I had HH pads and SS lines on the stock calipers but still wasn't real happy with them. I previously had an F4i and a VFR vtec that both stopped harder and with better feel. So when I saw someone had done this GSXR mod, I thought I'd give it a shot.

These came off an '02 GSXR1000. Getting them wasn't easy as they are a very popular upgrade with the 600/750 gixxer crowd. I was lucky enough to score a complete setup with SS lines sans the lever. Note: '03 and above are the newer radial design and WON'T work.

Everything bolted right up. The only exception was the resevoir. I was able to rotate the bracket and utilize one of the perch bolts. Unfortuantely, the gixxer SS lines were too short with my higher handlebars and I think they would still be too short with the stock bars. So I used the VTR SS lines which I also need to rotate at the upper banjo bolt. They are on the wrong side of the perch lock (DOH!). Got in a hurry.....

Eagle eyes will note that I was even able to use the 'Hawks lever; however, the part that actually pushes on the master cylinder was too long. In the levers "rest" position, it was still pressing on the m/c and actuating the brakes (not good!). I ground it down for the necessary clearance as I didn't want to wait for a gixxer lever.

How do they work? While at speed on a lonely back road, I did some "Can I stop before "X" location?" scenarios that I like to do for practice. Just pick a random spot in the road, etc. I was easily stopping WAY short of what I usually felt comfortable with on the stock brakes. Yeah, I know not very scientific but I was really surprised by the difference.

Sorry, I didn't try the 6 piston calipers with the VTR m/c to see how effective that combo would be. NOTE: Don't try the older (mid-90's on up) "black" six piston tokicos (some were gold too!). These have a 3.5 inch mounting bolt spread as opposed to the approx 2.5 in on the hawk. These are more abundant as they were used by both Suzuki and Kawasaki on their big bore bikes over several years.

 

BTW. You need to get the setup from an 02 GSXR 1000.

a well known internet junkyard sent me a set of 00-01 (Calipers, rotors and MC) and they do NOT work. Caliper bolt pattern is different as is the rotors (they are 100% stright, so the rotors don't come "out" from the wheel).

 

Hmmm.

I talked to this guy who has an 01 set of calipers and he said they bolted up.

Ebay Item number: 4516514816

Maybe it's your combination of rotors/calipers that make it not work?

 

Hey superbling....

Just wondering if you used the stock VTR rotors or switched to the Gixer rotors... I've been looking to upgrade my front brakes as well... (was looking to mount up a 954 MC and whatnot....) Thanks.

J.

 

SlowHawk,

Stock rotors.

I saw pics here somewhere of F4i calipers that someone had put on but they had to do some grinding. Not sure if it was the calipers or fork mounts.


Random,

Did your calipers look like these? These are the older '90's design I'm warning others not to try. I upgraded to these on my Suzuki B12S.

 

I'm the guy with the F4i calipers and master cylinder. I got the whole setup on eBay for 50-60 bucks. I did have to grind a little on the underside of the caliper to get it to clear the mounting bracket on the VTR fork. I very carefull ground a little at a time off the calipers until they would fit, making sure not to remove too much material from the caliper. I'm pretty happy with them; better brakes are available, but these can't be beat for the price, and stopping power and lever feel are both improved. I'm still using the stock F4i pads that came in the calipers I bought from eBay. I imagine braking will be a little better with aftermarket pads, although I have always been happy with the OEM sintered Honda pads.

 

OK. I finally figured out how to get the photo to show up in my post. You can see that it's a tight fit between the underside of the caliper and the mounting bracket on the fork. Better feel and braking power and these calipers are a few ounces lighter than the stock VTR calipers.


[web:659788b41c]https://www.superhawkforum.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=55[/web:659788b41c]

 

Hey all...

No to highjack the thread too much, but was wondering if anyone has tried the 929/954 or RVT calipers... are they any different (bigger/better) than the VTR's stockers? And I guess the second questions is... will they bolt right up? Thanks in advance....

J.

BTW... my plan is to switch the master cylinder as well... was wondering if it was worth getting a whole setup (954 mc and calipers)

 

Here's my take, but just remember I don't have hard numbers and I haven't tried the 954 calipers.
The 929, 954 and F4i calipers are externally identical except for color, so I would imagine that you will have to do a little grinding on the 954 calipers to make them fit the Superhawk, but I'm not absolutely certain. I believe leverage ratios are different for all--master cylinder piston sizes differ and caliper piston sizes differ, so replacing both the calipers and the master cylinder together is recommended. I did this with the F4i parts on my 'Hawk and I like the results. I have heard that the complete 954 setup is even better.
Also, I tried swapping the 3/4" (19mm) master cylinder from the 954 (or was it the 929?) for the stock Hawk mc (14mm) using the stock Hawk calipers and did not like the results. Others have spoken highly of this combination when using EBC HH pads, but I didn't try the pads and I found the lever firmer than stock but the effort required for hard stopping was more than I like.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the F4i parts and probably would be just as happy with the complete 954 or 929 setup.
Riccardo, who used to post to the RLZ list, compiled a database of the master cylinder and caliper piston sizes for the various Honda models from every year they were made, but I don't know where that information is now.

 

killer5280,

Cool thanks for the info. I've been Ebay/Web searching to find a setup that makes sense for me. The calipers seem to be a dime a dozen, but the Master Cylinder seems to be the tougher part to find, but they are out there. I'll probably just pick up the calipers to match whatever master cylinder (F4i/929/954) I finally get.

J.

 

Another thing I just remembered. The lever from the Superhawk will fit the MC for the F4i, but not the 954 or 929 MC.

 

While the shawks brakes are decent, they arn't exactly to my liking. I prefer my brakes be much more aggressive (think r1)


Would you say that this is a better improvement in braking then switching to braded lines? How does the master cyl swap compare?

 

With the MC and caliper swap I find the brakes to be much improved over the stock setup. The lever is firmer and there is still plenty of power with two fingers. I haven't ridden an R1, but I have ridden a CBR600RR and the brakes on my Superhawk aren't as good as the RR. Still, I don't really have any complaints. Stock, the thing that bothered me about the Superhawk brakes was the spongy feel at the lever and that's gone with the F4i parts.
I think pads play a big part in the "aggressiveness" of a brake system. Some of the aftermarket sintered pads give an immediate "bite" that most people like.
I definitely think that the MC/caliper swap gives more improvement than braided lines.

 

If anyone is SERIOUSLY interested in this mod, let me ASAP.

 

PM sent.