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1,796 Posts
OK, wait a second, hear me out...
Had a pair of warped Brembo rotors on the 1290. Look good, but pulsate. Tried to clean/de-glaze, but it did not help. Needed a change. I know that you should not save on brakes, but I looked around for good pricing on Brembos (they come OEM on the bike). Found some pretty good deals on eBay.
My eBay searches also brought up a lot of Chinese rotors but I wasn't really sure I want to go so cheap (I also told you guys I will NEVER buy Chinese braking components, so I did not want to become a liar...).
I also came upon a company called SFS. It's Turkish. Here is link for the rotors I eventually bought.
Turkish brakes? You ask yourselves... Are you crazy? Well, sort of... NOT. My background is automotive engineering and my career brought me to Turkey more than a few times. A lot of OEM manufacturers have plants in turkey. It is also a hot-bed for a lot of aftermarket spare parts for European cars. I am familiar with the quality and have never been burned before by Turkish production (not to mention that their Kebaps and Raki are to die for...).
Anyway, a few emails later and it became quite evident that I am not going to get detailed specifications from the guys. They just said: "It will fit your KTM SA 1290. Guaranteed".
So I decided to pull the trigger on a $240 set (L+R) with an additional $23 shipping.
How many weeks does it take to get rotors from Turkey, you ask? Well, not weeks. Days. I ordered on Friday and the rotors arrived on MONDAY!!! All the way from the beautiful city of Istanbul (and it is beautiful, believe me).
Opening the package, the rotors seemed of very high quality. I have used a lot of brands before, including Brembo and Galfer. These did not fall in quality from either. Laser cut stateliness steel on aluminium carriers.The real thing.
Will it also install right? Yes, it will...
But how does it stop? Well... pretty, pretty, pretty good. Coupled with FA244HH (our beloved Duke 790 pad) and fresh brake fluid, I went out to bed the pads. Very light squeeze on the lever of the Brembo M/C and this thing bites. Didn't take much to activate the ABS. Three rounds 15MPH, then 3X each 25, 35 and all the way up to 50MPH, as per Galfer's bedding procedure and we have liftoff. Kudos to the braking system these KTM engineers put on the 1290.
45 minutes later and I can't be happier. Adjusted head bearing clearance didn't hurt as well. All I can say is that it works. And very well.
So why am I writing all this in our Duke forums? Simple answer: I decided to reach out to SFS and see if I can get them to manufacture rotors for the duke. Maybe even 320's, like the 1290 rotors I purchased. I really think that they can be a winner. Performance and quality at a decent price.
So that's my story. Take it as you may. I am a believer.
güle güle
Had a pair of warped Brembo rotors on the 1290. Look good, but pulsate. Tried to clean/de-glaze, but it did not help. Needed a change. I know that you should not save on brakes, but I looked around for good pricing on Brembos (they come OEM on the bike). Found some pretty good deals on eBay.
My eBay searches also brought up a lot of Chinese rotors but I wasn't really sure I want to go so cheap (I also told you guys I will NEVER buy Chinese braking components, so I did not want to become a liar...).
I also came upon a company called SFS. It's Turkish. Here is link for the rotors I eventually bought.
Turkish brakes? You ask yourselves... Are you crazy? Well, sort of... NOT. My background is automotive engineering and my career brought me to Turkey more than a few times. A lot of OEM manufacturers have plants in turkey. It is also a hot-bed for a lot of aftermarket spare parts for European cars. I am familiar with the quality and have never been burned before by Turkish production (not to mention that their Kebaps and Raki are to die for...).
Anyway, a few emails later and it became quite evident that I am not going to get detailed specifications from the guys. They just said: "It will fit your KTM SA 1290. Guaranteed".
So I decided to pull the trigger on a $240 set (L+R) with an additional $23 shipping.
How many weeks does it take to get rotors from Turkey, you ask? Well, not weeks. Days. I ordered on Friday and the rotors arrived on MONDAY!!! All the way from the beautiful city of Istanbul (and it is beautiful, believe me).
Opening the package, the rotors seemed of very high quality. I have used a lot of brands before, including Brembo and Galfer. These did not fall in quality from either. Laser cut stateliness steel on aluminium carriers.The real thing.
Will it also install right? Yes, it will...
But how does it stop? Well... pretty, pretty, pretty good. Coupled with FA244HH (our beloved Duke 790 pad) and fresh brake fluid, I went out to bed the pads. Very light squeeze on the lever of the Brembo M/C and this thing bites. Didn't take much to activate the ABS. Three rounds 15MPH, then 3X each 25, 35 and all the way up to 50MPH, as per Galfer's bedding procedure and we have liftoff. Kudos to the braking system these KTM engineers put on the 1290.
45 minutes later and I can't be happier. Adjusted head bearing clearance didn't hurt as well. All I can say is that it works. And very well.
So why am I writing all this in our Duke forums? Simple answer: I decided to reach out to SFS and see if I can get them to manufacture rotors for the duke. Maybe even 320's, like the 1290 rotors I purchased. I really think that they can be a winner. Performance and quality at a decent price.
So that's my story. Take it as you may. I am a believer.
güle güle