I've been cooking up an idea here for my CB900F - I'm doing a wire wheel swap for my CB900F, and have two sets of rims (well actually three or more I guess, if I made some odd-balls) - two of these Borrani-Harley XLH 2.50x18" rims as above in the pic, a 3.50x18" Super-Akront drilled for Kawa rear hub (unsure whether that's for conical or drum but I've got the conical hub and the Honda disc rear hub) plus a 3.00x18" un-drilled for a front, a 4.25x18" drilled for Harley (so will do a "front hub trick" with bolt-up cush-drive on-that!) and just scored another 4.25x18" drilled for the Honda hub, so yeah I guess I've seen a 2.50x18 paired with 4.25x18" before. Got some 3.00x16" Borrani & 3.50x16" Akront left over from my "KZ440LOL" project, which I'd like to use for FRONT wheels, and some 4.25x17" & 5.00x17" drilled for Harley - I've scored the majority of them for like $40 here, $50 there so it's not like I was a COMPLETE idiot about buying too many rims ha-ha. ANYWAY yeah, I'm gonna make some spare wheel sets and see where it goes from there. I'm planning a 2nd DOHC as soon as my "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" is "finished".....
SO YEAH - as for the brakes: Currently, on the Comstar rims of my CB900F (in conversion) I've stuck some of the 296mm double-layered/vented discs, from CB1100R & CBX pro-link & GL1100A (Aspencade) up front (I think mine were from a Goldwing - but it's the same damn part, and there are even more interesting versions on the GL1200A Aspencade models!) with the CBX pro-link caliper hangers, and it's great.
But it's a little bit HEAVY - right? So here's my thoughts. I was gonna convert the double/thick rotors onto some SOHC/GL1000 carriers to use on the GL1000 front hub
(((I've actually got a '78 CB750K front hub which is different, kinda cool to look at, but won't take a different drilling pattern ... then again the GL1000 hubs are HOLLOW so don't just assume you an drill the shit out of THEM either!)))
But yeah, I was searching for some odd peg pivots the other day (CBX / CB1100R / Euro-spec aka sport-kit rear-sets for DOHC CB750K, etc) and I found some replacement rear rotors for the DOHC which consist of the outer rotor only, and some replacement bolts. It's manufactured by an Austrian outfit called "Metalgear AU" - yeah like the Vidiot-Game, for my fellow losers in the audience....
Seen the rebuilt rotor trick some time ago, some CB1100R rotor on SOHC carriers which were fitted to a DOHC CB750F-based CB1100R replica bike, I think you can google it with "CB750R" - though IIRC he didn't use wire wheels they were mag wheels with a six-bolt pattern, sourced from the SOHC-pile. SO I've always assumed I'd use crappy little nylon lock aka "Nyloc" bolts on a rebuilt rotor, but then there are also some rivets which seem suitable, which are for the Harley "Juice Drum" rear brake, which has the sprocket riveted to it's circumference. BSA & Norton rear drums use similar rivets as well. But the Harley aftermarket stainless etc rivets seem easier to find.
But take note - the REAR disc on these bikes is ALSO 296mm - and while the '82-'83 DOHC rear rotor has the lightening slots cut in the middle, the SOHC version is just a solid disc. Ripe for cross-drilling. So ... I don't think I can afford the replacement rotors anymore, I might just get some used SOHC rear rotors smoothed flat (more weight shed) - Which is a pain having to pay basically double for the shipping, sourcing both two rear SOHC CB750F rotors AND two GL1000 rotors just to make one pair of front discs. Plus I wanna use some early one-piece rotors for the rear, the conical KZ1000A/KZ750B rear hub fits the FRONT Comstar type rotors no problem, center hole's the same and one bolt lines up perfect, but it's a five hole rotor on a four hole hub. Same deal with the one-piece DOHC rotors on the SOHC disc rear hub, only it's a five hole disc on a SIX hole hub. So - same trick to make 'em fit. However you slice it, six of one and four of the other. Or a half dozen, a third dozen....
