Are wave rotors worth it for the street and occasional track day?

Setting price aside do wave rotors really improve the braking performance with the occasional braking situation on the street and a few track days here and there? I'm not talking racing because in that situation I'm sure the wave rotors have an advantage as far as heat dissipation goes. Would one get equal braking performance by just switching to stainless braided brake lines for improved control and braking force? Again, for mainly street and the occasional track day....

Braided lines dont gives more braking power.....all they give is better feel and modulation. As far as the wave rotors question goes,i never experienced them.....but switching stainless discs with stainless discs.....I dont see the interest.

Come on Martin. I find that hard to believe. Since the braided lines aren't going to expand like the rubber ones it's got to mean that the pressure which would have been stored in the expansion of the rubber ones is going to transfer to the pads. To me this means more breaking power for the same amount of force applied to the lever. Am I wrong?

Yes,I"m afraid so.... Do a search about it and find out :) Better feel may translate into "more braking power",but really,it doesnt brake more.....its just that the newfound ease modulation makes one feel so.

Are the wave rotors lighter? I have seen one sight which states they are 4 pounds lighter than stock. If this is true, then they help in performance of the bike.

Originally posted by R1ANDREW Are the wave rotors lighter? I have seen one sight which states they are 4 pounds lighter than stock. If this is true, then they help in performance of the bike. A stock disc weight about 3 pounds.....I weighted one like 2 days ago.

Can any vendors tell me how much they weigh? Come on shane I know you have3 them on your R1.

If the stock disc weighs 3 pounds, and if the wave discs only weigh one pound, then they will save 4 pounds, or rotational weight, but with a location close to the wheel axis, the loss of rotaional weight is not as consequential as the loss of rotational weight further away from the wheel axis (by virtue of the lesser polar moment of inertia of rotaional weight close to the wheel axis).

come on eyespy I am tring to talk myself into these.

To answer the question... No. But, man they are cool! As for weight they may save a few ounces not pounds.

OK just got STreamX21 for my 98 r1,just a little cheaper than the wave roters, i like the wave ones too.plan on doing some track dayes .any thing is better then stock, if you do get them roters get the new yamaha Break pads!:dollar :fork

Braided lines definately made a difference to mine...no where near the fade over the day, and I don't have to bleed the brakes as often...feel stronger, but only because they dont fade... I dont know bout the wave discs yet either...but ask me in two weeks... fitting mine next week, we'll see...:)

Originally posted by Eyespy If the stock disc weighs 3 pounds, and if the wave discs only weigh one pound, then they will save 4 pounds, or rotational weight, but with a location close to the wheel axis, the loss of rotaional weight is not as consequential as the loss of rotational weight further away from the wheel axis (by virtue of the lesser polar moment of inertia of rotaional weight close to the wheel axis). They cant be weighting 1 pound,my damn carbon disc weight more than that :) I"d say MAYBE 2.6.

The wave rotors are 14oz lighter than the stock discs on my 02 according to the post office digital scale........:hellobye

1 pound=16 ounces for those that do not know :)

Originally posted by martinc They cant be weighting 1 pound,my damn carbon disc weight more than that :) I"d say MAYBE 2.6. Of course they can't. That is the point.

Still,a pound is a pound :) Must make a diff.

Originally posted by martinc Still,a pound is a pound :) Must make a diff. About 16 oz :sneaky

:crash :lol But...... The question was : are they worth it on the streets? :fact

not really, the major advatage that they have is that they offer additional edge surface area to dissapate heat. Having said that, you'll notice that i have them, must mean i'm a poser..........

Originally posted by R1Budha not really, the major advatage that they have is that they offer additional edge surface area to dissapate heat. Having said that, you'll notice that i have them, must mean i'm a poser.......... According to some,arent we all? :lol

Originally posted by martinc According to some,arent we all? :lol :thumbup

I could tell a big difference in the way my bike's stopping felt with the braking wave rotors and braking pads... I'm sure it was a combination of the pad and rotors but they did feel better. and they are also lighter... braking's claim is 1 lb. or 1.5 lb. per disk... something like that..

Originally posted by R1Budha :thumbup POSER POSER POSER.........Your a POSER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:jump

Originally posted by Dragon129 POSER POSER POSER.........Your a POSER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:jump :lol :lol :lol :lol but doesn't that make you.............

Originally posted by R1Budha :lol :lol :lol :lol but doesn't that make you............. :sneaky

Lightened rotor = less mass = less heat sinking ability = bad juju on the track. Putting wave/slotted/cross drilled rotors on track cars is a bad idea. Being that it's rather difficult to overheat the brakes on these bikes (compared to a car), there's a bigger allowance for stupid ideas (read: wave rotors) without detrimental effects. It might look pimp, but attempting to justify your purchase by claiming "improved braking" is recockulous. :lol

I just wonder what the hell recockulous means???

wave/slotted/cross drilled rotors = more surface area = more heat dissapation = less fade on the track. of course as I said before, for the street it just puts the "ng" in bling!

