More Africa Twin foolishness...

Well Friends,

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in Skunk Hollow, with near perfect weather. Temp was 73F (23C), sunny, and mostly windless. I couldn't think of anything I really had to do, so decided to take a short, leisurely ride around some local dirt roads that I had been meaning to explore, "someday." Was also just a little curious to see how the epoxy on the brake rotor buttons would hold up to some washboards.

Headed out northeast of Skunk Hollow to a dirt road that joins a relatively busy highway, and turned down it:

I was greeted by a wide, flat grader road that had a few S curves on it that were ideal for a little sliding around.

As I got closer to the reservation, things got a little less refined...

Found a little sand to play in; not too deep, so no winch deployment was required.

Of course the power line roads always offer infinite entertainment potential...

Yeah, there is a coyote somewhere in this picture, but I can't spot him! Also saw a road runner at about the same time... coincidence?

Cotton fields had been harvested a few weeks back:

A little texture to some of the roads...

Evidence of the local wild horse herd was present:

c't'd

c't'd

Unshod hoof prints...

The last couple of a dozen or so Gambel's Quail that took a stroll across the road in front of me as the shadows streched out:

Back into the suburbials...

Was a rather pleasant little jaunt. Floated over some washboards at a fair clip. Epoxy somewhat stayed in the rotor button gaps, but definably is not a long-term solution. It did quiet the rotors down, considerably, though. Guess I will place an order for some rotors when the credit card closes for the month.

Probably getting to be time for a drive chain set, again, as well. Noticed a stretched spot when checking it yesterday, that is making proper tension adjustment problematic. Always something...

Sounds like you've just done a lot more than 5 feet on those rotors.  😎  Another great write up and pictures!  Thanks for sharing.  🤩 

I wonder if there is a non-floating version of brake rotors, and how that would affect brake feel / pad wear?

Gamble's Quail is an awesome bird for experienced hunters and bird dogs.  Super quick in flight, and very wary of predators.  A great bird to help finish a hunting dog, and teach a dog how not to "bump" a bird.   We have a similar species in Utah, called the "California Quail".  With a preference to hunting Ruffed Grouse in the mountains (another fun and challenging bird), I've not hunted them... yet.  We'll have to see how the new pup works out. 🙂 

Well, we will see what the cheapest Chineseum rotors from fleabay look like, tomorrow:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/267069376947

I don't think they could be much worse than the Galfers, but I could be wrong.  Decided it was worth risking $100 for each pair to find out.  Had to order the CRF1000 version for the Haan hub that Woodys build on.

If nothing else, they look stylish. 😎 

How many miles did you get on the Galfer rotors?

The slop in the video is at 37,700 miles... developed very gradually, but got kinda loud in its current state.

Posted by: @ben-franklin

↑

, but got kinda loud in its current state.

Is that the same state where Skunk Hollow is located ?

@miles-ladue Absolutely!

🤣 you two crack me up! 😎 

Overall, not bad mileage for the usage. 👍 

State? Shaken but not stirred?

Well friends, the special Chinesium front brake rotors that I ordered off fleabay came in a couple of days ago, and I found time in my busy schedule to screw with putting them on, today.

Why special Chinesium vs OEM or Galfers? Well, a pair of no name China rotors were $101 for the pair with free shipping, vs $331.60 each for Galfers and $510 each for OEM.

I was not all that impressed with the slightly less than 38,000 mile life span of the Galfers that came with my Woody's Wheels, especially the rear one, where they were off about .4mm in the diameter of the bolt pattern. (Which I speculate had a lot to do with rotor bolts repeatedly backing out on that disc.)

Galfers Front Rotor, right side only. Precision made in Spain... 

 

 

So I thought, well, at $100 for the pair, I wonder how bad the Tarazon branded Chinese rotors really could be? The China factories are cranking out stuff for CF Moto and likely other brands, so maybe they can make s suitable brake rotor.

I have seen a few CNC machined accessories, lately, from NiceCNC in China, with surprisingly good quality.

Here is the Ebay ad that I purchased the pair of front rotors off of:

 

 

At the unboxing event in my garage, I noticed that they seemed a little heavier than the Galfers. It turns out that these rotors start life out with a 5mm disc wear area thickness and call for a minimum thickness of 4mm before discarding. The Galfers that came on my wheel appear to start out at 4mm and call for a 3.5mm min thickness to discard at.

The Galfer website is silent about their current design's thickness, but zooming in on the picture shows 4mm min thickness on their current product, so maybe the weight is the same on the new Galfer model.

Here is what a worn Galfers rotor from my front wheel weighed: 1,210 grams.

 

Here is what the new Tarazon rotor weighed: 1,485 grams.

 

So at two rotors, double the difference of 275 g per rotor, for a 550g increase in unsprung weight. Not great, but will see how noticeable it is out on the wash boards.

Other than the thicker stainless steel friction surface, and two additional buttons from the style on my front wheel (but same as the new style Galfer), the quality appeared to be similar.

The fit on the hub and the alignment of the bolt mounting points were the same. The offset was the same.

Installation went smoothly. I'll probably go to hell for reusing the front rotor attachment bolts, but since they are steel bolts threading into an aluminum hub, I don't think they saw much stretch.

I torqued them with blue loctite at 160 inch/lbs, about 10% less than the 180 inch/lbs the manual calls for, to compensate for using thread lube.

Installed on wheel:

 

Wheel on bike:

 

Weather was pleasant this evening, so decided to go for a little rip around Skunk Hollow to see how they felt.

First thing I noticed was the rattling from the worn out center hubs/buttons on the old discs was gone. I kinda expected that, but it was still nice.

I did a few hard stops and engaged the antilock features. Stopping felt the same as before, no noticeable difference in brake feel after about three stops to seat the pads to the new rotors.

I'll update if there are any interesting deviations from expectations with these el cheapo rotors, but for now, I am thinking I got away with something....

Dane...some wanker hiding down in Skunk Hollow under the founding fathers' name of Ben Franklin.....

Did you also install new brake pads at this same time, or use the existing brake pads that were already in the front brake calipers ???

And...if I may make a suggestion that you have already thought of yourself, or as they say in Skunk Hollow...me-self....if these new Chinese front brake rotors work out, and work well for you, maybe order another 4+ sets of them, to have on the shelf, as you seem to go through parts and pieces on you Skunk Hollow "tuk" quite a bit.

Rotors have a pretty tulip pattern.  Ought to be a hit at the garden club.  😉 

Since the external diameter is only 3xxmm I doubt you'll notice much difference in rotational mass.

Galfer better step up their game, or they'll go the way of many other companies who couldn't compete with the Chinese.

@miles-ladue Pads were reasonably fresh, at about 75% remaining life, so left them in.

You are right, I have thought about having another set of these on the shelf, if they work out!

@scott-h Yep.  If it would have been a small difference, or maybe even up to 50%, I would not have bothered with the Chinese units.

However, $101 vs $662 for what look like close to identical rotors had to be tested.