rotors from china...

[RJ2112]

Galfer does:

Thanks! If you compare the Chinese eBay rotor to Galfer.... some things I see as significant: Even though both use opposing slots; look where the slots in the Galfer rotor go, and end up. Rather than terminating near a thin edge, the Galfer slots all point at the 'meatiest' part of the rotor 'petal'... leaving a lot of ductile Iron surrounding the slot. Nearly equal on all sides of the slot. That will promote uniform heat transfer. (Interesting to see the 'Patent Pending' embossed right onto that rotor, isn't it?:rockon

There's a limit to how efficient metal is at conducting heat, and the coefficient of expansion that follows that heating. Localized 'hot spots' will not expand in a uniform manner. Warpage, stress points, etc. etc all follow bad design. Remember the Vega motor, with the cast Iron block and the Aluminum head?

Maybe the Design engineer at the 'knock off' plant knew this, and did the appropriate calculations for the worst case braking load for every bike that this site lists, in that 'Engrish' translation. Maybe it's not some fly by night outfit that doesn't give a rat's patootie about any liability because they have found the biggest sewer in the world to dump marginal product into. There is virtually NO policing of eBay sites.... eBay is not responsible for what you buy there; they just charge a percentage for putting potential buyers and sellers together. No matter what, they make money.

If the bolt pattern lines up, and the brakes work...... all is good, right?

 

[MattyA]

Alright. il update this thread every 1000klms with a full inspection, including a runout test with a dial guage.

If they dont last then shame on me.
if they do last then you will all be better off for knowing.

 

[RJ2112]

With the Galfer design; note also that the slots become more narrow as they get towards the thin edge of the rotor.... the Chinese parts' slots are uniform all the way out. Is that important? It looks to me like that's a part of why there is less metal out at the edge, as well.

 

[macem29]

Alright. il update this thread every 1000klms with a full inspection, including a runout test with a dial guage.

If they dont last then shame on me.
if they do last then you will all be better off for knowing.

not trying to argue, but how do you know the rotors you
bought are the same as what is in the ebay listing?

 

[04efi]

Just to add to this post I would trust them. I put it this way, our bikes are made from japan. Well how much different could the two be??? LOL either way im sure they will work just fine. There isn't to much to screw up there and its not like the assembly side of these parts are like building a clock. I'm sure they are poured then machined down and heat treated ext. If at all possible fine the name of the builder and google them.

 

[MattyA]

not trying to argue, but how do you know the rotors you
bought are the same as what is in the ebay listing?

well i dont know exactly, but they cost 220AUD for the pair. They arnt from a well known manafacturer.


And at that price how couldnt they be from china....

 

[rickthefix]

i have been looking at the china-made rotors recently because my original rotors caused me to go over the edge of a hill in the mountains last saturday. was following a zx6r & zx9r & we were riding pretty aggressively. one or both of my front rotors warped causing a very bad chattering of the front end just before entering the curve. i had to let off the front brakes to keep from causing a tank slapper. this caused me to go wide due to too much speed entering the curve & go down the edge of a hill into soft dirt. these original rotors should have been able to take the heat from this type of riding, IMHO. i will buy a known quantity though, since i get a great big discount at my local cyclegear & will pay about $300 for a set of EBC Pro-Lite's. well worth the $100 diff, again IMHO.

 

[killernoodle]

They probably are, but Yamaha has to have stringest quality testing and standards to make sure their products meet the requirements that would be considered acceptable for a motorcycle.
Even if they cost cut you are safe in assuming your not going to die in a horrible brake failure accident caused by cheap rotors because Yamaha didn't make sure the quality was there.
However if it isn't someone official, or its a reject from the line there is no accountability, and they don't have to worry about the effect their product might have.
You can't avoid buying "Made in China" anymore, you just want to make sure its the legit stuff.

Tell that to the guy who made my Yamaha OEM brake lever! (hint, it broke off while I was riding it a few weeks ago)

The cheap chinese adjustable levers I bought are fantastic quality besides the anodize coating. Machining is top notch and the hardware is nice. I've had pretty good luck with chinese parts and tools.

 

[FinalImpact]

i have been looking at the china-made rotors recently because my original rotors caused me to go over the edge of a hill in the mountains last saturday. was following a zx6r & zx9r & we were riding pretty aggressively. one or both of my front rotors warped causing a very bad chattering of the front end just before entering the curve. i had to let off the front brakes to keep from causing a tank slapper. this caused me to go wide due to too much speed entering the curve & go down the edge of a hill into soft dirt. these original rotors should have been able to take the heat from this type of riding, IMHO. i will buy a known quantity though, since i get a great big discount at my local cyclegear & will pay about $300 for a set of EBC Pro-Lite's. well worth the $100 diff, again IMHO.

before you blame the rotor - could be your calipers aren't retracting properly, are not adjusted properly, or have air in the lines, or master cylinder lever is not allowing the master cylinder piston to retract all the way. Any one of which will make them drag so they never cool and thus lead to a warped rotor(s)!

Just a thought. . .

 

[FinalImpact]

The Holes!
Vented rotors allow the gases to escape from the pads when they are super heated during heavy braking and hi speed breaking. Without the holes and slots, the heat generated by the pads friction has no where to escape when the pads out-gas and the pads loose contact with the rotor. When this happens you loose stopping power!

The holes are note just another pretty hole!

 

[Mr.Mantas]

Alright. il update this thread every 1000klms with a full inspection, including a runout test with a dial guage.

If they dont last then shame on me.
if they do last then you will all be better off for knowing.

Any updates about this?

 

[rickthefix]

before you blame the rotor -

Naw, it's the rotors. when i first bought the bike, i removed & inspected the front & rear brake sysrems, lightly sanded the rotors & smoothed out the pads on a sanding belt. then did a flush of the calipers & master cylinders.
it may be time to flush the fluid again, but the pads are not dragging.
i found these rotors on ebay from sixity, item # 150597477887. anyone use these or know of anyone that has? he's in california, but may (read probably) be getting them from china, but at least he's in the us.

here's a link to the ebay sale: 07-09 Yamaha FZ6 Brake Rotor Disc Floating Front | eBay

i was going to buy the ebc pro-lite contoured rotors, but retails at $550. even with my discount, would cost me over $400 for a set.