These are the brakes

(Kurtis Blow, anyone ? "break it up ! break it up ! break it up !" ? Nope ? Forget it ...)

One of the key points to weight loss on the current track bike project is to get rid of the ABS. Back in 2001, the ABS option on the R1100S is the "integral" version of the system. It is actually the second genetation wich is smarter and applies on both front and rear wheels. So it keeps the standard feature of the ABS by preventing the wheels from blocking, but it adds the ability to balance some brake power from front to rear.

But I'm still going to remove the system anyway ... Mainly because of its weight, but also because I don't want the system to trigger on the track when applying full brake. In order to combine front and rear brake power, the second generation ABS uses of a special central unit and a lot of braided brake hoses that go all around the bike. Once wholy removed, the bike should be a little lighter.

The central unit controls both front and rear brakes

Once removed, the bike will be fitted with braided hoses all along to replace the partial rubber sections. I chose to buy this complete Goodridge kit from eBay and I must admit that's certainly the weirdest one I've ever come across for a motorcycle. It's not designed to replace the whole line but only the rubber sections, so the pipes are really short and at first I even thought I did a mistake when ordering.

The brake system should soon be a mix between ABS orentied parts (like brake pads as calipers should remain on the bike) with non-ABS oriented parts (derived and short braided lines, for instance).