Only, for the front rotor I'd like to dig up a '77 CB750F front rotor 'cause they're the smallest diameter version. For the SOHC hub I'd like to use the rotor from the early '79 CB900FZ/CB750FZ or 1980 CB750FA/CB900FA - depends on the region or version, but there's a rear disc that's one piece and not slotted. And I'd like to take either version to my machinist and get 'em milled down to a diameter suitable for a later rear caliper & hanger.
Might have to build an odd-ball carrier anyhow, 'cause I've got this Cal-Fab swinger and Marzocchi shocks on the damn thing (friggin' P.O., hey?) The Marzocchi shocks are mounted in typical fashion with the reservoirs pointed FORWARD and I tried to make that look normal by switching 'em around (you can do this one at a time with Marzocchi shocks 'cause they've got replaceable inserts with a thread inside & hex outer, a smooth one on the outside & threaded on the inside. So if you pop 'em out and switch 'em (careful not to gall the shock's hex-hole) then you can flip each shock around in turn. Which means I COULD put two "left" shocks on the bike. But yeah, the damn P.O. cut a hole in the world's only remaining Cal-Fab original chain guard, so flipping 'em back means I'll have to carve the hell out of the thing to make it work, though to be honest I'd prefer to use an OEM plastic guard and carve THAT down really thin - did one for my 750 that was really slick. Lost it in that house-fire along with both projects, and now here I am back on track but haven't replaced the DIY plastic OEM fender mod. Or a whole bunch of other DIY mods I did, like the deep sump sandwich trick, but then my damn Wolf Exhaust won't let me fit the deep sump OR a spin-on filter so I'm screwed there, gonna have to spend an arm and a leg either modding the Wolf pipe for springs & hooks, with some stubs from a MAC pipe or something, so the whole collector & everything moves down & forward, maybe then I can put the finned retaining collars back on....
But yeah, the damn rear caliper is what prevents that Marzocchi shock from flipping around in the correct direction. Though, from what I gather, for most bikes fitted with Marzocchi Strada shocks and a rear disc brake, this is how it's usually done - though I SUSPECT that it was done for the same reason why it's done HERE. 'Cause the Marzo folks were too damn cheap to make two different castings for left-hand & right-hand shocks! Makes you realize what a great design the OEM CB900F shocks really ARE.... If I had my druthers, I'd swap 'em for some CB1100R shocks. Yet another step up the Unobtainium periodic table....
So yeah, what I was picturing, is an UNDERSLUNG caliper. Which would be simple, if I didn't have the Cal-Fab swinger, 'cause I'd switch an 'F type OEM swinger for the CB750C or CB750K swinger (though I've seen original promotional pics of a CB750C with a rear disc brake - must've been a prototype, hey? Seen some rear-set brackets from one on eBay recently - gotta wonder whether some wrecker's yard pooched a one-off prototype bike!)
Cough - so yeah, FONTANA made some interesting caliper hangers for their rear disc brakes, which had the caliper up top and the stay rod underneath. The axle hole was in the center of a "bow-tie" shape, it's basically TWO caliper hangers if you're thinking of the weight factor. But it allows the stay rod & caliper to straddle opposite the axle. Guess I'll have to have one of THOSE whipped up somehow.
But the final mod I've always wanted to do with my rear disc brake - I've got these threaded hollow rods, from an old IKEA lamp ... I should look up the type of lamp for ya'll, but I've got spares so if I manage to pull it off I'll try & score extra bits - I wanna run some banjo bolts through the end of that hollow rod, and use two short brake lines on either end of it, so the stay rod IS the brake line. It would require some banjo bolts of an odd metric size, some odd-ball sized "Banjo" to fit these bolts, and some type of CLEVIS on either end, presumably held on by the banjo-bolts. But then, the crush-washers which seal the banjo would have to take the forces of the stay rod when the brake is applied. This made sense to me when it would've been a TENSION type rod (under the swinger) 'cause tension links require less material than compression loads do.
