Upgraded to F4I brakes and not impressed, something wrong?
 

Hi guys,
So this weekend i installed F4I calipers and MC, and reused my SS lines.
I think there is a bit of improvement in braking, but i am not impressed at all. Everyone is screaming how much better it is and i don't see it.
The brake lever still travels half way before any pressure begins to build, and braking seems just a bit better.
Am i missing something?

rebleed them and try again?

Bled them well when installed. Made extra sure no air bubbles.

This makes me think you didn't bleed them well enough.

Did you bleed the banjobolt?

I used the bleed nozle on the calipers. Should i have done it through the bolts?

The way the MC sits, the highest point is often the banjo at the MC. So it tends to get a pocket of air right there that is hard to get rid of.

A solution is to try bleeding at that upper banjo bolt. some have had luck zip tieing the brake on overnight with the bars turned to the left too..

An F4i m/c and caliper setup with steel braided lines wil have minimal lever travel when bled correctly. Also, are you using new pads or are you using the used pads that came with the calipers?

Thanks guys, i will try and bleed again.
For now I am using the pads that came with the calipers since they are twice better condition than my pads were.

The pads that came with the calipers are going to be bedded to the rotors they came from meaning the grooves that have been cut into them over time from the previous rotors are not going to match the grooves that are in you VTR rotors. This creates a reduced braking surface resulting in poor braking performance. For maximum braking performance you'll need a fresh set of pads which will need time to bed in to your rotors. The pads that came with the calipers will eventually bed into your rotors, but it will take awhile.

Thanks, i will look in to that.

Sanding the pad surfaces will shorten the break in period.

I reused some old pads on mine and it's taken over a thousand miles to really start to bed in, now the brakes seem to get better weekly.

Pads are extremely important. I put EBC HHs on my stock MC/calipers/SS lines and bled them like crazy. My brakes are incredible, the lever only need 1" of travel before they start biting and another 2" to send me over the bars. I was set on RC51 calipers and master but now I don't see the point. Get pads, SS lines, bleed the system and call it a day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FinalBoss (Post 268666)

Pads are extremely important. I put EBC HHs on my stock MC/calipers/SS lines and bled them like crazy. My brakes are incredible, the lever only need 1" of travel before they start biting and another 2" to send me over the bars. I was set on RC51 calipers and master but now I don't see the point. Get pads, SS lines, bleed the system and call it a day.

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Feedback and feel are A reason to change to something like the F4I calipers, MC, and Vesrah RJL pads... in fact, the ability to use the RJL pads is reason enough for me.

For comparison.,...

On the SH I have used:
OEM brakes, fresh fluid, new OEM pads, bled correctly.
OEM brakes, SS lines fresh fluid, New OEM pads, bled correctly.
OEM brakes, SS lines, EBC HH pads, fresh fluid, bled correctly.
GSXR 6 POT calipers, RC51 19mm MC, SS lines, EBC HH pads, fresh fluid, bled correctly

And just yesterday I finally installed.
F4I calipers, F4I MC, Vesrah RJL pads, SS lines, fresh fluid, bled correctly.. And this is the best set up yet for bite, fade resistance, lever travel and feel, feedback. Once these bed in they should outperform both the bike and rider.