Originally posted by Ronin R1 wave/slotted/cross drilled rotors = more surface area = more heat dissapation = less fade on the track. of course as I said before, for the street it just puts the "ng" in bling! If you're having brake fade at the track your pads are overheating. Your pads overheat when your rotor can no longer absorb the heat coming from the pads, this happens when the rotor reaches a temp nearing/equaling that of the pad. If you have a larger rotor mass, it can absorb more heat before this happens, ideally the rider can't brake hard enough and often enough to max out he heat capacity of the pad/rotor. The reason behind "big brake kits" is to increase rotor/pad mass (heat sink) so that it takes much more friction to reach the point of brake fade. The gain in surface area by slotting/cross drilling rotors is inconsequential, in fact a wave rotor of equal diameter has less surface area than that of a standard rotor. The bigger contact area between the pad/rotor in "big brake kits" provides better brake modulation/feel which can improve braking effectiveness. Ever have a car with crappy brakes that fade when constantly appllied going down a large hill? Throwing stock sized cross drilled/slotted/petunia shaped/wave rotors on there isn't going to help matters all else being equal.

Hey beave,you seem to know a bit about brakes and the physics behind them.....care to share your background concerning this topic?

Originally posted by Beave If you're having brake fade at the track your pads are overheating. Your pads overheat when your rotor can no longer absorb the heat coming from the pads, this happens when the rotor reaches a temp nearing/equaling that of the pad. If you have a larger rotor mass, it can absorb more heat before this happens, ideally the rider can't brake hard enough and often enough to max out he heat capacity of the pad/rotor. The reason behind "big brake kits" is to increase rotor/pad mass (heat sink) so that it takes much more friction to reach the point of brake fade. The gain in surface area by slotting/cross drilling rotors is inconsequential, in fact a wave rotor of equal diameter has less surface area than that of a standard rotor. The bigger contact area between the pad/rotor in "big brake kits" provides better brake modulation/feel which can improve braking effectiveness. Ever have a car with crappy brakes that fade when constantly appllied going down a large hill? Throwing stock sized cross drilled/slotted/petunia shaped/wave rotors on there isn't going to help matters all else being equal. quick question then, why do all sportbike rotors come cross drilled? The Japs are usually pretty good at the function over form formula on this stuff, I'd doubt they'd add more work unless it really helped in some matter.

Originally posted by mercurial quick question then, why do all sportbike rotors come cross drilled? The Japs are usually pretty good at the function over form formula on this stuff, I'd doubt they'd add more work unless it really helped in some matter. Bikes are ridiculously over braked from the factory, compared to a car at least. Large rotors, twin piston calipers (up front) and less than 700 lbs with rider. The real limit to a bikes single stop braking performance is the small contact patch of the front tire, not the rotors/pads themselves. So, 99.9% of the time the slight amount of mass lost when drilling the rotors doesn't result in noticeably diminished braking ability. Chances are that if you're overheating the cross drilled brakes on your bike, you'd overheat their solid counter-parts as well and are a candidate for a "big brake kit". So why not leave the rotors solid if cross drilling doesn't help with cooling? Basically because a bike's rotors are much more exposed to the elements than a car's rotors. Mud, gunk, debris etc. can work its way between the pad and rotor and reduce the friction coefficient between the two. Putting large holes in the rotor (notice that the holes of OEM bike rotors are much larger than their aftermarket counterparts for cars) creates an escape for the debris that gets stuck and also can scrape the pads clean to some extent. Bike manufacturer's would like to have the best of both worlds and in a sense they do. They drill out the rotors so the pad to rotor friction coefficient remain consistant but start out with a very large rotor mass/vehicle weight ratio so that the mass lost when drilling the rotor remains insignificant. Hope I explained that with some clarity. :)

Originally posted by martinc Hey beave,you seem to know a bit about brakes and the physics behind them.....care to share your background concerning this topic? Sure, about 5 years ago I started turning my '91 mustang in to an open track car, one of the biggest short comings of the car was the brakes. I did lots of research and corresponded with people very knowledgeable in the realm of automotive brakes. I learned a lot, sifted through all the advertising BS and finally bought a big brake kit. Open tracking a heavy car like a mustang puts a serious load on the brake system and under engineered or poorly manufactured components fail quickly. Most of the things I learned can be carried over to bikes and the gaps in my knowledge that pertains to bikes has/can be filled by my step father who is the manager for the motorcycle racing division of Brembo North America.

Hehe...care to have him log in as a guest member? Am I the only one who thinks a monthly (to start with) interview with such people would be a good thing?

Unfortunatley he is a ridiculously busy man. From motorcycle shows, to test days at the track, to AMA races he's hardly ever home. If there are any specific questions that need answers I get that those taken care of for you, unfortunately that's about the best I can promise. Sorry. :bandit

I will agree that having larger rotor will allow it to absorb more energy from the pad without caing temperature but it is also importmant to consider where the energy goes once it is absorb to the rotor having more surface area will aid in the heat transfer from the rotor to atmosphere.