Doing a 4LS Suzuki drum on the "KZ440LOL" project, with 3.00x16" Borrani rim & Maxi-Scooter tires, 110/70-16 & 140/70-16, radials being on option though the Michelin dual-compound rear in this size has been discontinued - imagine dual-compound tires basically scaled-down "Pilot Power" crotch-rocket rubber, up against DRUM brakes ha-ha. Probably gonna go with Michelin "City Power" rubber.
Anyway yeah, I've scored a spare center hub, and have to figure out new side-plates for a 2nd wheel with that. Dunno what for just yet, had planned on using it for tire swaps, though it might be "interesting" ... heh actually quite boring to tell the truth - to put some 18" rims on the KZ .... maybe a DOHC CB750C/CB750K ultra-lightweight build for the kid, again with drum brakes front and rear? I envision that one with a FONTANA 250mm 4LS but I'm not made out of money, I've just been going really slow on this and eating saltine crackers & getting scurvy, having no social life etc. But yeah, SOMETHING bigger than the paltry 200mm 4LS which feels inadequate for the KZ440LTD I mean WTF - I see CBX based Hailwood Replicas on You-Tube running the Suzuki 4LS and I'm just waiting for the crash to happen. It would swap over pretty easy, 'cause the drum hub is adapted to a CB900F 39mm fork, which is only slightly heavier than the 37mm CB750F fork I had planned to use on the KZ (wound up buying a CB900F instead of a CB750F replacement bike, and so the 39mm fork I'd bought for the planned 750 was superfluous - and now I wanna stick a 41mm TRAC fork from GL1500 onto the Honda, so I'll wind up with another spare 39mm, might as well adapt that to the spare drum and tuck it away in the closet....)
But yeah - the reason I bring up the 4LS drum is 'cause the tension vs compression link strengths reminded me, that's where I figured the difference out. The linkage for the T500 2LS drum, which I'm planning to use on a side-car wheel for the KZ440LOL at some point (like when I've got a side-car to use with it ha-ha) - the T500 donates some NOS SHOES for the 4LS drum which you file down to fit and get full coverage on the drum's liner, giving some 12%-14% better contact. But even better than that, would be if the T500 LINKAGES could be used, 'cause Fugly as they are compared to the 4LS versions, they're half the weight.
Just sayin' - it would be a cheap DIY side-plate just a bar stock with three holes drilled in it, no speedo drive (running the other one with a magnetic pick-up "hall effect sensor" from a modern electronic speedo THROUGH the old speedo cable, meaning the old speedo drive needn't be repaired but merely gutted!) and there will need to be all sorts of carving to make it remotely resemble a brake shoe side-plate, gonna need to drill holes to lighten it, screw on some chunks from a pie-plate or pizza-pan to cover the shoes just like the Yam 260mm 4LS drum has - and the orientation is gonna have to be rotated to allow the tension type linkages from the T500 to fit.
What I REALLY wanna do with the CB900F, in keeping with the "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" theme - which would be an '82 CB900F Bol D'Or tribute to the '65 CB450 Black Bomber, with the wire wheels I've mentioned and CB1100R alloy tank with sides polished up like the "toaster tank" look, complete with rubber knee pads & wing badges
Both of which I haven't figured out just yet - I've polished the hell out of the tank, which is stressful and rigorous at the same time - but the CB72 pads won't sit flat without carving 'em in half - mould a replica from 'em in black silicone? - and for wing badges I'm thinking of CB750C/CB900C/CB1000C badges, but might just get something custom made, a replica of CB450 badges with "900" along the bottom? I dunno. A plexiglass lens from an eye-glass grinder's blank, get it carved on the back-side with a 3-D wing design maybe at a Trophy shop engraver's, 'cause they'd have the fake gold-leaf paint to fill it in with, then black paint over the back side. A whole lot of pissing around. And I've got some reproduction RC-series wing stickers on hand. Got 'em for the kid's 14th B-day CHF50 Metro scooter but she didn't put 'em on. What I'd prefer would be the RED wing stickers like the RC-142 had.
