Topic: braking capacity reduced due to "polished" bits?

[jvandyke]

While at a gathering of vintage Japanese bikes last night, I mentioned I was not happy with braking capacity.  I went through everything this spring as I had a draggy front caliper for a while last year, one guy mentioned that the draggy caliper could have polished the disk and pads to the point they slide too easily.  Does this sound feasible?  The disk feels like glass it is so smooth.  Pads looked fine and had plenty of meat so I did not swap 'em out.  Should I try to get the disk turned and get new pads or what?

[Really?]

He might of meant that it has a glaze on it.  You can wet sand the disc if you want, cheaper than having them turned.  I used 320 wet.  Some use a little coarser.

But don't get in your head that it will be night and day when you do this.  I don't know what you are comparing the braking ablity to but these are not dime stoppers.  If you are referring to how it was when new, it may be more than just a glaze on the disc (i.e. brake line swell due to age).

[flybox1]

deglazing with fine emory cloth will matte the disc a little.
refurbish your master cyl, put on some braided, bleed it, and know the brakes on these bikes are, as TipperT stated, "these are not dime stoppers"

[jvandyke]

Thanks guys, I'll scuff things up a bit and consider a SS line.  I know I won't be doing stoppies and they were never famous for braking capability but I think it should be a little better than what it is.

[DJ_AX]

SS lines make a huge difference!
Worth every penny of there's ever a chance you may need to stop quickly. And there's a good chance of that no matter how or where you ride.

Before the SS lines there was a couple of times where I had to use my escape plan B (off road or splitting lanes) thanks to freeway brake slammers and no thanks to weak brakes.

After the SS lines there's already been a few equally quick stops where I didn't need to use the escape route!  .... rush hour.. 

There's an SOHC member here that sells them. Look at the "Bikes / Parts for sale" section of the forum.

 ... highly recommended.