New Front Brake Kit

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With 11,500 Mk3 s having been built and I'm guessing a pretty good survival rate, there is a market there, just not as big as the earlier bikes.
Of course it makes sense to go after the larger market first.
 
Well if you ever decide to provide something for the MK3 let us know. I'd definitely be interested for one.
 
there is a lot of interest in one for the MK3, with different people offering suggestions as to fitment, such as
converting the MK3 brake to the right side so my standard brake kit can be used
turning the slider around and have the caliper on the front on the left side
fitting the caliper at the rear of the slider on the left side.
not everyone would want the same setup, so to keep everyone happy I would need to make 2 or 3 more
fork sliders, discs for left side, (outer holes going the wrong way), new bulkhead hose fitting bracket, new hoses
etc
sorry, I wont be supplying disc brake kits for the MK3 anytime in the forseeable future, and the BIGGEST stumbling block is I'm just to damned busy,
I know some are waiting for my twin disc setup ,( the left slider for the twin disc kit is not suitable for
use as a replacement slider for left side MK3's)
 
not really, if I could get around to having less than the 2 to 3 hrs sleep every night then I may be able to work on the MK3'S. remember the brake kit is only one product of a multitude that I produce and also I am only a one man show although I farm out the CNC machining etc, also believe it or not I came here over 5 years ago to retire, some things just dont go to plan.
 
Ok I apologise but it's how you responded to one poster that left me with that thought! Great to be so inundated.
 
For those wanting to switch the mk3 over to right side braking so that your brake would fit, are there problems in that? I would change the switch as well to allow your mc to fit. I don't use the estart and could fit a button in any case.
Stopping is more important.
I've looked at a few different options for the bike and none of them are perfect. All those that look like they would be effective require some adaptation, ie different controls, brackets to mount caliper etc, etc.

Glen
 
well you would need a pre MK3 leftside pinchbolt slider. I;m not sure about axle spacers when reversing the wheel.
 
The right slider on the mk3 has a pinch bolt, it looks like it would go on the left no problem. I can make new spacers on the lathe, not a problem.

Glen
 
The third kit is going onto the mk3, we shall see what is entailed. It won't be an easy two hour job as it is on the earlier bikes, but that is OK.

Glen
 
Don sent me one of his kits and I fitted it to the MK3.
The plan was to put my right side slider with pinch bolt on the left and switch the brake side to the right, using the new slider from the kit of course.
The right side Mk 3 slider went on the left without issue.


New Front Brake Kit


The kit slider fit nicely except it was loose up and down about 1/16" with the bottom damper bolt fully in

New Front Brake Kit



The problem was that the new slider only had a bit over 1/16 " of meat left in the bottom whereas the originals have a bit under 3/16"
It might be hard to see, but it is sort of visible in the photo

New Front Brake Kit



The nose on the damper needs .142 plus 15 thou or so for squish on the internal washer. I decided to make a spacer to fit behind the fibre washer to make up the difference. Don has determined that a bit of an error in machining ocurred and has alerted the CNC outfit to make the correction going forward.

New Front Brake Kit


With an. 080 steel spacer in place the end of the nose on the damper could be felt just recessed at bit up the bottom hole as needed. The wheel went back on with the same spacers (reversed as with the wheel though) and everything centred up beautifully

New Front Brake Kit


My first plan was to do away with the MK 3 switchgear and replace it with the earlier type switchgear which the kit is designed for. On review it looked like the Mk3 switchgear could be used, which is great because it is throttle, starter button and the works.
First off is to replace the kit socket head screws with some countersunk head screws and to drill out the countersink.

New Front Brake Kit


Bracket screwed onto kit mastercylinder. I put some loctite on the two screws. At this point I taped up the end of the mc so various grinding bits would not end up inside.

New Front Brake Kit
 
This is the top half of the handlebar switch housing. There is a threaded boss in the centre that take the third clamp screw, the other two screws are at the back side of the handlebar. This boss protrudes out a little and prevents the kit mastercylinder from sitting flat on the surface. I ground it down about 1/16" at bottom to zero at top, that was enough to do it.

New Front Brake Kit


The bottom boss for the same screw needs a bit of shaping as well. I changed the roundhead screw to a countersunk head screw and drilled out a countersink in the boss. At the same time I used the edge of a large file to remove about 1/16" from the bottom of the boss, in other words, moved the bottom edge up. In hindsight I should have removed a bit more, perhaps 1/8", although it wasn't critical, just meant a bit more die grinder work on the kit pieces.

New Front Brake Kit



I used the die grinder on the kit mount to make additional clearance for the MK3 lower clamp boss. I also drilled the mounting holes out just a tiny bit, 1/64" to make fitting easier.


New Front Brake Kit



With that done the kit mastercylinder and lever mounted to the MK3 switchgear rather nicely. The lever is too far out though. It measures 4" out as opposed to 3" for the original and for my clutch lever. What to do?

New Front Brake Kit


I could either make a new lever or alter the kit one. I decided to take the easy route and alter the kit lever. I added a piece of 1/4" thick plate to the switch pad/lever stop part of the lever. Right away this brought the lever in to about 2 3/4" from the bars, so I filed a bit off the 1/4" plate to get the three inch distance I was looking for. When I welded the little piece of plate on, I also built up the portion of the lever that pushes the mc piston. I built this up on the back side, because it needed to be ground back quite a bit on the front side, in order to let the piston back out, or at least nearly out.

New Front Brake Kit



A bit more grinding, filing and fitting,then some polishing to make sure the lever operates the piston smoothly. You can see how the lever protrudes beyond the mount lug. That is because of the material I added to bring the lever end in. If it bothers me I can shape it away, but right now it doesn't. And the brake is bloody fantastic!!
I may need hot motor parts from Jim Schmidt and head work from Jim Comstock just to get the power up to match the brake :mrgreen:


New Front Brake Kit
 
Now this level of trial and error machining is something I can appreciate : )
 
I tried to include every little step, simple though it may be, so that fellows with MK3 s can go ahead and use this kit. From what Don said, there was quite a bit of interest in fitting it to the MK3. It may only be a one year model, but there seems to be a lot of guys with them on the forum here.
At some point, he may get time to come up with a dogleg lever for MK 3 use. Other than that, it is just a bit of drilling and shaping to get it on there, no fancy tools or great skill required.

Glen
 
Great post Glen. I've done quite a few miles now on my Madass brake and it really is just like riding a modern bike in terms of feel and power. I'll certainly be buying another one for my Mk3 once I start on that project.
 
I think it is great that people like Don and others are making these items available for our old bikes. The stock front brake has always worried me with its tendency to overheat and fade to nothing right when you need it most.
Also, did you notice the weight difference between the stock disc and the kit disc? The reduction is pretty great, and rotating weight at that. Gotta be good for a hp or two on acceleration. On deceleration I think we picked up about 50 hp, it would be fun to calculate. :D
It has me looking at the rear disc. It doesn't need bigger braking there, but it would be nice to toss the dinner plate disc and replace it with a lightweight bolt on. I believe such a thing is available, wont match the front for appearance tho.
Glen
 
I'm currently doing 10 more of these brake kits , Rohan and G-force are on the short list, if anyone is interested
please PM me, probably within the week I will start offering them to the rest of the world at a higher price than what I've offered them to the members here,so that means if you dont jump in soon it will be to late.
 
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