Now THAT's what I'd prefer to make a replica of, with a leading-link fork like Tony Foale used to make for the SOHC and DOHC Hondas - somebody made a replica of that fork recently, with Mr. Foale himself assisting. Ah, but it would be far preferable if the leading-link fork looked something more like the CB92 version, and I could call the replica "CB902" heh-heh.
But yeah, what I REALLY wanna do with the Honda, is the GL1500 fork, for it's 41mm tubes, integral fork-brace, TRAC anti-dive, IT'S 20mm AXLE (probably the best most important feature, allegedly just as important as a fork brace when you wanna build a Superbike racer!) and it's resemblance to the factory team works shocks fitted to the AMA Superbike 1032cc "CB750F" aka Freddie Spencer's bike - which was a pretty different fork but the resemblance to the '88 GL1500 fork is really telling, the GL must've been the final development of the '82 works racing tech.....
So picture it though, with the GL1500 front brakes! With the shrouds and everything. The GL1500 "Hub" itself doesn't seem suitable for a wire-spoke conversion, ala CBX550F, though the aftermarket (Kuryakyn or Akrapovic? Not sure which) "rotor shrouds" for GL1500 resemble the CBX550F brake quite a bit too - they've both got the same shape in the air scoops. Check 'em both out sometime. So yeah, the GL1500 WHEEL doesn't seem suitable for a wire-spoke conversion, but check out the PC800 Pacific Coast's "hub" sometime!
Now the dilemma is that the GL1500/PC800 front brakes are both 286mm and that's 10mm bigger than the OEM 276mm rotors on the CB900F, it's also 10mm SMALLER than the over-sized rotors which I've got on the bike right now. And which I'm planning on building from rear brake discs. Which would be really sexy all cross-drilled like your typical Honda Café Racer brakes only BIGGER.... So I guess one could TRY to modify the GL1500/PC800 front brake to more of a 300mm size, and that would benefit from some water-jet cut CAST-IRON plate, ala Ducati racing Brembo discs from the '80s, other exclusive '70s racing brakes, etc. Cast-Iron is supposed to be the next best thing to ceramic or carbon-fibre discs. It's just that it's gonna get all rusty & fugly. But if you've got SHROUDS over the rotors then it won't really matter, will it?
Bah - the stock rotors would be the place to start. It's a next-generation version of the TRAC forks, next generation of the Honda calipers, so the 10mm difference doesn't count. But I was already thinking the GL1500 shrouds are pretty nasty looking, and a person would wanna make some DIY rotor shrouds for the thing, something a little narrower, so that it looks more like a proper 4LS drum hub. It could be as simple as the rotor shroud kits they used to sell for the GL1000/GL1100/GL1200 - aftermarket stuff once again. Damn ugly stuff. Would be pretty funny to fit 'em up to a CB900F for touring purposes. Never seen any on a CB900C but they'd be appropriate for a full-dresser. Pretty common on a 'Wing but never on a 'Custom....
But yeah, some simple ... T-Fal frying pans from the 2nd-hand shops ... heck that's what I've been looking at using especially when my budget has shrunk to nothing at times. I had some DIY air scoops that I made from a fruit bowl at one point. Lost 'em in the fire. But yeah, the junk pots & pans at 2nd-hand shops are a good source of interesting Aluminum shapes and reproduced easily enough if you can find a pair of 'em. Used a carved up alloy pot lid for a chain guard for the DOHC when using CBX pro-link's off-set front sprocket. You'd never have recognized it.
Well whatever - I suppose the best thing you could glean from this long diatribe is that the Pro-Link caliper hangers on a DOHC fork, or GL1100/GL1200 Aspencade NON-TRAC type fork, would allow you to use pretty much any 300mm-ish rotors.
Thing is, the modern floating rotors aren't necessary when you've already got the floating calipers. They'd be key if you used a DIY caliper hanger with the later-era Tokico multi-pot calipers etc, but yeah any fixed rotor and floating caliper system does basically the same stuff. And the rear rotor is close to 300mm at 296mm, though it's a bit shy of the Yamaha FZR1000 rotors which are something like 327mm - I had a pair in hand, and they were even heavier than the stock GL1000 rotors I'd bought 'em to replace. The assumption that the modern rotors are gonna be a lot lighter is an absolute fallacy! Thing is, you only WANT your rotors to be soo light, 'cause you need the heat sink factor to absorb repeated hard braking, otherwise the too-light discs would over-heat and fade. Which is to say, maybe these heavy-assed 296mm vented 10.9mm thick rotors should STAY on the bike? Bah - Methinks the cross-drilled rear rotors will cool themselves efficiently enough for MY purposes. For really heavy use, the CB1100R version seems ideal. Hence their application on over-built over-weight Goldwing monstrosities with obese Ugly-Americans two astride, lazy-boy chair affixed to the pillion position, Craig-Fuckin'-VETTER's gigantic damn fairing up front (which I suppose could be considered as an auxiliary brake....) all the damn luggage full of American smokes & cheap no-tax booze as they haul ass back to Alberta and our endless straight-line highways..... Make fun of these assholes all you want, it might seem like an overbuilt motorcycle but it's actually a Cadillac with two wheels taken off. The 'Wing is a hell of a lot lighter & more efficient than any CAGE on the road. So doff your hat to the 'Wingers! There has to be a freight-hauler version of a motorcycle if we're gonna take over the planet and kick the cars & trucks off the road....
Seriously though, the OEM Honda 296mm rotors are available cheap as borscht if you look into the GL1200 versions, which nobody's gonna list as CB1100R parts and mark 'em up tenfold, and they've even got surface slots carved into 'em so they're probably even better than the earlier version. The center carrier seems better suited for drilling a new bolt pattern. Haven't had one in hand, but yeah for all purposes they're the cheaper AND better bet. The CBX caliper hangers are harder to find, but the GL versions are an after-thought to most Honda aficionados. More to the point, the GL1200 TRAC anti-dive fork. If you can't find the CB900F fork and CBX caliper hangers at your local breakers' yard, then check out the GL1200 with the 296mm rotors, 'cause NOBODY wants those parts, and yet the GL1200 fork has the same 41mm tubes, integral fork brace etc, that the GL1500 has, only it doesn't have the 20mm axle. Which sucks, 'cause it jumps right down to 15mm, incidentally the same axle diameter as the CB900F, the SOHC CB750K ... and the KZ440LTD etc. It's gotta be the weakest link in the whole front end of these bikes. Of course, any of the Honda forks could be modded with a custom axle, 'cause the clamp diameter at the bottom of each fork is something like 20mm - thicker on the GL1000 fork actually. All of the later CB750F, CB900F, GL1100, GL1200 etc forks (with the reverse-Comstars & the weird cast mags on the GL1200 too I guess) have that same narrower two-bolt clamp, but the GL1000 fork has the four-bolt clamp. Which I guess is why they fitted that fork to the earlier DOHC racers. That and the GL1000 fork is slightly wider. But don't assume you can stuff a wide front drum into the GL1000 fork, 'cause the CB900F fork was just barely wide enough for the Suzuki 4LS drum in the GT550J version, the GT750J version needs some material shaved off each shoe-plate. Which is basically just an integral axle spacer, and shouldn't affect the stability of the brake too much. But yeah, the wider clamp on the GL1000 fork would require ALL of the thing to be cut off. Now that I've figured out running a wire through the speedo drive on the 4LS & 2LS drums, I'd like to figure out some type of insert to fill in the gap where the worm gear used to run. Just a big old bronze bushing or something like that. Maybe THEN the 4LS drum could be stuffed into a much narrower fork. Just mill out the whole axial center of the shoe plates, weld in a thick plug of solid Aluminum, and re-drill the axle hole. With a new Steel insert cast in the middle? Bah! That's a lot of work. Gotta wonder if a heat-shrink interference fit would work? The whole insert being steel would weigh a lot. Any which way it can be done, there's a trade-off. There are plenty enough 4LS & 2LS drums that DON'T have a steel insert in the axle hole, but those brakes are all well known for having crappy alignment. It's a typical up-grade to drill 'em out for bronze inserts. Dunno if I'd bother to grease a sintered bronze insert, 'cause on the one hand it's not gonna spin in the first place, and on the other hand it's bad to get grease anywhere near the drum brake & shoes.... This is another good reason to ditch the worm drive speedo. There's drag on it, there's grease in it, it's a bitch to clean out and the factory seals the rubber seal overtop with black RTV silicone. So far better to get rid of it.
One more fun thing I got to do now that the speedo is out, is I've reversed the wheel to spin the other way. Filed off the lugs for the speedo drive, though this wasn't necessary I guess. There are six holes in the center, connecting the air space from one drum "bell" to the other. And the standard mod is to drill another twelve holes for a triangular arrangement in each "pie slice" of the 4LS drum. Well, what I did was I cut a slot between the spoke flanges, for the air to exit as the wheel spins. It even makes a noise when you spin the hub and blow on it. Should work pretty good. But with THAT extra material removed (equivalent to at least one of the usual holes, maybe one and a half but the advantage being that it's further from the axle hence better weight to remove - with that hole cut I didn't wanna weaken the hub further with another hole. But you see, with the normal hole and the normal direction of spin, the inner hole is behind the outer one, as the wheel spins this would disturb the flow so that the air doesn't smoothly flow as with a fan blade. But flip the hub around and the original hole leads ahead of the air exit (which has to be in the middle of each "pie slice" to keep the ribs for strength) and I haven't connected the two into one contiguous groove (yet?) but it still helps the air flow in a semi-laminar fashion. The little ... "meniscus" or mucous string heh-heh of Alloy separating the two holes is just enough to disturb the air a little bit and blow that air flow back over the drum lining and shoe surfaces. Shoes which are wider T500 items, filed down to ideal width, and cross-drilled for heat dissipation.
I'd cross-drill this drum, but it's my teenaged Ex-Daughter that's gonna ride the bike. Whom I care about very much. Too much time invested to go out and date another single mom, get ANOTHER Ex-Daughter to use as a disposable jockey/pilot on experimental disintegration brake projects. Should've found a lady with more kids..... Well, my sister's got twin boys, who are pretty obnoxious. I'm sure THEY'LL be bugging me for a motorcycle some day. Maybe I'll build THEM some cross-drilled drums?
The Hot-Rod guys swear by cross-drilled brake drums. Of course, THEIR drums are typically solid cast steel, and the relative hole sizes would be almost invisible when scaled down to motorcycle sizes. And I'm not sure if it's been done on "Al-Fin" drums, which are Aluminum hubs with the Iron linings cast in from the start.
Incidentally, the 4LS drum from GT550J that I lost in that house-fire in 2013 (which I only managed to afford 'cause the guy listed it incorrectly and only one other guy bid against me, probably the seller's brother as is typical practice -DON'T e-mail 'em with questions when you're thinking to "Snipe" an auction with zero bids! Just do your research elsewhere!) was not only so corroded one has to wonder whether it had been dug out of the bay by a lobster fisherman - The P.O. or rather the eBay Vulture I should say, had smashed the left air scoop with a ball peen hammer over 200 times. I counted the little dents - then tried to "SHUCK" the drum open with a flat-head screwdriver ... probably the only two tools they owned.
