nissin calipers from CBR f4i? for L3

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bumble72
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nissin calipers from CBR f4i? for L3

Post by bumble72 »

Hi All

I know this subject has reputedly been covered b4, but ive read the FAQ and still have a few questions.

Problem:
Front spongy OEM brake

Thinking swapping to nissin as their anodised and hopefully have a longer maintenance interval in real life. Would like get this done before winter as the hills are mega steep and I feel my spongy kwak brakes are going to kill me know if these days.

Question
1) does a CBR f4i front caliper fit the zxr400l, as well the FX FY and F4.
2) the nissins have bigger piston wells I,m told.
So is it recommended to use a Honda or brembo or other master cylinder- presumably these have a bigger capacity than the kwaks and more fluid to puss the pistons out?. And do these present any fitting problems?
3) I think someone mentioned that the gsxr rear caliper bolts ( 10mm head, 8mm shank) were a fit for mounting the nissins to the fork. Can anyone confirm this


Thanks very much for any advice.

Dec
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banner001
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Re: nissin calipers from CBR f4i? for L3

Post by banner001 »

1. have you changed to a brand new set of braided lines?

2. have you kept or ditched the splitter?

3. have you rebuilt your front MC?

4. have you rebuilt your current calipers?

these are the common areas for brakes feeling spongy, poor brake fluid seals in the MC and at the calipers leading to "give" and a lack of bite and feel. also, im from huddersfield, i know what hills are :D

you can make your calipers out of diamonds, if the seals are toad, then they will feel bad. my original front brakes were good to lock up the front wheel at 50 on a straight dry road...your originals will also be similar when rebuilt.

if you fit calipers which require more fluid then you will need a bigger MC, branding doesnt matter, but the internal MC dimensions do (i.e. the bore and stroke), i dont know any of these measurements off the top of my head. people that have put radial MC's on their bikes have issues with them hitting the fairing.
UK ZXR400 L3 (1993) - Fully restored and on the roads, my green beast!
JPN ZXR250 A2 (1990) - Revs to 19,200rpm... 'nuff said :smt003
bumble72
Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2017 9:03 pm
My Bike: ZXR 400L
Location: Birmingham

Re: nissin calipers from CBR f4i? for L3

Post by bumble72 »

Hi Banner


So we're both hillbillies then.

Thanks for the list of must do tasks.
I,ve done nothing yet.
But when I do it, I ,LL do it all together inc new hel lines separate.

Couple of considerations.
Kwak calipers are unanodised. Perhaps it's this and or the dust seal design that (I've heard) leads to them corroding quickly. I,be also heard with proper maintenance, there v good. But Nissin ones are anodised...

Re the MC, fair enough re irrelevance of brand. But I wasn't too sure whether one was more suitable fit than another.

The 4 pot nissin - is that radial for FX, fy, f4 and f4i?
IE di any or those CBR models calipers fit the zxr400, with gsxr rear disc bolts to your ( or anyone elses knowledge). There are alot of f4i calipers on eBay...

Ps i found new seals for the tokico are something around £120_130. They're £70 for the nissins. I got a set of nissin off a cbr600f4, 1999 i think. Bought a 10mm pipe with internal diameter 8mm and cut lengths the width of the zxr's frames caliper mount. The bolt spacing in the nissins matches the tokicos. Problem with nissins is the edges of the caliper either side the pads are curved toward the disc. These raised edges need to be ground off. I say edges, cos i imagine its both, but i,ll the do the one near the bleed nipple first and see how the fit is as i,ve seen it blocks the disc from reaching and so sitting correctly between the pads. I 'll see if i can grind off a bit with circular motorised grinding stone. If not i'll have a think.
Last edited by bumble72 on Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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banner001
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Re: nissin calipers from CBR f4i? for L3

Post by banner001 »

Technically all aluminium is annodized. All of it will have an Al2O3 layer, forced annodized just makes it deeper and you can add a colouring as it's porous. Dust seals will fail if people fail to maintain their calipers...this is generally what happens.

As for MC fitting, people don't generally change it, so if you want to go down that route you will need to do your own research, try some out and report back.

Same for your calipers, especially if you are going radial as you will need to machine some funky holders or change your forks and yokes.
UK ZXR400 L3 (1993) - Fully restored and on the roads, my green beast!
JPN ZXR250 A2 (1990) - Revs to 19,200rpm... 'nuff said :smt003
bumble72
Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2017 9:03 pm
My Bike: ZXR 400L
Location: Birmingham

Re: nissin calipers from CBR f4i? for L3

Post by bumble72 »

Ah. I didn't know the f4i were radial. Might give them a wide berth then.
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