I'm terrible at visualising things. Since the halves are mirror images, could you get another caliper and bolt two halves together that have the bleed nipples, block off the unused one?

Hi Mekros,

I managed to score the caliper & master cylinder in good condition when I purchased the wheels, that's been my main reason for using it. It also has a lot more brake pad area than the CRM caliper. If I was going to buy another I have seen left hand side calipers on ebay for ~$60 from a number of different bikes.

I've made the following picture to illustrate what I mean by the symmetry and the machining required.


It would also need drilling to create the internal galleries.
The new fitting would be at the top for a bleed nipple. I think I would connect the hose to the lower fitting, so the fluid would be flushed better. If the hose doesn't allow this then I would connect it to the top and block off the lower.

fantastic work here (bit late to the party i know)

I think you should start making a few kits up and sell them as kits so us on this side of the pond can source our own wheels.
really impressive work

Speeddevice wrote:Hi Mekros,

I managed to score the caliper & master cylinder in good condition when I purchased the wheels, that's been my main reason for using it. It also has a lot more brake pad area than the CRM caliper. If I was going to buy another I have seen left hand side calipers on ebay for ~$60 from a number of different bikes.

I've made the following picture to illustrate what I mean by the symmetry and the machining required.


It would also need drilling to create the internal galleries.
The new fitting would be at the top for a bleed nipple. I think I would connect the hose to the lower fitting, so the fluid would be flushed better. If the hose doesn't allow this then I would connect it to the top and block off the lower.

That is the nicest way I have been told that my idea is idiotic When I thought about it after your posts, makes total sense what you are saying. Nevermind me, I need more bike and tinkering time.

Not too much has happened since the last update however I did get the chance to take the bike to a friends farm.
The CRM is excellent offroad!

I have managed to give the caliper a nice coat of paint. The two hi-temp paint colours I had were Chevy Orange or EE Cherry Red. I went with the orange since it matched the graphics on the bike better than the Cherry.







I also have a 500 piece kit of aluminium crush washers so I can re-configure the brakes.

******************************

Now to some up so far.
If anyone else is interested in doing a similar conversion my advice would be don't... unless you have access to a machine shop to modify the front wheel, sprocket carrier & fabricate other parts. It would be very expensive to pay for this work.
The RS wheels look good and are a nice light weight but it would be much easier to get CBR wheels or EXCEL wheels. I considered making kits of the spacers and caliper bracket but the additional machining is a bit hard to control.

If you like a challenge however, then you're the reason why I am sharing my drawings and experience in this forum. Best of Luck.

I finally had the chance to start fitting up the wheels and brakes.



I need to make a small shim (o.5-1.0mm) to give a bit more clearance between the caliper and the disk on the trailing edge;

The leading edge is ok.

And I need to order 5mm longer bolts for the bracket. The should be M8 x 35. Not sure how I stuffed that up.


The next was a mod I knew I needed to do. The lug for the speedo drive needs to be cut down to clear the wheel.


About 5-6mm needs to be cut off.


Even so the wheel is quite close, I need to make up a washer that is 3mm thick or make longer spacers.


So I could change back to the standard wheels and speedo drive I drilled and tapped the lug for an M4 capscrew to go in.

As you can see from the following photos it gets pretty close in the front end.



The fork guards may need to be trimmed a small amount.




The rear end went together very neatly.



Now I just need to order a master link to make a shorter chain and order the M8 capscrews before I can give it a ride.

looking very nice!

maybe when I get back to the UK I will try an do a CRM properly...

All I can say is WOW I'm impressed

Thanks for the kind words.

I have put an order in for the chain master-link and longer bolts. More progress in a few weeks time when those parts get here.

The bolts have come in and are now installed.
The chain link is here too. I just need to shorten the new chain and install it now.

I made a spacer for the front wheel but some how grabbed the dimensions as 22x35x3 instead of 22x28x3. The larger OD hits on the casting where the bottom of the fork tube goes in. I could wait till tomorrow and make a new one but decided to make a flat on one side for clearance instead.





I should be able to connect the front brake hose and bleed the system but I was thinking of giving the master cylinder & original caliper a bead blast first to clean them up.

getting there

Looking forward to seeing photos of the bike when finished.

Dirty!


The cleaned up caliper







When I started to tighten the real axle I found a problem. The sprocket carrier is hitting on the swingarm weld. I should have left a couple more links in the chain and it would have been ok. I'll have to take it out and turn 3-5mm of the carrier, which will give it much better clearance anyway.



The hose doesn't quite reach the original RS banjo hole on the caliper unless it runs wide of the fork, where it could get caught.


If I drill the boss for a new banjo fitting the hose should run nicely through the standard CRM hose clamp.




And the sidestand needs to be about 25-30mm shorter. I think I will make/buy a second one so the original can be swapped back in with the wheels.

It's certainly coming on