The world of aftermarket brakes and rotors are a complete mystery to me. For us as Street Freestyle riders the idea of upgrading has always been switching over to a newer year of OEM equipment. For example, I’m currently running a 2006 Kawasaki ZX636 front end on my 2004 model. Why you ask? Well a big part of the swap is due to the much bigger and needed rotors which equates to better braking. Brakes are one of the most if not the most important aspects of what we do. There’s no such thing as too much. Over the years the level of riding within our sport has progressed extremely fast, almost too fast. The days of just taking OEM equipment and running with it have come to an end. Now in order to have an edge and ride at the top level, your equipment has to be able to withstand whatever punishment you can throw at it. This usually means bigger and better products.
One of the products that we just recently had the opportunity to test was aftermarket front rotors thanks to Galfer. Nick Apex and I went on a grueling ride to the Grand Canyon in the middle of December. Prior to the ride we noticed that our Hypermotards were in shambles. I had a bad pulsation in the front end and Nick’s rotors were all but gone due to over working the braking system to compensate for the bikes heavy weight distribution. Just days before we set off Galfer came to the rescue and supplied us both with a set of their wave rotors for the trip.
The installation was simple. It didn’t take more than a few minutes once I removed the wheel. A few turns of a 6mm hex, these babies were on and ready to go. The rotors lined up perfectly and were actually somewhat lighter than the stock units. There’s no better feeling than knowing you’ve shed a few pounds off of the old beast.
Unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to test the rotors prior to the trip due to extreme weather conditions so we went into the trip blind not knowing what to expect. Let me be the first to say that I was blown away. Having ridden motorcycles most part of my life I’ve become accustomed to the art of breaking in period. However, this wasn’t the case. Even in miserable weather conditions the brakes felt amazing. No pulsation, and an unbelievable feel, right out of the box in rain, snow, and ice.
With the new evolution of sportbike freestyle and the need for better equipment this was perfect timing. Now I can’t wait to get these rotors on the competition bike and see what they are really capable of.
Stay tuned for an exclusive video capturing our Grand Canyon experience in full!
–Ernie “Edub” Vigil
Videos 
A floating rotor will have two main components making up the system, the “blade” and “carrier”. The carrier is what bolts onto the wheel and the blade follows or tracks the brake pad/calipers movements. Keeping the two separate are the “buttons”. Having two separate sections of the rotor helps to keep heat generated in the blade off of the carrier. By keeping the carrier cool you are less likely to have any flex, giving you more feel and braking predictability under extreme braking conditions. A floating rotor also allows for much more contact surface between the blade and brake pads since the blade itself follows the path of the pads correcting any imperfection either may have.
