but a little and I think Rick was chugging in the trailer a lot.....probably because he had to hide his stash from the others.....

All in fun guys, don't get too mad at me.....just couldn't resist.

jeffk

scouse wrote:The downside is your adding a lot of weight to the front end
Go find yourself a Z650 four stud spocked wheel, at some point Kawasaki did a thinner drilled disc for the same bike, the diameter is the same as the H2 disc

I have later z650 thinner discs and calipers on my KH500. The two discs with the big drilled holes weigh about the same as one standard thick disc. On the KH they are bolt on, but for a H2 you would need the later fork leg lowers and front wheel.

The EX 500 caliper is easy to fit, and with good pads and steel line is as good as dual stockers, without adding 10 lbs. to the front wheel. And you use the stock disc.