Anybody wish their R3T had more braking? PART 2

Here are some shots of my 2008 R3T with 6 piston Hayabusa calipers.
Some may have a more expensive or exotic 6 pot setup. I just really
enjoy using my mechanical design background to make one-off parts
for my Rocket. This complete setup ran me about 40% the cost of buying
some off the shelf stuff. For those that like to poo poo the merit of going
to these, I calculated out the difference in surface braking area....21.42%
increase in friction surface area. The on the road difference is very real.
Plus, it's unique and I had fun making modifications on my CAD files to
get a really nice fit. Plus, having a good, motorcycle riding buddy with a
machine shop 100 yards from my house........PRICELESS!
I do plan on upgraded rotors when the $ are available. I've already installed
custom black braided SS lines, speed bleeders and fresh DOT 4.

VERY nice!!! Looks like the lower caliper mounting hole is in the same place as the Rocket one, and the new bracket/plate allows for the upper mount.

So was the major modification the fabrication of the adapter plate??

Yes making the plate took some time. I went through 4 prototypes to get a fit that I
was satisfied with. I used a piece of machineable plastic and learned a lot at each stage.
There are a lot of subtle angles, radii and tapered sides at the lugs on the forks. That put
a little snag, because I wanted a clean, tight fit around the lower fork lugs. Plus there are
a couple of little threaded welded bungs on the backside to eliminate having to deal with a
nut when tightening the calipers down. Plus there are some slight caressing that needs to be
done with the mounts on the calipers themselves. But this is Drememl tool work, easy stuff.
Overall I'm happy with the result and it's very unique. I got a whole bunch of other ideas
cooking and a couple are completey drawn out in CAD, I just need to save up the funds to
fabricate them.

Good stuff! Great project and looks like a great result!!

looks cool... what i'd really like to do is figure out how to put the linked brakes from my vtx1800 on the rocket... it was just amazing how good they worked... rear pedal uses a portion of front along with the rear, front lever does both fronts... when you just grab a handful of the front lever the weight and stopping ability just overwhelms the front tire on the vtx... but when you stand on the rear pedal it just stops like dropping an anchor... would mostly just need the dual input front calipers and the proportioning valve, i think... and a nice set of custom mounting plates...

We have a fickle group here,if we're not doing mach 1 we're striving for mach 0. I have to admit that is a fantastic looking job. You have a really impressive custom configuration,well beyond the outer limits of the average rider. Have you tested it at high speeds and just curious how much bite is too much...I've locked up the rear brakes on a few of my bikes and it wasn't pleasant.

Locking up the REAR brakes is proof that the laws of physics are still valid. When you apply the
front brakes, the mass transfers weight toward the front, reducing the weight on the rear tire
(reducing traction) and greatly reducing the amount of braking force to cause the rear to lock up.
This is why roadracers have huge front brake rotors and very small rear rotors. It has to do with
the braking potential that is possible at that tire.
I have never been impressed with the brakes on the R3T, but I had to live with them...or did I?
I attended an event at my Triumph/BMW dealer and was talking with some guys and one guy said
"those are the same brake calipers that my buddy has on his speed triple" I thought in my head, you've
got to be sh*%ting me! The same calipers on a bike that weighs 300 lbs more!? No wonder the f$%king
thing won't stop. So, I looked at what I could do, and six piston seemed to be the place to start. Cast iron
rotors are great, providing you have enough brake pad surface area as it is an important element in the
overall coefficient of friction equation. Larger diameter rotors are another avenue, but with a 16" diameter
front tire you have nowhere to go. So, that lead me back to increasing the brake pad surface. I got the pair
of Hayabusa calipers for $80, the options for brake pads is huge, Jireh Cycles supplied brake line pieces and I noodled out the caliper mounts. The difference is very easy to feel and see.
From 70 mph, it's two fingers and you can feel the front end dive and the scrubbing off speed is fantastic.
I didn't do this because I rip around like I'm on a sportbike, it's because the mass of the bike is so high.
I didn't think that loaded down and two up that this bike had enough stopping power. Brakes are like money;
you can have too little, but never too much. You just need to use it wisely! EBC wave rotors when the $ is
available.

ROCKETOUR said:

EBC wave rotors when the $ is
available.

Click to expand...

Afraid not, none fit the Touring. I was told they would, had to send them back, not even close.

Ooops, maybe, I read that as Galfer wave rotors the first time. But I can't google up a match for the EBCs, either.

Oh that SUCKS! About 8 or 9 months ago I looked on EBC website. They had two part numbers listed
for the R3T. Part #MD669XC as the wave rotor and MD669X for regular rotor.
Oh well, I guess I just found something else to design . Laser cut, precision ground ductile cast iron with
aluminum centers. Kinda sounds like a fun future project. I'm sure there is a retrofit from another model of motorcycle, this bikes not that freaky! All you need is the critical dimensional matches:
1) Center hole diameter
2) Mounting bolt hole diameter
3) Rotor thickness
4) Mounting bolt hole (bolt circle or sometimes referred to as bolt radius)
5) Mounting surface to outside of rotor (offset dimension).
This can't be the only bike with these dimensions. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't another Triumph
with the same dimensions. If a rotor matches up with the exception that the offset is less, you could easily
shim the rotor to bring it out to match. It would work just fine. But I do like EBC stuff, it just works.
Their website now says TBA....to be announced. Hopefully soon.

Googled on the part numbers you mentioned and found http://www.ebcbrakesdirect.com/bike...0to3000&year=Rocket+III+Touring+(08)&sec=Euro - whether or not that's accurate is another matter altogether.