Hi all,
I’m a new rider and recently got my first “real” motorcycle: a 1999 Suzuki VZ800 Marauder.
I’m not planning to customize it heavily, but I do want to make it more practical and safer. My main concern right now is the front brake performance.
I was thinking about buying a second set of stock parts from eBay — another front caliper and brake disc/rotor — and adding it to the other side to convert the bike into a dual front disc setup. Ideally, I would like to keep the original master cylinder if possible.
Has anyone done this before using stock VZ800 parts? Any thoughts or advice?
One thing I’m wondering about is that the caliper on the other side may end up mounted upside down. I have seen people do similar setups before, but I understand bleeding the brakes can become more difficult. I think I could manage that part if needed.
For context, right now I can only comfortably reach the brake lever with all four fingers, and it feels like I need to use a lot of force to stop the motorcycle. The lever does not have position adjustment. My thinking is that even if the lever travel increases because the original master cylinder is pushing two calipers instead of one, the braking might still feel better overall — but I may be wrong.
I’d appreciate any input, especially from anyone who has tried this or knows whether the stock master cylinder is suitable for a dual-disc conversion.
Thanks!