Busa Brakes

[Lil guy Big Busa]

well im picking my busa up this weekend, and the first thing that ive been told is i need to upgrade the brakes because the brakes are a little week on this beast

ive heard overall that the brakes are not exactly up to par on these bikes, and not even comparable to the zx14, what do i have to do to make the brakes what they should be, what im say what is the weak point, pads, rotors, calipers, or just the whole system in general.

i heard they got better on the genII, but my is a genI, my buddy with the 14 rode our buddys genII and said the 14's brakes were still better. Im a big believer in good brakes and i want to know where i need to start.

why would they not make the brakes on these bikes superb considering that they are land rockets???

 

[Lil guy Big Busa]

damn as soon as i posted this a thread popped up about brakes lol

 

[Commuta_Busa]

the weakest link is the master cylinder. Swap in a radial one and it's a night and day difference. Even with everything else remaining stock.

 

[Mythos]

I know your concern is the Gen 1 brakes but I can concur with your ZX-14 pal and tell you the 14 has the best brakes and the dif is very noticeable. Stil, my gen2 busa brakes are adequate. Never had them fade under ordinary street riding and i'm sure it will lock front and rear wheels on dry pavement with a 200 lb rider if you apply brakes too hard.

 

[Blake051300]

There's a guy on e-bay (sixity) he sells brake pad kits and they made a night & day difference on my bike, plus the prices are great. Check him out.

 

[HillbillyTom]

I swapped the stock lines for Spiegler braided, and stuck in a set of EBC HH pads, night & day difference. Waaay better feel and feed back, more actual braking force, very little to no heat fade (turn the rotors blue/black, no fade though). Best mod you can do for Gen 1 brakes.
I used the same braided lines on the clutch and rear brake too. Seldom ever use the rear brake (OEM pads less than half worn at 18,000 miles), but the line there finished off the visual theme.

 

[racerV]

What kind of riding do you plan on doing? Stock may be just fine for you unless you are planning track days and aggressive riding.

 

[Lil guy Big Busa]

What kind of riding do you plan on doing? Stock may be just fine for you unless you are planning track days and aggressive riding.

i like aggresive cornering, and first and foremost want my brakes to work without a doubt should i ever really need to call on themlease:

 

[Lil guy Big Busa]

radial cylinder, brake pads, brake lines, maybe some galfer wave rotors, so basically the whole system lol???

 

[Warchild]

I have certainly gone down this road before....

I was never exposed to Gen I brakes, but heard plenty of unflattering comments about them.

However, I was surprised and mighty disappointed at the stock brake system on the Gen II's. When I first scored my K8 in November, 2007, I was appalled at the "wooden" feel of the brakes. Wasn't expecting that, because the 4-piston Tokico radial calipers are normally quite excellent... certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Installing a set of Spiegler SS brake lines help significantly, but it still wasn't where I thought the feel of the brakes should be.

Only then did I realize that Suzuki, for some inexplicable reason, used the same tired, old-school technology conventional master cylinder that they have used for decades. Kinda strange... I mean, if Suzuki can put a modern Nissan radial master cylinder (and Nissan radial calipers!) as stock equipment on the B-King, you woulda though the 'Busa would get the same treatment...

Regardless, a Brembo 19mm master cylinder from HPC (and an über-blingy Rizoma reservoir), I can now dang-near approach stoppie territory! (Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but not that far off the mark):

 

[Lil guy Big Busa]

yea i see upgrades in the future on my brakes

 

[dadofthree]

Guess I don't ride hard enough anyway I've always heard it stated that the lines were the weak spot on the Gen I brakes. I've never had a problem locking up the rear and never tried to lock the front, just call me crazy

 

[dadofthree]

Also I'm thinking if you ever ride at night the number one improvement you can make to a Gen I are the headlights. Go HID and have them properly adjusted.

 

[Lil guy Big Busa]

Also I'm thinking if you ever ride at night the number one improvement you can make to a Gen I are the headlights. Go HID and have them properly adjusted.

yea im looking to get in on one of those group buys with the new headlight with the hid and angel eyes already ready to go plug and play, along with swingarm extensions, white face gauges, new license plate holder, undertail, new chain for my extensions, smoked windscreen, new helmet....... damn the list goes on and on and on lol

 

[Warchild]

Also I'm thinking if you ever ride at night the number one improvement you can make to a Gen I are the headlights. Go HID and have them properly adjusted.

And if you are an insane night-time rider, wailing through heavy deer territory... you want even more HID lighting... :agree:

 

[ogre]

Also I'm thinking if you ever ride at night the number one improvement you can make to a Gen I are the headlights. Go HID and have them properly adjusted.

And if you are an insane night-time rider, wailing through heavy deer territory... you want even more HID lighting... :agree:

now i'm not gonna say that my retros whoop the snot out of a plug n play "angel eye" headlight and some bolt on jeep lights, buuuuut...

 

[Ziggyman]

Don't mean to threadjack, but where did you get those add-on lights Warchild?

 

[EarlyBird]

https://www.hayabusa.org/forum/gen-...nder-upgrade-pazzo-clutch-handle-upgrade.html

My mods are like Warchilds! I did the brembo radial master, SS lines, and Brakes pads! MUCH MUCH Better!

 

[Warchild]

Don't mean to threadjack, but where did you get those add-on lights Warchild?

Those are Hella Micro DE HID Driving Lamps. They put out a staggering amount of lumens for their size. Not inexpensive. The Good $hit never is....

The brackets, however, are custom-designed by me, but I had a friend with mad skillz in metal-bending actually fabricate them up for me. These babies are the main reason this system works so well.... it's an extremely tight fit, and crucial bending in the correct areas was required in order for the brackets to avoid striking the adjacent bodywork. They are mirror opposites.

Here they are after bending and grinding, right before they were powder-coated an unobtrusive matte-black color: