Fitting Blue Spots is EEEEASY

pinball wizard · Post by **pinball wizard** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 1:01 pm

Picked up some R6 (blue spot) calipers off ebay and fitted them this morning. Just to let anyone thinking of doing the same mod know, it really is a doddle

Everything fits: unions, mountings, etc. I've even kept the standard hoses for now and initial impressions are that there is LOADS more initial bite and much better stopping power (actually inspires some confidence). I dare say that braided lines, R1 master cylinder, braking wave disks, etc would make an even more noticable change but without the money for stiffer fork springs I think this will be enough for now.
Thanks to all those who offered reassurance that this would be as easy as it was

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:06 am

Yeah, I fitted R6's to mine, in an afternoon, 2 years ago. Dead easy job.
Also ran with the original rubber hoses for a while, but then put on a set of HEL carbon look braided lines with gold anodised banjos. Will do the rear line one day too.

Bob

pinball wizard · Post by **pinball wizard** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 9:45 am

Wombat wrote:Will do the rear line one day too.
Bob

I only swapped the front calipers and wouldn't change much on the rear. I only really use the back brake to tighten a line or in conjunction with the front and have found it to be adequate. braided hoses may be an idea tho, just to sharpen it up a little. Love the avatar

they make that just down the road from here

I think the next thing i do will be with the forks. I tried some stiffer oil but really, the springs need to be changed.

Ridgifumi · Post by **Ridgifumi** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:10 pm

so whats the steps to fitting em pinball?thinking bout changing over from the brembo's on mine

pinball wizard · Post by **pinball wizard** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:05 pm

It really was a doddle, ridgifumi:
1) (if u have rubber hoses) use a hose clamp to clamp the hose above the union on one side & slightly loosen the union bolt.
2) loosen the mounting bolts which hold the caliper to the fork leg and remove them (holding the caliper in one hand).
3) slide the caliper away from the disk and remove the union bolt.
4) slide on the new caliper and replace the mounting bolts to hold it in place.
5) re-attach the brake line.

Repeat the steps above on the opposite side and bleed the brakes. I use an easi-bleed bottom bleeder which attaches to a tyre and pushes the brake fluid up the lines and ensures a bubble-free bleed.

It really is that simple

The only differences between the 2 calipers (dimension wise) is the position of the union mounting points which mean that the clips that hold the brake lines to the fork legs are out slightly (the unions are higher on the blue spots). I'll go and take a couple of pics before it gets too dark so you can see what i mean).
Mount with the same bolts in the same place:

Blue spot union position:

Standard TRX union position:

result:

better to have the hoses longer than stretched to fit tho

I must make apologies for the state of the bike

but you either ride it or clean it

i promise i'll take a bucket and sponge to her

Not sure if this is the same with the brembos or not tho

earywig · Post by **earywig** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:56 pm

I think the next thing i do will be with the forks. I tried some stiffer oil but really, the springs need to be changed.

I'd try using lighter weight oil first, I used 7.5 weight oil, 500cc's in each leg. It was a transformation on my bike. The trouble with a heavier weight of oil is that the viscosity works against you, i.e. it cant flow fast enough through the orifices in the fork internals when you hit bumps in the road.

Check out the following link:

http://trxfiles.webgti.net/upgrades_suspension.asp

pinball wizard · Post by **pinball wizard** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:04 pm

earywig wrote:I'd try using lighter weight oil first, I used 7.5 weight oil, 500cc's in each leg. It was a transformation on my bike.

Cheers earywig - not something i would normally have considered but the science makes sense

May be time to junk the 15W for some 7.5 then. I admit the front has become a little more 'lively' since the change but upping the volume to simulate slightly heavier springs is sound logic.

Kirk · Post by **Kirk** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:44 am

I did the lighter oil thing, using 5wt though and it worked a treat, I actually have front suspension now!

Not sure if 5 or 7.5 wt is better but definitely try something less than 10.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:29 am

pinball wizard wrote:
Wombat wrote:Will do the rear line one day too.
Bob
I only swapped the front calipers and wouldn't change much on the rear. I only really use the back brake to tighten a line or in conjunction with the front and have found it to be adequate. braided hoses may be an idea tho, just to sharpen it up a little. Love the avatar they make that just down the road from here
I think the next thing i do will be with the forks. I tried some stiffer oil but really, the springs need to be changed.

Yeah, fell in love with the stuff when I was in the UK in the mid '80's.
I remember you used to be able to buy it in 750ml giant stubbies (akin to the "Darwin Stubby"). Where in the North East do you live? I was living for a while in Market St, Dunstable, not far from The Rocket. Used to also visit "The Hill" quite a bit.
Lucky you can buy Newky Brown out here,eh?

Bob

pinball wizard · Post by **pinball wizard** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:20 pm

I live about 12 miles north of Newcastle now, near Morpeth (you're probably familiar with Rothbury and the surrounding areas too - that's my back yard that is

). I used to live in the west end tho, just off the hill, near the college. I still go down there from time to time, saturday afternoons for the 'crack' and occasional trips to st james park. I don't visit the hill as often as i used to because Ian Bell has a bike shop a couple of miles from where i live and i go to him for an expert view when i need it (he has raced sidecars at the TT very successfully for a lot of years)
http://www.iomtt.com/TTDatabase/Riders. ... de_id=4258

You can still get the bigger bottles of dog over here (about 560ml i think) and I'm quite fond of the stuff myself

If you ever get back over we'll hook up for a couple

cheesie · Post by **cheesie** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:22 pm

fitted my blue spots yesterday along with double h pads and same on the standard rear along with braided hoses and without them being bedded in properly they are impressive

boyso20 · Post by **boyso20** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:51 pm

ok fitted my blue spots, easy peasy. the trouble is i cant get any feel back into the brake lever. it just sinks all the way back to the throttle.
am i not doing something right when bleeding the calipers?
when i release the bleed nipple only a little trickle of fluid runs down the pipe, and thats it.
Help

Killerwhale · Post by **Killerwhale** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:10 pm

boyso20 wrote:ok fitted my blue spots, easy peasy. the trouble is i cant get any feel back into the brake lever. it just sinks all the way back to the throttle.
am i not doing something right when bleeding the calipers?
when i release the bleed nipple only a little trickle of fluid runs down the pipe, and thats it.
Help

You most probably have air in the master cylinder....i did the same first time....

Keep the reservoar open and start pumping on the handle and do it like your crazy....i did it for at least 5 min....and after that a BIG bubble came out the oil in reservoar...followed by a lot of small ones....after that the brake worked sooooo great! (but not near my radial i have now)

cheesie · Post by **cheesie** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:41 pm

I had a little more trouble getting the air out of my master cylinder than any other bike, I ended up tiping the bike to the side, infact I nearly lay it down

on its right hand side while pumping the lever to get all the air out and it took a while. I know you will prob have done it but make sure you have the master cylinder top of

boyso20 · Post by **boyso20** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:25 am

yep top off master cylinder but still soft as. will try to pump it for a few minutes, then on its side and hopefully sort it out. bloody annoying!