S1 Calipers on a 2008 FZ6 S2 rotor?

[tigrtraps]

Think that title made sense, I'm learning as I go. Recently bought a used '08 FZ6. After the first 10 mile ride the front brakes seemed a bit squishy, and I decided to take them apart and clean them.

Problem No.1; the bolts holding the caliper to the fork were hand loose. Yup, I loosened all 4 of these bolts with my hand. Weird and scary, time to look at the brakes.

Problem No.2; my used 2008 FZ6 has 2 piston brakes instead of the stock 4 pistons. Brakes show some minor rust in the pistons but seem to be working fine. Clean them up, put them back on and TIGHTEN the bolts.

Problem No.3; bike won't roll an inch now. Front brakes are completely locked. WTF? So I loosen the front caliper bolts back to 'hand loose' and the wheel can move, brakes will stop it.

My conclusion is since the S1 brakes need to be free floating, and I assume the rotors are stock on my '08 bike. This means that the bolts will always have to be loose so the calipers can actually work. As I said, I'm learning as I go. I'm not even sure if the rotors are different from S1 to S2 brakes on the Fz6.

This is very much a problem as I'm not comfortable with a caliper bolt vibrating off while riding. Evidently the idiot that owned this bike before me was. When I put the bike on the center stand and spin the front tire by hand I only get half of a revolution before the 'floating' brakes slow the tire. So big question is, is there any way that these floating 2 piston calipers could of worked? I already have the correct calipers on order to me, and thank god the bike was cheap. Now I'm paranoid with what else was half-assed on it though.

 

[Motogiro]

t sounds like like those calipers are incompatible. Do not operate the bike without properly addressing this issue. The calipers may work with additional spacers. Do not use these calipers with any bolt that are not tightened to the proper torque!

 

[FinalImpact]

Think that title made sense, I'm learning as I go. Recently bought a used '08 FZ6. After the first 10 mile ride the front brakes seemed a bit squishy, and I decided to take them apart and clean them.

Problem No.1; the bolts holding the caliper to the fork were hand loose. Yup, I loosened all 4 of these bolts with my hand. Weird and scary, time to look at the brakes.

Problem No.2; my used 2008 FZ6 has 2 piston brakes instead of the stock 4 pistons. Brakes show some minor rust in the pistons but seem to be working fine. Clean them up, put them back on and TIGHTEN the bolts.


Problem No.3; bike won't roll an inch now. Front brakes are completely locked. WTF? So I loosen the front caliper bolts back to 'hand loose' and the wheel can move, brakes will stop it.

My conclusion is since the S1 brakes need to be free floating, and I assume the rotors are stock on my '08 bike. This means that the bolts will always have to be loose so the calipers can actually work. As I said, I'm learning as I go. I'm not even sure if the rotors are different from S1 to S2 brakes on the Fz6.

This is very much a problem as I'm not comfortable with a caliper bolt vibrating off while riding. Evidently the idiot that owned this bike before me was. When I put the bike on the center stand and spin the front tire by hand I only get half of a revolution before the 'floating' brakes slow the tire. So big question is, is there any way that these floating 2 piston calipers could of worked? I already have the correct calipers on order to me, and thank god the bike was cheap. Now I'm paranoid with what else was half-assed on it though.

Dang ^^^ That is SCARY!!! Glad you're paying attention and ordered up the proper parts.

Do your front forks look like these?

I'm just curious if they may have come from something else due to a spill or something. I can't imagine the logic behind chucking the caliper for older ones unless something else happened. Can you share a picture of the front forks please.

 

[FinalImpact]

Oh and the rotors and wheels are the same although they have discontinued the earlier PNs. There could be a number of reasons....

Please confirm all of the correct spacers are on the hub and axle too!

 

[tigrtraps]

Oh and the rotors and wheels are the same although they have discontinued the earlier PNs. There could be a number of reasons....

Please confirm all of the correct spacers are on the hub and axle too!

Didn't even think to look at the spacers. Appreciate the advice so far though.

I'll try to grab a pic of the forks tomorrow. The bike has a neat streetfighter conversion on it (my avatar pic is the bike), i think the VS02 headlight? And it's fairings have been removed. It's just all done poorly. Again, cheap bike. The engine sounds good and starts up immediately every time at least.

I doubt this is it, but it does have different levers for the brake/clutch. Of course there could be air in the line, failing hydraulic brake lines, etc. Gonna see how cost effective (though not cutting corners) I can redo these brakes for. I've also never done this kind of wrenching but I like digging into projects like this.

 

[FinalImpact]

How about this? These are original S2 Forks which had 4 pot calipers.

Do your front forks look like these?

I'm just curious if they may have come from something else due to a spill or something. I can't imagine the logic behind chucking the caliper for older ones unless something else happened. Can you share a picture of the front forks please.

 

[tigrtraps]

How about this? These are original S2 Forks which had 4 pot calipers.

Since I've been out of bikes for 5ish years, all the forks look the same to me now! Ha. The pic definitely resembles the bottom portion of my forks. I won't be able to confirm until I'm in person with the bike though.

By chance, you don't have a pic of S1 Forks like that? For comparison.

 

[Marcin]

If your avatar shows your bike then the front fender suggests S1 forks. As far as I know S1 forks didn't come in black by series.

Do you know the bike's history? Maybe you have swapped forks or sth?

 

[tigrtraps]

If your avatar shows your bike then the front fender suggests S1 forks. As far as I know S1 forks didn't come in black by series.

Do you know the bike's history? Maybe you have swapped forks or sth?

Damn good eye. Its an FZ1 fender off an '05, at least I was told. Various parts of the bike have been painted as well.

