I recently went riding with a friend of mine. He rode the girlfriends LT230, and one of the peg bolts broke. His weight on the peg held the brake lever down which in turn began holding the brand new back brakes on and it fried the rear rotor. It is now bowl shaped, and heats up like mad because it drags constantly. I've been toying with the idea of MAKING a new rotor for it as a replacement rotor costs over 300$ from the dealer. I have access to the necesary cutting equipment and the lathes to machine it. Does this sound crazy?

Im just wondering what everyone thinks of this. What material should I use? I mean with regular brake pads would it wear out insanely quick if I were to use regualr steel? Would it eat brake pads? This machine is lady driven and is hardly even used. Could I get away with just making my own rotor?

Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

I don't know anything about making rotors but your friend must have been huge. I weigh 240 and didn't break the footpegs on my Quadsport. Ive seen rotors on Ebay for pretty cheap, I sold an extra one for 25$ that was like new when I sold my Quadsport. You can also get a new one for 150$ at Ronnies.com

 

It will be difficult to machine a disk of stainless like the stocker is, on a lathe to the proper surface as it doesn't turn worth a dam with toolbits. It is frustrating stuff to machine. You would have to grind the surface to the desired texture. That is if you found suitable blank material. Cast Iron is the best material for heat dissipation and for 'feel' and controlability, and the best disks are of that material, but it tends to rust readily and manufacturers tend to prefer pretty over functional when building stuff to sell. People like the nice shiny chromelike stainless that doesn't rust, even though it makes a crappier brake. Iron turns really nicely though and you can whip one up on a lathe in short order out of an old frying pan if you like.

 

have you checked the aftermarket options? I can't imagine them being $300 for just the rotor, I think RockyMountain had some options for my Suzuki.
Good luck

 

Glenlivet, I would of never thought of using a old frying pan to make a rotor. Now, that's ingenuity[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Only problem might be if you get the disk good and hot on a long downhill it starts to smell like bacon and eggs.

 

Dennis kirk (which is always super $$) has them for $100....So I would imagine if you were to search you could find one cheaper.

 

I m from canada so factor in exchange and shipping too. But I think ill try cast iron. If it doesnt work then Im not out any money and I can always buy a new one.

 

can some one tell me a site that has full skid plates and pipes for a lt-z250

 

A FREAKIN FRYING PAN???? Thats great!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]


Lazyboy, welcome to the forums. try a search for skidplates, I know I've seen several threads about this very issue. There is a search box at the top of every forum.