650 bandit brakes

[pthechemist]

Wondering if anyone knows of a fairly cheap and simple way of improving the brakes on the bandit?
Cheers

[mchaggis]

Cheap and simple: strip, clean and bleed. There's a guide written by Silver knocking about somewhere. Even a proper bleed would improve them if they're squidgy.

Other than keeping them in tip-top condition, there is not really any cheap and simple way of improving them other than replacing the calipers with ones with a larger piston area. That in itself is fraught with difficulty and expense unless you can find a caliper which fits, or perhaps a whole new front end from a machine with stronger brakes.
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I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[Bezzer]

Best bet is to make the best of what you've got, braided lines, replace and bleed the fluid and fit something like EBC HH pads which should give you a fair bit more bite.
You're struggling to upgrade if the forks are the same as the old 600 as there are only a couple of bikes that have the same calipers with 8mm bolts and they aren't really any better than the Bandits. You'd be paying out for custom adaptors and the the new calipers if they were different.
If they are 10mm caliper fixing bolts you would probably find some better stoppers that dropped right in but it's just knowing which ones.Then there's the whole front end swop but it would really cost you then.
First option is going to be your cheapest, best and dead easy to do
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[Robby]

You'll find a big difference upgrading to some decent pads, I think EBC HHs are quite highly thought of, and carbone-lorraine SBK 3s. I personally like ferodo platinums.

Braided lines may have a slight improvement, but personally I'm not a fan, you don't get such a satisfying squeeze with them.

More than this it gets expensive, you're looking at fitting more expensive calipers and disks.

I've only ridden a bandit 600 once, and I thought the brakes were fine and sharp. My bike is an SV650, which I think has the same or similar brakes, and they are fine. Cleaning yours up may work wonders, particularly if you've been riding it all winter. Suzukis and road salt never mix well.

[pthechemist]

Cheers guys. Will probably try changin' the pads first and see how it goes.
Phil