Mounted wave front disc

VIppen

contributing rider
Joined
Mar 26, 2023
Messages
22
Location
Sweden
I've had issues with uneven braking from the front brake since I got the bike (used, at 5' km). The old disc is not warped, but there's been a very slight variance in thickness. I suspect there's been brake pad residue stuck unevenly from applying the brakes while standing still following some spirited braking. I have tried to wash/polish/grind it off, with little effect. Hence: enter a new wave brake disc (a costly little bugger...). Installation was straight forward, once I lay my hand on a proper front stand. Before:

Gammal skiva fix.jpg

After:

Ny skiva fix.jpg

Looks quite the part, I think. Switched to sintered pads as well, hope it will deliver a consistent feel, and som better bite too. Too bad there's still at least three months 'til the weather permits riding in this frigid place...
 
Don't worry, the ring got there before the wheel got back on the bike.

Expensive!!! I've looked around a bit without finding it at any better price than at the local dealer, about €280. Got tired of the uneven braking, and digging through the internet.
 
AOMC has them for $275 plus free shipping in US. That is the best price I could find when looking around. Dropping half a pound of rotating, unsprung mass has got to feel better.
 
I put one on my 401 and the braking is extremely smooth, all the old pulsing and uneven braking is gone. The wave rotor doesn’t really do much but the floating part is what is important.
 
AOMC has them for $275 plus free shipping in US. That is the best price I could find when looking around. Dropping half a pound of rotating, unsprung mass has got to feel better.

Quite the same price then, and I walked mine home 500 m so that only cost me some calories...
 
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I put one on my 401 and the braking is extremely smooth, all the old pulsing and uneven braking is gone. The wave rotor doesn’t really do much but the floating part is what is important.

Sounds promising! Hope the disc and the sintered pads will add some bite too. What pad so You run? Have You experienced better braking power?
 
Sounds promising! Hope the disc and the sintered pads will add some bite too. What pad so You run? Have You experienced better braking power?
I also did this, a few weeks ago with the Galfer sintered pads also from AOMC. At first I thought something had gone wrong because the feel at the levers is different, and I did both at the same time so I don't know what to attribute to the pads and what to the rotor, but overall I'm loving it. I can't tell the difference in stopping power because I rode the original rotor way too long after it started to get jittery. I wish I had done it along time ago.
 
I also did this, a few weeks ago with the Galfer sintered pads also from AOMC. At first I thought something had gone wrong because the feel at the levers is different, and I did both at the same time so I don't know what to attribute to the pads and what to the rotor, but overall I'm loving it. I can't tell the difference in stopping power because I rode the original rotor way too long after it started to get jittery. I wish I had done it along time ago.
In what way did You think something was wrong? WEird feeling at the lever? Poor brake power? Inconsistent brake power?
 
A pulsating when front braking, increasingly strong the lower the speed. The whole bike, not at the levers. The first I noticed it was like ABS kicking in when coming to a stop, and then it got worse over time. I don't know if it's a problem this bike is particularly susceptible to but I've seen it in several other threads.
 
A pulsating when front braking, increasingly strong the lower the speed. The whole bike, not at the levers. The first I noticed it was like ABS kicking in when coming to a stop, and then it got worse over time. I don't know if it's a problem this bike is particularly susceptible to but I've seen it in several other threads.
Was that AFTER You switched disc and pads? Then I would suggest that You've applied the brakes when hot, having them leave brake pad residue on the disc (which I take it is the most common cause of pulsating brakeing, after quite some reading on the web).
 
I also did this, a few weeks ago with the Galfer sintered pads also from AOMC. At first I thought something had gone wrong because the feel at the levers is different, and I did both at the same time so I don't know what to attribute to the pads and what to the rotor, but overall I'm loving it. I can't tell the difference in stopping power because I rode the original rotor way too long after it started to get jittery. I wish I had done it along time ago.
I also also did this - or at least I will when the rotors arrive. Ordered from Genial Motor in Italy. US$171.68 (192,15€) and US$80.93 (90,59€) for the front and rear, respectively. Shipping via Fedex cost US$32.69 which I thought was a very reasonable fee to pay, given the destination.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I also have the same issue with brake shudder/pulsation with the original front rotor, and cleaning with brake cleaner and sandpaper hasn't resolved the problem for me either. ~5000km, though I started noticing the pulsation at ~2000km or so. I installed Brembo SA/SP compound sintered pads at ~1000km, but I don't believe those are the root cause of the issue.
 
