To anyone who did the F2 wheel mod (I finally did it)

[drinmotoracer]

Hi,
So I am about to add a F2 wheel/rim to my stock forks in a week. I looked extensively into it before even considering it. It seems like 1/2 the people don't have to make any modification to the front brake caliper bracket, but the other half have had to shave some material (or remove some material) off of the bracket. Reason being because the rotor won't clear it. My question is WHERE exactly on the bracket did you guys shave the material from?
The post from the Hawk list says "the mounting boss" which I have NO idea what that is...
Another person said that they removed "non-structural material" which doesn't really make sense because it is a bracket so technically it is ALL structural material...
Another person said they had to "shave" some material off of the bracket...

Well... I'm not that intuitive and kind of hesitant when modifying anything structural on something as important as the front brake. Can someone please tell me where EXACTLY they removed material from on the front brake caliper bracket? A picture with arrows would be awesome!!! But a description is just as good.
Thank you for your help!

[JR]

When you have mounted the wheel with the CBR spacer and you have attached the brake rotor you may find that it difficult to put the caliper back on, as the rotor fouls the mounting boss the bit that bolts to the fork leg. Best way is to see it for yourself. Not much is needed to be taken off to get clearance. You may be luckey and not need anything shaved off.

[drinmotoracer]

So did you actually shave material off of the ENTIRE face of that side of the bracket which interferes with the rotor? Or just in specific spots of the caliper bracket?
Thank you!


Here???



or here??? at that lip between the two black arrows?
[/img]

[drinmotoracer]

Wow... NO one else did this mod?!!?
Oh well... I guess next week I will do the mod and post up pics with details of how I did it
:willy:

[juicedstang999]

Wow... NO one else did this mod?!!?
Oh well... I guess next week I will do the mod and post up pics with details of how I did it
:willy:

I did this mod with a set of 94 F2 cartridge type forks and a 92 F2 wheel with no modifications needed. Instead of hacking things up when you want to remove or install your wheel, remove the calipers first and there will be no contact of any sort. 1 extra step, but no structure is compromised. Simple as that. I guess some are a little lazy? Even though there is an EBC big floater kit on there in this pic., the fitment was still the same when I had it all stock with just the F2 wheel and stock Hawk forks. Just make sure you have the correct spacer installed. Maybe the 92 wheel is the ticket? What year wheel were the others using that didnt need modding to the brackets????

[drinmotoracer]

Hey juiced,
I believe the problems people ran into was when they used stock hawk forks, with f2 wheels.... no specification on the year of rim they used. I did consider using f2 forks, but... no more $$$ b/c i need a rear tire as well
As you said though it is crucial to get the right spacer from the f2 wheel... I checked the part #'s and they are all the same for all years of the F2 wheel so I believe the problem is in the variation of the way the stock Hawk front end was built. There was some inference made by the hawk list post to the 88 Hawk being the only year that there is no modification necessary to the front brake caliper bracket when using a F2 wheel and stock forks, but that has not been confirmed... I have a 1990 Honda Hawk presently, so hopefully I won't have to do anything. I will definitely remove the caliper completely first as you suggested
Thank u for the input though!

[jaysun0ne]

i got a set of hawk uppers and internals and f2 lowers just add oil and your good to go. let me know

[drinmotoracer]

i got a set of hawk uppers and internals and f2 lowers just add oil and your good to go. let me know

Sent ya a PM!

Oh also, to anyone who did this mod, and didn't need to shave anything off... please say so as well so other people can know what the odds are that anything needs to be done at all to the front brake caliper bracket when mounting a F2 rim on stock forks.
Thank you!

[drinmotoracer]

WOOT!


I did it!!! It took me 1h 30min to do it, but I put a 94 (I believe) F2 rim on my bike! Probably not a problem for you mechanically inclined, but for the amateur like me it was a good feeling. BTW, I did NOT have to modify the brake caliper bracket at all... I just had to take out the right brake pad to be able to slip the caliper over, then I reinstalled the pad. It was a tight fit, I'm not going to lie, but it did fit and the brake rotor had enough clearance. Others seemed to have problems, but I don't see why...
Just like juicedstang said, remove the caliper and a brake pad and your all good. I wish I had a digital camera that worked, I would have taken pics of the entire process... but any extra money I have is going towards the hawk
Synopsis (This is going to be detailed for noobs)
Supplies needed: F2 RIM and F2 Spacer for front wheel, Threadlock, 6mm allen head wrench for the rotor bolts, 5mm allen wrench for the brakepad pin bolt, 12mm socket for the axle pinch bolt and brake caliper mounting bolts, 22 mm socket for the axle, torque wrench, floor jack (can use the one from your car if you want, and a jack stand (for safety/support).
1) Loosen pinch bolt, axle bolt, brake caliper mounting bolt, and remove speedometer cable...
2) Put the bike on the center stand (or rear swingarm stand)
3) Using a floor jack and a short piece of 2x4, jack up the bike at the engine block where the oil drain bolt is. There is a square piece of metal jutting downwards from the engine block. This is where I did it. I then put a jackstand with a cut piece of rubber fuel line between the jackstand's support arm, and the round alternator cover (part of the engine block on the left). I did NOT lower the floorjack to support the engine by the jackstand though... the jackstand was just for backup.
4) THen removed the right brake pad in the brake caliper, by taking out the pad plug, and unscrewing the pad pin just enough, took off the brake caliper and suspended it with masking tape so the brake line wouldn't get damaged.
5) Removed the axle and front wheel (stock)
6) Removed the brake rotor... this is tricky as there is threadlock on the allen heads and if you don't have a allen wrench attachment for your torque wrench you need to use the appropriate 6mm allen wrench (L shape), and use a rubber mallet to hit the allen wrench in a counter-clockwise fashion to unscrew the allen bolts... yes they really were that hard to get off!
7) Mount brake rotor on the F2 (do NOT use the paper shims on the F2 if there are any), put threadlock on the allen bolts and tighten in a criss cross pattern to appropriate torque...
Grease up everything needed on the F2 rim (bearings, dust seal, speedo gear box, axle, and f2 spacer
9) Mount front wheel assembly up and put axle through... tighten axle bolt by hand! Don't torque in midair (bad things can happen). Put on the brake caliper. This can be a tight fit...
10) Bolt the caliper back in place... then put the brake pad that you removed in the beginning back in place in the caliper. This should be easy and not have much resistance. Tighten the pad pin, and pad pin plug, and then spin the front wheel multiple times to make sure EVERYTHING is lined up and is in place. Make sure there is no interference with the caliper and brake rotor... or rim/tire with any structural parts. If there is, you probably didn't align things right.
11) Hand tighten the rest of everything (axle pinch bolts, brake caliper mounting bolts, etc.) that was loosened and not tightened already.
12) Set the front wheel down, and then torque everything to specification...
13) Put the speedo cable back in place
14) RIDE THE HELL out of your NEW front wheel!
15) Make sure you go on a short ride, and then re check your work (if your an amateur like me) just in case. All of my bolts were okay though so I was fortunate.

[Ribbit2]

Well done! Nice write up too.

[juicedstang999]

Re: WOOT!

Just like juicedstang said, remove the caliper and a brake pad and your all good.

See that... Like I said, nothin to worry about!!! Keep up the good work.

Rich~

[drinmotoracer]

Thx! Will keep up the good work