Front brakes, rebuild or upgrade ?

I have this dual disc setup on my KZ900.. that the previous owner started to add on. He never hooked up the right caliper - I never did either. Now, I am wanting to hook it up for better braking. However, it looks like the right caliper will need rebuilding or replacing. The fuel line opening has been exposed for the last 5 years I've owned it, and I dont know how long before that.

I've been looking at calipers on ebay - I see same application calipers but they look diffrent than mine !


Also, I have been trying to find more info about upgrading, I found, some of you guys switch the forks around ? So the caliper will sit behind the forks instead of foward ?

I am wondering about upgrade options - Is there a dual pistion caliper I can use ?

Post edited by: dan76kz900, at: 2006/03/05 21:42

the forks ,hub and rotor look like Z1 to me,but im drawing a blank on calipers looks yamaha or suzuki:blink: anybody got any ideas?:whistle:

I did the upgrade and yes,I also switched My forks around in order to get the calipers in the rear of the shocks.I had to find a longer speedo cable though,to get it around the caliper.
There were some other issues,but for the most part,it went pretty good.I had to make up 2 new brake lines...the solid sections right AT the caliper...I had to make those.I also found a newer style master cylinder to use...found some steel braided lines from Russell...
I have no idea what calipers You have on Your bike there.I don't know if they ARE factory.What year is Your bike?

Sandy: Sounds good - Do u know what added benfits you get for switching the forks around besides looks ? I was thinking of finding some lines from russell or earl when I do the setup. Also I was considering a newer master cylinder from a 2000 Kawasaki vulcan or soemthing. What Master cylinder did you use ? My bike is a 76.

wireman: my hubs/rotors are not KZ ? how do u tell the diffrence ?

Z1s had 6 bolt rotors and hubs,76 should have 4 bolt rotors and hubs im pretty sure ,and axle with threaded sleeves with nuts on ends.stock rubber lines from newer dual disc bike can be used if braided lines arent in your budget.im still drawing a blank on them calipers,ive seen them before but i cant remember where though! :whistle:

Do u know what added benfits you get for switching the forks around besides looks ?

It's called "Lower polar moment of inertia", with the weight of the calipers hanging behind the steering stem centerline it makes it easier to flick the forks side to side in the twisties. That's conventional wisdom anyway, I have never ridden a bike with two calipers in front of the forks, so I don't have any personal experience with the problem.

wireman: I'm trying to figure out something here.. you said I have Z1 forks/rotor/hubs on my bike.. this means a PO must have swapped them on my bike. Are the Z1 stuff diffrent from the KZ regarding to front brakes and exchangeablity of parts as the calipers ?

i dont remember ever seeing calipers like that on a Z1 either .the forks could be Kz ,Z1s have reflectors on lower fork legs it takes a lot of work to smooth them off but the axle,hub and rotors are definately Z1 era.i wonder if those are maybe off an old H1 or H2 ?maybe if we can get Jeffs attention from Z1 enterprises he might be able to tell us exactly what they are.