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Sounds promising! Hope the disc and the sintered pads will add some bite too. What pad so You run? Have You experienced better braking power?
Sorry, just saw your response. I did what you are not supposed to do and just left the old stock pads on it. In my experience with waved rotors before, they usually have a little more crisp initial bite and that’s about it…
 
I also also did this - or at least I will when the rotors arrive. Ordered from Genial Motor in Italy. US$171.68 (192,15€) and US$80.93 (90,59€) for the front and rear, respectively. Shipping via Fedex cost US$32.69 which I thought was a very reasonable fee to pay, given the destination.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I also have the same issue with brake shudder/pulsation with the original front rotor, and cleaning with brake cleaner and sandpaper hasn't resolved the problem for me either. ~5000km, though I started noticing the pulsation at ~2000km or so. I installed Brembo SA/SP compound sintered pads at ~1000km, but I don't believe those are the root cause of the issue.
Hello,

Thanks for tha interesting topic, have you changed the brake pads? I was seeing that on the website, which recommended us above, where you bought the cheaper discs also sell the Brembo pads, do you know if they are compatible with the system that we already manage and which pads you chose because they propose 3 different types or you stayed with the factory and are sufficient?

Which are the Galfer ones you have installed?

I also see on this Italian site that the rear disc has another image than the Galfer wave rear disc that we can see on the Projekt racing site, do you have a picture of the one you received?

Finally, has anyone tested the FLAME RACING disc ? I saw it on a 401 but I wanted to know if it had much difference with the Galfer Wave?

Thanks for your help, best regards
 
Which are the Galfer ones you have installed?

I also see on this Italian site that the rear disc has another image than the Galfer wave rear disc that we can see on the Projekt racing site, do you have a picture of the one you received?

Hello,

I haven't received my rotors yet as they are still in transit with FedEx. Unfortunately... I think I've accidentally ordered rotors for the cast wheel 401s. Here is the page from the Galfer EU catalogue I used to find the part numbers to order: 1706161395457.jpg

Note that there is no listing for the 17-18 bikes, but 19 onwards list the DF940CW front rotor. Herein lies the issue - I have since confirmed that all spoke wheeled Vitpilen & Svartpilen 401 use the same front rotor regardless of model year. It seems that Galfer only sell directly the front rotor for cast wheel 401s under their own brand... DF940CW is also listed for 390 Duke and RC 390, so definitely not for the spoked wheel models.

Rear rotor is the same between cast and spoked wheels for some reason, so I think I will be okay there.

I'm very sorry if I've misled anybody (@toast449). I trusted the catalogue as my MY22 Vitpilen is EU market... 😥

[...] have you changed the brake pads? I was seeing that on the website, which recommended us above, where you bought the cheaper discs also sell the Brembo pads, do you know if they are compatible with the system that we already manage and which pads you chose because they propose 3 different types or you stayed with the factory and are sufficient?

Here is an article with a friction coefficient chart (!): Brembo Guide to the Right Pad

It was difficult to find English-language information on the various Brembo compounds - they do not seem to be widely popular/available outside of Italy. I ended up watching a review on YouTube in Italian with English subtitles. The consensus seemed to be that the SR compound (which Brembo classes as a race pad) is questionable for road use due to poor cold bite, even on heavy, high-powered motorcycles, so I decided to buy the SA (front) paired with the SP (rear).

Brief thoughts: SA compound offers improved stopping power with somewhat reduced lever effort compared to stock pads, with the exception of the very first cold stop where they are similar. Once they are warmed performance is much improved. I do not remember triggering ABS on the rear brake prior to installing the Brembo SP, where now the ABS threshold is easily reached with what I would consider to be moderate pedal pressure under all conditions.

@VIppen Apologies... it seems I've hijacked your thread.
 
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