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330 mm 929/954 rotors on the RC

7K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  1971allchaos 
#1 ·
I've been reading that the 929/954 rotors which are 330mm as oppose to the RCs 320mm will bolt right up to the RC in terms of bolt pattern and offset. Obviously you would have to be running the radial caliper conversion (which I am) so that you could shim the calipers out 5mm to fit the larger rotors.

Just looking for anyone who has actually done this. I've read a few times that it will work but haven't heard anyone say that they have done it themselves.

Should be an easy way to get a little more stopping power as a used set of good condition 954 rotors goes for cheap.
 
#4 ·
If you need more stopping power, you should be focusing on some Brembo radial masrer cylinder, calipers and rotor.
CBR's 330mm may have a bit, just a bit, better stopping power but in the end they add more rotating mass on your unsprung section of the bike.
Don't you ever wonder, if they were so good, why Honda never used them again on it's models after 2003?
 
#5 · (Edited)
The RC51 was\is deficient in a lot of areas. Brakes were not one of them...

In 15 years I've not found a better set of OEM calipers than the Nissins that come on the SP1. These guys that "upgrade" to radial mounts then slap a pair of OEM calipers from another bike on the RC51 are actually taking a few steps back in performance. To improve on the RC51 OEM calipers you really need to spend about $2000 on Brembo calipers and a good master cylinder to match. Without doing that more likely than not you are wasting money trying to upgrade. Additionally more gyroscopic precession in the form of heavier larger rotors adding more mass away from the hub is NOT what the RC needs...

I still routinely source RC51 calipers for any bikes I own with Axial mounted calipers

Here's a set on my F4i
 
#10 ·
cant wait to see what yall come up with!

I want to see some pics! Finally you will see the rc51 has Zero faults and is really the best bike of all time, etc. etc.:D

i didnt even know Arata made slip ons anymore for the RC, I had a really nice full system on my 06 R1. Im sure the build quality will be excellent! wish i knew someone locally that could weld Ti like that to put my Autotune bungs in HRC exhaust.
 
#15 ·
I agree with some of you in that the OEM set up is very very good. More than adequate and plenty for me. But I can't help but tinker anyways. If you want to improve on the stock set up than some serious money needs to be spent. I'm running Maguras radial 190 MC with brembo mono blocs of off a gixxer which are just temporary until I buy some M4s.

The weight of the 330s over the 320s is nominal, yes it's weight farther from the hub but still. If the added weight wasn't worth the extra stopping power than we should all drop to 310mm rotors to shed more weight, maybe even 300s? The 1199 comes with 330s and they stop pretty damn good if u ask me. Anyways I'll do it and see what I think.
 
#16 ·
Well if you are just tinkering to tinker then more power to you. I'm all for that...

M4 calipers are entry level just like the older HP 2 piece and every OEM caliper on any bike on the dealership floor. If you really want an improvement over OEM in terms of modulation and feedback you will have to step up to the GP4-RX calipers and even that is barely an improvement when compared to proper Brembo monobloc's like the GP4-RR series which start at $1600 per caliper plus you buy the pads separately.

The 1199 makes about 45 more horsepower than the RC51 and weighs 40lbs less. It can afford a little more gyroscopic precession due to the geometry of the chassis keeping the bike agile and the lighter overall weight. Don't think for a minute though that the extra weight of larger rotors is nominal, it is not. The real question is if the 320mm rotors can already provide enough force to lift the rear of the RC51 under braking then why do you need more braking force from 330mm rotors?

I've done testing of this nature back to back on quite a few different bikes and rotor weight is a killer of performance period and even worse when you are extending that weight further out plus it makes getting a tire gauge or air chuck on your tires more difficult too which may or may not be a concern for you, but little things like that tend to get my attention nowadays. I like my mods to be simple and beneficial all the way around. When you have to make more compromise than you are getting in benefits then these mods tend to lose their luster regardless of cost.

Again I am all for making modifications, but just because something is different does not automatically make it better. I was one of the first it not the very first person to put a Motec system on an RC51. Do you know what it gained me? A significantly lighter wallet and pretty much the exact same horsepower that the Honda Australia Spec ECU provides. All that work and expense for basically nothing gained. The lessons I learned specifically from the RC51 is they are a lot more fun to ride than to work on. Once you sort the suspension and geometry issues to get the bike to steer properly all the other mods are just for show.
 
#17 ·
I get that for sure. It's so hard to leave things alone. I often think to myself I wonder how much faster I could ride my bike around a given track compared to a stock RC and I usally come to the conclusion that the difference is marginal if any at all. I think the suspension being somewhat sorted gives me a bit more confidence to go faster, and the quick shifter has to be good for a few tenths a lap at least. Other than that I think you're right in that mods are done just to do them rather than helping shave time off laps. My rims were deffiinitley a handling improvement so I'm happy with those. I'm the first to admit that I can't leave my bikes alone even if there is little benefit compared to the money spent. I don't want to go in the opposite direction however and make things worse than stock. No need to spend money making my bike handle worse.

I think I'll ditch the 330 idea. I've been wanting to do the 30mm fork kit from you guys LDH but I beleive you still don't have the parts. Any plans on track riding for you? I'll be out at big willow next Monday the 30th.
 
#19 ·
It's motoyard for the 30th. Let me look into the wallet and check the funds for the 30 mm kit
 
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