(((Ever ask an eBay vulture to remove a tire before shipping a wheel? I've offered to pay 'em $100 per wheel to save $50 on shipping and $10 for the recycling deposit, just to avoid burning up all that extra fossil fuel through a friggin' Courier-Fleet jet engine, and they STILL wouldn't do it! ARGHHHHH.)))
The flat-head screwdriver had cracked a chip from the center hub, a chip which the seller was careful not to touch so it stayed in place until I touched the spot gently with my pinky finger. It was dangling there like a painful hang-nail. Would've been stupid to leave it in place.
But yeah, not only did that discourage the ONE other bidder, but It gave me ideas about cutting a whole SERIES of matching chips, for a spinning whirl of TEETH - the chip even had it's front and back edges (of it's long rectangular shape) canted perfectly to duct the air in or out of the hub (depending on which way you flipped it) So this was what prompted me to murder the replacement (at double the cost, 'cause I was shell-shocked from the fire & my near demise in it, desperate about the kid's imminent 16th B-day deadline for the project, high on a lot of pain-killers as usual, smoking pot for the nausea from the pain and the pain-killers (back surgery that went badly) , just a wee bit drunk, AND bidding on eBay with every last cent to my name. Yeah THAT hub, I decided to cut THAT hub up in a creative manner. Ha-ha. It's turned out well though. See, this is why the eBay Gawds have granted me yet another score, in the form of a GT550J wheel (sans shoe plates) in "Buy It Now" auction format. See, you've gotta stay awake 24/7 to even FIND this shit. I close my eyes and the eBay font glows in the corner of my eyelids.....
Maybe at some point I'll get lucky & score a "Dopple Simplex" 230mm drum from a Benelli 650 or the 220mm drum from a Guzzi - the Guzzi 2LS drums are ALSO 220mm, so even the SLS ones are worth using instead of a typical 200mm Japanese drum. Just saying. The 2LS drums are still pretty cheap. But the Benelli has gotta be the most under-valued drum brake, where the GT750J/GT550J Suzuki drum (thanks to yours truly) is now even more over-priced than ever before.
I dunno - on a SOHC bike I'd try a 230mm drum but a DOHC 750 methinks the 250mm Fontana would be the only non fake drum I'd go with. Or maybe a Yamaha 260mm even (which is narrower than the 250mm) I expect the stock non-modified dual-disc Honda brakes would be about on par with a Fontana drum over the span of a race, but if you could modify the Fontana for enough cooling to keep it from over-heating & fading, it would be the superior brake. Which is to say, that's still on topic to the original post. It would cost an arm and a leg. But then again, so does all this OTHER stuff. If I grabbed a DOHC CB750K and a Fontana drum hub tomorrow, it would cost less than all this crap I've thrown at the CB900K0 Bol Bomber, which makes me feel pretty silly in hind-sight. The KZ440LOL is even sillier, though it's got the all-NOS belt-drive parts (with spares) that I scored for as cheap as chain and sprockets, which is a heck of a savings compared to the belt-drive I wanna put on a DOHC Honda at some point. And the light-weight 750 with drum hub would only be adequate for the kid, 'cause she's only a hundred pounds tops. ME I need about three times the bike she does, if you do the math. So no, I wouldn't consider building a DOHC 750 like that for MYSELF. Unless I was still a skinny young dude. If I was a skinny young dude, I'd ldo a bike project by stripping crap off the bike & shedding weight. This is the fundamental difference between the bikes that young guys build and the bikes that old men build. It's nothing to do with age & experience, or mid-life crisis, or Alzheimer's, depression, divorce, lack of a sex-life ... okay so some of that other shit comes into play. But the MAIN factor has gotta be the 100-150lbs of lard we're hauling around. It BEHOOVES a fella to add some performance enhancements to the bike. AND shed some weight from the bike. As for shedding some of the LARD, well....
-Sigh.
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