'79 R65 with ATE Calipers

[steve hawkins]

The Brembos fitted to my 1979 bike in place of the ATE dual piston Calipers, are just the Brembos fitted to the later R65s.  This has nothing whatsoever to do with the horrible swinging caliper single piston jobs.  The fork legs are the same for pre and post 1981 R65s as far as brake fitment is concerned.

However the master cyclinder is different, which accounts for the change in feel.

No R65 was fitted with those ATE single piston swinging calipers as standard.  If anyone has an R65 fitted with those brakes it is because the front end has been replaced for some reason with an earlier set of forks.

One of the reasons I chose the R65 for my Cafe Racer project was so I could avoid having to look at those horrible swinging piston calipers and fork legs.  I would have preferred an earlier front end with a drum brake.  I also wanted a decent set of yokes(triple trees?) for the forks - R65 again.

The ATE's fitted to 1979 R65s are similar to the brembos in so far that they are a twin piston caliper - one piston either side of the caliper.  There are no moving parts except the pistons and no ridiculous setting up routines

Cheers

Steve H

[Crossrodes]

Steve please describe how I can tell if I have swinging calipers.  The ATE calipers look like any other design to me. :-/

Modified to say that I lied.  These calipers are a dual piston caliper which I believe were standard on early production bikes.  I must have had a brain fart.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Motobins still has the pistons, around $96 USD.


http://tinyurl.com/22cq7d




You might drop Justin a line to see if he could be competitive with that.  Shipping from England was not even $6.50 USD 18 months ago.

Yes, you have twin piston calipers.  No, they do not float.

I will never understand how the ATE is a copy of the Brembo when the ATE came first.


And here are some pictures from when I rebuilt mine:
http://www.pbase.com/tomfarr/r65_brakes

[Crossrodes]

Rob, who is Justin and where will I contact him?

[NC Steve]

Justin is our host, the reigning Administrator/King here at R65.org, as well as a helluva painter, machinist and all-around Beemerologist Deluxe: nice guy too!  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Reach him via PM or email from the Members list, or anywhere else "Justin B" appears.

[Justin B.]

After turning out a pair of these for a Brembo I can vouch that they are pretty labor intensive so I don't think I could be very competitive.  Plus, I don't have any ATE pistons to copy so I'll have to pass...

[Semper Gumby]

Semper G....the ATE's on my '79 R65 are a single piston caliper plus there are twin front rotors with a rear drum.  This bike was originally purchased and used in Germany and later shipped to Canada.  Is it possible that the Euro Spec model had different brakes than the US spec model?

Could you post a picture please?  Inquiring minds would like to see.  I wonder if somebody put a 1978 or earlier front end on your bike?   :-?

Thanks,

[Crossrodes]

Semper G I corrected that quote with this:

"Steve please describe how I can tell if I have swinging calipers.  The ATE calipers look like any other design to me.  
 
Modified to say that I lied.  These calipers are a dual piston caliper which I believe were standard on early production bikes.  I must have had a brain fart."  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

BTW, I found rebuilding my brake system one of the most rewarding and enjoyable tasks yet.

When I pulled out the first piston, I knew my efforts were NOT in vain!