I am lookings for some information.

Has anybody upgraded their front brake, perhaps to a two piston caliper (slider/floating), from the original one piston caliper? The 1990 XT600 introduced a Nissin two piston caliper, but the mounting is different. I am not sure who the original manufacturer was or if a "beefier" straight bolt-on caliper is available from another
model? The original's two mounting holes are approx 11cm apart.

Any guidance or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Geoff

Hi dont know if it will help you but I ve got a Nissan 2 pot front caliper that was fitted to the 1990 xt. I bought it for a 86 xt 600e Im restoring and it wont fit without some form of modification .

Hi George,

Thank you for the reply.

It looks as though you have the problem I was foreseeing with the later caliper. I have a little bit of information (from the 1990 XT600E Model Guide) that may help us both, and I will send you an email.

I was hoping there may be a two piston sliding caliper from an old model (Yamaha, Honda, etc...), that may have fitted straight on and save the need for any modification.

Best regards
Geoff

hi, i have the 2pot nissin on my 1997 XT600E and the best you can say is "adequate". its not bad for a dual sport bike i suppose but if you spend all your time on road like me you soon want something better. (especially on a supermoto). 1st(and cheapest) thing to try is a braided hose, this will give your brake better feel and power.
i want a bigger disc but then the original caliper needs repositioning, and if i have to do that theres no point putting the naff one back on so i need a better one from some other machine, then an adapter bracket must be made for the new caliper/disc positioning. not too much of a problem making the parts but if i had a more common bike (honda, KTM) i could do it off-the-shelf. i think i will go for a 4pot off a suzuki bandit, anything more is ott and parts are cheap+easy on ebay

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dave

Hi Dave,

A braided hose is a good way to go, and I have a Goodridge hose to fit. Hopefully I will be able to upgrade the hose and caliper at the same time.

Your comment of "i think i will go for a 4pot" - I think you have to be a bit careful with a 4-pot, as many are too wide for a spoke wheel. The other thing to keep in mind is that it will not be a floating caliper, and so should be fitted with a floating disc.

I think your '97 XT600 has a number of options with its' mounting lugs. Unfortunately my older machine has different spacing of its' mounting lugs, and may not have an easy solution. I guess I will need to look into a mounting adapter.

Ciao, Geoff

hmmm, good thinking geoff, i never thought of that. ive gone down to a 17" rim instead of 21" on the front, so the spoke angles will give me a few more mm, and a larger disc should give a few more, but still it needs careful consideration. there must be a few bikes out there with floating 4pot calipers,
or,
maybe even easier, is to machine a disc carrier to fit the XT hub and mate it to another bikes disc. then spares will be no problem and i wont have to worry about a floating caliper.

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dave

Just posted looking for that caliper! Want to sell it? Good shape?

Zombie Master(Neil)

Hi, would it not be possible to get lower fork from later bike and fit later brake caliper .

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rust & dust

Hi Brian,

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question, but I have been wondering about a different solution.

The XT750Z Super Tenere has the same wheel size and fork length, plus a twin front disc set-up. The downside appears to be that a complete front-end would be needed: Triple Tree, Wheel, etc..... Has anybody done this?

Thanks,
Geoff

I was thinking about this myself, I was wondering if the super ten forks are the same diameter as the 600? I dont want to go putting new triple clamps etc on the bike, I'm curious as to whether this is a total non starter or not. Would you have to fit new races for the super ten triple clamps etc to fit?

My XT has been fitted with a KLE front end, with a bigger disc, and braided hoses, but still, the breaking could be better. I fitted goodrich hoses and decent pads on my old DR600 Raider, which also had a fork brace fitted, and it stopped great. Maybe a beefy fork brace steadies up the front enough to allow the bike to break better?

Pete