Suzuki GSX-S750 36,000 km update: Upgrading the brakes

Seeing my discomfort with the current spongy brake setup, Hafiz suggested fitting a Gen-3 Hayabusa master cylinder onto my bike.

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Been a long while since I last updated this thread. The Odo is at 36,000 kms now, so I’ve managed to put 24,000 kms on the GSX-S since I got it in August 2021. Not as much as I would have liked to, but it’s no garage queen at least.

Couldn't stop anywhere for the 36000 kms photo, but got this grab off my helmet cam.

The Odo is climbing up more slowly now since I don’t wish to subject the bike to the ORR traffic every day. My new workplace offers a cab facility and that’s the preferred commute option on most days. Still, the bike doesn’t complain. Must be that Japanese reliability in its blood, for it still starts without a fuss when wheeled out in those wintery cold Bangalore mornings. With work and personal commitments piling up, the GSX now lives the life of a stereotypical Indian superbike. Head out on weekends for a 150-200 km breakfast/coffee run, head back home, get washed, and sleep under the covers for the weekdays. Only when I know that traffic will be minimal or when I plan to return from work late in the night does the GSX get to do the office commute.

In the midst of it all, got the 6000 km oil change done recently. Took the bike to Hafiz and had a routine service done in under a couple of hours. Fresh oil and oil filter, brake cleaning, coolant top-up, and a thorough inspection all around. Nothing out of the ordinary to report on this front. Didn’t get many pictures of this. The old oil wasn’t fully degraded, surprisingly. Probably attributable to the fact that the bike now does a 40-60 ratio of commute-highway kilometres, with even those commutes being low-traffic, late-night runs.

The Vredestein NSs suffered their second puncture this last weekend on a small jaunt out of town. Was stranded on the highway with no puncture repair guy around and had to call in a tow truck to get the bike back inside the city. Got it plugged in, but learned my lesson after this expensive tow truck ride and now have a puncture repair kit and air compressor handy with me to carry on any ride outside the city.

More goodies have been procured for the bike through my brother in the UK. These will be with me once he flies down this month's end.

Sintered front brake pads from Brembo. Found these on Omnia Racing Italy for the same price as a set of EBCs here in India. Had them shipped to my brother. The current EBCs on my bike will last for another 2000-3000 kms and the Brembos will go on once they’re done. With these being as cheap as they are, I plan to have them brought down with my brother once a year or so, whenever he visits.

And the final component of my planned braking upgrades - the Brembo RCS19 brake master cylinder. Purchased these from Carpimoto along with the Brembo mirror mount clamp and again, had them shipped to my brother. These are the non-corsa Corta version and were purchased as a set with the brake fluid reservoir and mounting kit included.

This is one thing I consulted with Hafiz closely before pulling the trigger. Seeing my discomfort with the current spongy brake setup, Hafiz suggested fitting a Gen-3 Hayabusa master cylinder onto my bike. This would be a radial master cylinder and would allow me to gauge whether changing to a radial setup would give me the feedback I sought. He had a spare Gen-3 Hayabusa master cylinder with him and offered to let me borrow it for a while. Took the bike to him and had this master cylinder fixed, but the accelerator cables coming out of the right handlebar controls were fouling with the brake lever. He managed to angle the lever a little downward to avoid the cables, but, with the bleeder valve sticking towards the handlebar, there was no way for me to fix the right-side mirror with this setup. I was unwilling to continue with this, but Hafiz suggested I take the bike around the block for a small bit gauge the feedback, and then pull the trigger on the RCS19s.

The radial master cylinder from the Gen-3 Hayabusa

The stock axial master cylinder removed

The radial master cylinder fitted

The difference in brake feel with this radial master cylinder was night and day. I suddenly had the instant, precise feedback that I had been searching for. It was incredible how precise the front brake felt with this new setup. Plus, I could easily do one-finger braking with full confidence now. Went back to his shop with the decision to buy the RCS19 now cemented. Hafiz fixed the stock master cylinder back along with the right-side mirror and from then, my wait had begun. Hopefully, the fitment of the RCS19 won't throw up any surprises

The next post will mostly be after all these parts go on the bike. This upgrade should close the chapter on the brakes front since the only thing left will be upgrading the rotors, which I have no intention of doing. In fact, with these parts fixed, I’ve decided to pause any further upgrades for a bit and enjoy the bike as it is.

It’s been 2.5 years since coming into the ownership of the GSX-S now. I still pinch myself when going to the office parking lot and finding this machine waiting for me. There are many good things in life, but that inline-4 singing away to glory on the late-night sprints to home is something special. It plays the perfect stress-buster after those long days at work. And the weekend runs outside the city, while short, just make life so much better, especially with Bengaluru's current weather. Sure, the GSX-S isn’t the most advanced, most powerful nor the most expensive bike out there. But cutting through the winter fog on the outskirts of Bangalore with the music from the SC-Project reverberating inside my helmet, I am left pondering if there is any better way to immerse oneself into the superbike dream

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