I only know the history from the last seller, and I'm not sure its truthful. The VIN shows a 2008 manufacturing year so I have that. For the brakes in question, he simply never mentioned anything about them and I didn't have the foresight to check those.

For the forks, what's sth mean?

 

[Marcin]

Something

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

With the mods that'd have been done, S1 front brakes are NOT an upgrade on an '08, possibly the original front end was wrecked and thats what the PO tried to put on(obviously un-successful).. Maybe its just S2 forks with S1 brakes

Once you can verify you have a S2, original front end on the bike, you can put the 4 pot piston calipers back on. They don't float, the pistons move in (and are a considerable, easy, upgrade back to stock at least. SS brake lines, if lines are needed are much less $ than stock and perform much better...

Many guys do R6 fork upgrades so getting original forks and original S2 calipers shouldn't be a big issue (or too much $ to replace).

The bike will be worth a bunch more and as noted above, DO NOT RIDE IT until repaired properly. A GOOD GOING OVER I suspect is also warranted...


PM sent as well..

 

[Marcin]

On the first photo I see that the fender is mounted on zip-ties?? Come on - give us some good photos of the forks - something really weird is going on here

 

[tigrtraps]

On the first photo I see that the fender is mounted on zip-ties?? Come on - give us some good photos of the forks - something really weird is going on here

Not so much weird as poor workmanship. Not sure if you guys can see this link to the old Ebay listing for it.

I didn't buy it necessarily for all the mods, I just wanted a good running naked bike at the right price. Got what I paid for .

 

[FinalImpact]

From the little screen on the Razr HD looks like early forks painted. Not the same color as oem satin black. Im looking for the oem casting shape and its hard to see.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Damn, they did some screwing with that bike. The side POD covers are gone as are all the electrics(hidden somewhwere I guess). The rear fende huggerr, that bolts to the swing arm) and pillion pegs are gone.. Chain looks a bit loose, may want to check that...

**I like how they say, "No known defects" when your calipers are literally falling off.

IMO, I'd be knocking on their door and getting some $ back. I find it un-real how anyone can sell a bike with that brake issue. Can you say MAJOR LAWSUIT when I rear end a car when my brakes fall off?


Agreed with Randy, the lower fork legs are definitly re-painted, (the year fork, I don't know). If it was an early fork, there shouldn't be an issue with the S1 brakes, WTF?

 

[darius]

Not so much weird as poor workmanship. Not sure if you guys can see this link to the old Ebay listing for it.

I didn't buy it necessarily for all the mods, I just wanted a good running naked bike at the right price. Got what I paid for .

Lesson learned but you haven't found anything you can't turnaround at this point. Stock forks are cheap on this forum. I'm sure the R6 forum would yield a good deal on calipers and consider pairing them with new SS lines.

Bike needs a thorough inspection front to back. I hope all the electrics are ok and that exhaust doesn't cause heat issues for the tail light.

 

[FinalImpact]

Just a couple observations;
Granted the price is right and it has all of the core components, I see that even virtually every part on that bike has been apart "played with".

From a safety perspective, please take some time and put a socket/wrench/screw driver on EVERY FASTENER on that bike as allot of the bolts have been off either for painting or repairs.

The calipers gave you the "full on warning" so carefully inspect everything and make sure there are no more surprises.

Also - the calipers are of the floating kind and should freely move in the same plain as the piston (remove the pads to check). They should not move any other direction as in, there should be no free-play up and down - just in and out. The pistons apply pressure from one side pulling the shell together to displace equal pressure on the opposite pad hence the name "floating caliper". Because they are used and from another bike, I'd remove them and inspect them, clean out the old grease and check the fit on the sliding pins. Without the grease and boots, there should be no play on the pins.

The rear caliper is also a floating caliper.
PS there is a compatibility parts list of S1 and S2 parts as well as other bike parts. Do a search and read up on the interchange of S1 forks/S2 triple and wheel. PLEASE get a new front tire too! That looks like the original OEM tire from 08!?!
Good luck!

 

[darius]

PLEASE get a new front tire too! That looks like the original OEM tire from 08!?!

The front looks like a Pirelli Diablo like I'm running. You keep asking me if my tires are still stock, too.

The rear could possibly be mismatched though as the siping doesn't extend nearly as far to the sidewall. Tire dates always great things to check still.

 

[Marcin]

Sorry to say but it seems you've bought yourself some work to do. If the brake calipers fit to the fork mounting points then you've got S1 forks with S1 calipers.

You're missing some parts as well, the back should be quite different.

As the guys said before - money refound or I don't know if it's doable in your country - leave the bike and get the money back.

 

[tigrtraps]

Tried to get back the deposit through PayPal, PayPal told me to suck rocks cause I didn't go through Ebay. I saw the bike on CL first and had already started talking to the guy when I noticed he also had an Ebay listing.

Edit: Called PayPal to find out more of why they denied the claim, nothing I could google showed reason for it. They don't cover "vehicles, digital goods, video games or downloads" especially outside of Ebay. PayPal agent did give me an idea for a different avenue though that I will pursue once I know what actually needs fixed.

So for now, let's assume I'm stuck with the work of making the brakes safe. Full disclosure; I have a Triumph Street Triple R on order and should be picking it up Monday. 80 degrees out today and no bike to ride has me frustrated enough.

Got some pics of the forks, after looking at the S1 forks vs S2 and my pics I think I have S1 forks.

Now if what Marcin said about the S1 brakes only fitting S1 forks is correct (cuz I don't know either way) I'd like to figure out why the current 'free floating' calipers are dragging when those bolts are tightened to torque spec.