Been looking at some custom wheels and was wondering if anyone with an 09 model or newer with ABS, is running a single brake rotor up front? Can this set up actually work with ABS, and if so what would need to be done to accomplish this.

 

Unbelievable, no one on this forum is running single brake rotor up front with after-market wheels, like 21", on 09 or newer with ABS, thats a first, guess I will have to call Hog Pro to get the answer, thanks guys.

 

did you ever find out anything because i need to know also

 

I haven't done it but I would be extremely cautious about doing it. I specialise in hydraulics so if you consider what it is you are asking from a first principles hydraulic perspective.

Once the pad is in contact with the disk, the brake force is directly proportional to the pressure in the hydraulic system. In the absence of ABS being active, this pressure is regulated by the rider as a function of how hard he is pulling on the lever.

That is clear and easy enough to understand, but if we now expand on that...

The hydraulic pressure is converted in to a brake force because it acts on the area of the brake caliper piston. This is governed by the formula Force = Pressure x Area. In the case of multiple pots in a caliper you simply add the various pots together to get a total force.

ABS prevents wheel lock up by modulating (pressure on / pressure off - very very quickly) brake pressure. It modulates based on the rotational speed of the wheel, which is measured using a digital feedback device in the wheel. Of course the pressure at which it modulates depends on the road conditions, and could get all the way down to zero on an icy road for example.

Now if you change the caliper configuration you change the total pot area that the generated pressure is working on. Simplistically speaking, if you changed from 2 rotors to 1 rotor BUT kept the same brake caliper you would need twice the pressure to generate the same brake force. That is why, if you drop from 2 rotors to one rotor you need to change the caliper as well (twice the area pots gives you the same brake force and puts you back to where you were).

It is important to understand that the ABS system has no idea as to configuration of the caliper, it is simply modulating pressure. In theory then, if you replaced 2 calipers with a single caliper that has the same total pot area you should get yourself back to where you were and the ABS should be fine....but

It is also important to realise that this is a highly dynamic system that is modulating many times per second. Changing calipers will change the dynamics. It may not do so in a way that is detrimental to the ABS system but there is no way on earth I would take that risk.

 

Heard some guys are welding the right side of the Round (T) where the brakes line come"s out of .it is up under the tripple trees,then they just run 1 caliper on left??