Tokico Radial Caliper Refurb

[Wallace]

A mate asked me to blast & repaint a set of Tokico Radial Caliper from a Kawasaki.


Not too bad on the outside.


Not too good on the inside but I've seen much worse.


Gently cleaned with stainless steel wire brushes, masked and blasted with J Blast Superfine on a low pressure.


Ditto.


VHT gold spray paint, not quite a colour match but hopefully will darken a little once oven cured.


Ditto.

Will be baked at gas mark 6 tomorrow in his oven as he's a chef and I know what the smell will be like. (He doesn't yet!)

 

[Exuptoy]

Nice job fella. I have a set of those sitting here in similar condition. My mate is making a set of adapters to convert from radial to axial mount. Just for the looks really. Don't suppose they're much better than axials but they're sort of en vogue at the moment with the manufacturers and race teams.

 

[Wallace]

Thanks. These are off an 04 636 and they crertainly are light, the pistons are alloy and hard anodized too. The caliper alloy is good quality, it seems to resist corrosion quite well and cleans up easily. I think he chose just the right time to refurb them as a bit of corrosion was building up behind a couple of the dust seals forcing them out. For some reason the rear caliper had no dust seal so that will be rectified but he's going to leave the old rubber hoses on there!

 

[Woody.v8]

Nice do you want some more to do

 

[Exuptoy]

These are renowned for needing a rebuild every year or two. For some reason they suffer more than their competitor Nissins. Don't know if the company scrimped on the costs or quality.
The six pot tockicos on the ZX6, ZX7, ZX9, ZX12 and Hayabusas, TL1000's etc were replaced by 4 pots by racers as they performed better and needed less maintenance.

 

[Wallace]

Nice do you want some more to do

What are they? These were very time consuming due to all the masking required, I don't think he's going like my bill!

 

[Woody.v8]

What are they? These were very time consuming due to all the masking required, I don't think he's going like my bill!

Mine are normal mount 6 pot toks off a Gsxr 1100, But i was only pulling yer leg

 

[Wallace]

These are renowned for needing a rebuild every year or two. For some reason they suffer more than their competitor Nissins. Don't know if the company scrimped on the costs or quality.
The six pot tockicos on the ZX6, ZX7, ZX9, ZX12 and Hayabusas, TL1000's etc were replaced by 4 pots by racers as they performed better and needed less maintenance.

I have Tokico 6 pots on my Speed Triple as does my mate on his ZRX 1100. They were a fantastic upgrade on the Triumph with a set of Hyperlite discs but can be a bit high maintenance as you say.

 

[Exuptoy]

I also have a Speed Triple, an 02. I never knew the siz pots fitted the Triumphs. The last time I checked, my old Daytona had 84mm centres and not the regular 90mm as used on the Kawa and Suzi's. What are they off?

 

[Wallace]

Mine are normal mount 6 pot toks off a Gsxr 1100, But i was only pulling yer leg

I wouldn't get much repeat custom charging per hour! I have easily spent a full day on these three calipers, more if you count the amount of time talking about them since last year and searching for paint! They are going on jigs today and into his oven, I can't wait to see what his wife says! If he's still alive later I have to assemble and fit them and I'm not looking forward to bleeding them even with vacuum.

 

[Wallace]

I also have a Speed Triple, an 02. I never knew the siz pots fitted the Triumphs. The last time I checked, my old Daytona had 84mm centres and not the regular 90mm as used on the Kawa and Suzi's. What are they off?

Mine is a '95 Speed Triple, I think the calipers were Suzuki TL1000. I have a '98 S reg Daytona 595 here at the moment with conventional forks, if I get time later I'll have a measure up. Is your Speed Triple a 955 with upside down forks?

 

[marlinspike]

You said they were blasted at low pressure. What compressor and cfm do you need to blast items like that, Wallace? I had been thinking buying a small compressor for rust blasting and paint spraying on my car and removing some masonry paint from brickwork. However, the Millars company recomended 10 cfm for their soda and media.

 

[Exuptoy]

Mine is a '95 Speed Triple, I think the calipers were Suzuki TL1000. I have a '98 S reg Daytona 595 here at the moment with conventional forks, if I get time later I'll have a measure up. Is your Speed Triple a 955 with upside down forks?

View attachment 35355

I like the early ST! Mine is an 02 with the same forks as the 98 Tona. They are meant to look like USD forks but aren't. They are the same forks as a 93-99 fireblade.

 

[Shox Dr]

I like the early ST! Mine is an 02 with the same forks as the 98 Tona. They are meant to look like USD forks but aren't. They are the same forks as a 93-99 fireblade.

They are nice forks, lots were taken off in favour of GSXR front ends. Underrated along with the brakes. Setup correctly they both work very well.

Bought a mint pair for 85quid including the brakes for a bike I'm building around a 1100 gixxer motor, once I'm issued the correct roundtuit

 

[Exuptoy]

My front and rear end have been rebuilt by Motopro in South Wales with K Tech gold shim stacks and new springs. It handles well.

I acquired a 2006 Hayabusa front end some time ago and I was going to fit it, BUT I got hold of a 86 GPZ750R and stuck it in that, along with a 97 ZX9R swingarm, Street Triple seat unit and subframe and Speed Triple nose cone and lamps. Also running a 2002 ZX6R clocks with the inductive speedo pick up so I am all digital. On the back burner though while the camper is being done.

 

[Shox Dr]

What's special about K Tech shims kits

 

[Exuptoy]

Just the fact it's been rebuilt with a more sports orientated valving kit and with fresh oil and springs (spring to the front only) and set up to my weight, it makes a big difference to the standard Speedy.

 

[Shox Dr]

I couldn't agree more. just wondering what the shims kit was

 

[Exuptoy]

Sorry dude! Just a more efficient valving kit. Mass production on a non sports bike is always going to be a compromised in the handling dept. On most factory bikes, they are designed to operate across a wide spectrum for many varied individuals weights and sizes so the adjustments are going to be useable, but on the speedy, when you adjust something by 2 clicks you notice a difference now.

 

[Shox Dr]

Don't worry, I fully understand the workings of a damper.