Few would argue that braking isn’t one of the most important aspects of a motorcycle’s quiver of performance features, and that can be elevated even higher when discussing sportbikes. But what if you have a “vintage” sportbike and want the brakes to perform much closer to a modern machine? As we have discovered, there is only so far you can go without replacing major components, or even the entire system. The test mule in this case is a 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000, which just received a fresh, and more potent engine. It honestly delivers more speed than the mostly stock and worn out braking system is currently capable of countering.Having bought the bike used, our K5 as purchased was fitted with aftermarket Galfer wave rotors and pads, and stainless-steel lines. What we quickly discovered was that the braking system, as is, is woefully inadequate. Three- and four-finger braking provides very little confidence when riding on a mountain road at a nice clip, and any thoughts of doing a trackday have been shelved until we can get them sorted. In the interest of being thrifty, we started out by replacing the pads with SBS units, then replaced the brake fluid with fresh DOT 5, and bled them. The results were underwhelming.

Since we decided to upgrade the brakes in a step-by-step manner and not just throw a couple of grand worth of components at a 20-year old machine, the best bang-for-our-buck would be replacing the master cylinder. Looking at the prices for a new OEM master (sans lever and reservoir) we realized we could get a top-of-the-line Brembo RCS 19 x 18/20 unit from the Upgrade Line (Part #: 110A26310) for just a little bit more money ($426), which seemed like a no brainer. Our experience with Brembo braking systems has been well documented at Cycle World, with almost all of the OEM brands utilizing the Italian systems on their premium offerings.Our goal was to see how much we could improve the performance and modulation at the lever without having to replace our stock calipers, and aftermarket discs. The parts we ordered included everything necessary to swap out the stock unit, including the master cylinder, breakaway lever, wiring for the brake light, while we ordered a new matched reservoir ($71). The unit we selected features a 19mm piston and an adjustable lever ratio that allows the user to optimize the “feel” to preference between two ratios (18 or 20). The 18 setting is more progressive, while the 20 setting is more aggressive offering stronger initial bite. The lever has a quick adjuster to allow the span to be customized to preference.

If you aren’t comfortable working on your braking system, we’d recommend having it installed by a dealership or motorcycle mechanic. After removing the stock master cylinder and reservoir we followed Brembo’s installation procedure by bolting on the new unit and brake-fluid reservoir. The only thing that needed a couple extra steps is that the stock brake-light wiring and the Brembo’s connectors were not compatible. So we snipped off the stock connectors and fitted the female versions that matched the Brembo connectors, soldered them to the stock wires and then plugged them in. Next up we needed to charge the system with a fresh supply of fluid and bleed the calipers and master cylinder. We chose to reverse bleed the system by pumping fluid from the calipers up to the master. This is a much easier process when changing out the system and quickly eliminates air bubbles as the fluid is pushed up into the reservoir and requires a lot less pumping at the lever.With installation complete, the next step was to take a test ride and decide which ratio we preferred. It didn’t take more than a block to realize that the worn out stock master cylinder was largely the issue related to what we were experiencing. Lever travel has been reduced substantially, which in turn provides significantly better modulation. And while braking power is ultimately still dictated by the stock calipers, at least we now know that we are getting the maximum performance from the components that we are using on the Suzuki. As for the ratio, we’ve settled on the more aggressive 20 ratio, in an effort to get the maximum bite possible.So did we achieve our goal of making the Suzuki’s braking system perform like a modern sportbike braking system? The answer at this point is no, but we’ve taken a big step to bridging the gap. We can now two-finger brake, which is much more confidence inspiring. Braking systems have advanced in leaps and bounds in the past 25 years; current stock sportbike brakes are far better than systems used on factory racebikes just 10 years ago. So getting the brakes on our Gixxer to perform at that level is a tall order, but with a key component in place, we’re confident that with some smart additional changes we can create a setup that is at least far better, and closer to modern, than anything that existed in 2005, and may even provide the confidence to take it to a trackday.