It seems like a lot of guys purchase aftermarket front brake rotors for their new bikes, so I decided to throw my hat into the ring and see what all the fuss is about. I asked Keefer if I could try out an oversize brake rotor to test, just to see if I was able to feel a difference. I am just your typical blue collar electrician that loves to ride, but could use some more braking power on my 2018 Honda CRF450R. He graciously handed me the Brake Tech CobraMX 270mm front brake rotor to evaluate and the task began.
Brake Tech has been around for a while, but maybe you're not familiar with the brand? They have years of R&D in brake rotors and brake pads with most of their effort being on the street racing scene. Having great success with street bike rotors, Brake Tech turned their focus to the dirt. Their newest product being the Cobra MX front brake rotor and it shares a lot of similarities with their already established AXIS road race rotors. The AXIS road race rotor is a full-floating front rotor where the Cobra MX rotor is what Brake Tech calls a semi-floating front rotor. When it comes to rotors there are a couple different avenues you can pursue; a fixed rotor, which is a one piece rotor, a full-floating rotor, which is a two piece rotor mated together with ground down shims, which allows the outer rotor to flex. Semi-floating rotor’s like the Cobra MX use ground down shims and spring washers. This allows you to have more stability under braking like a fixed rotor yet have the benefits of a full-floating rotor. Being made of two metals is said to aid in warping under high heat as well as a lighter weight. The Brake Tech rotor is cryogenically treated along with being fully re-buildable. Also a nice bling feature is that you get your color choice on the bobbin rings as they come in color choices of red, blue, black and KTM orange.
Just like a lot of you blue-collar guys out there I get super excited with any new part for my dirt bike, so as soon as I got the box, right to the garage I went to install the nice looking piece. Installation was very easy and if you can change a wheel on your bike, you can easily install this rotor. Just like “if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball” (Dodgeball The Movie quote in case you didn't know). You will use the stock bolts and other hardware to mount the new rotor and caliper bracket. You can use your stock brake pads, but Brake Tech does recommend using a set of Brake Tech’s Ferdo brake pads. As I set out for my first laps I immediately noticed that the lever had a firmer feel over the stock rotor. At first this was a feeling I was not too fond of as the stock set up is very grabby and makes it hard to modulate the braking power through corners. As I did my motos I began to feel more benefits of the new Brake Tech rotor (even with the firmer feel) as it was not quite as grabby when you first apply pressure to the lever. Where I really felt like the Brake Tech rotor shined was under heavy braking. As I ride my motos I tend to get a little excited from time to time and come in a tad too hot into some corners. Where the stock rotor would lack a little stopping power the Brake Tech unit had great stopping power at high speed. You didn’t have to pull the lever in quite as much to get the Honda stopped in a hurry. This gave me a little more confidence and did allow me to charge harder into corners. With the Brake Tech rotor (under heavy braking) I would give it a “3.5” on the “Keefer Testing Scale”over a baseline “3”
I give Brake Tech kudos on the Cobra MX front brake rotor and give it a solid 3.5 on the Keefer scale (If you don’t know what the Keefer testing scale is head over to the “Keefer Tested Podcast” and listen to his “How to Test” episode in the archives). As a hard working laborer I like that the Brake Tech Cobra MX rotor is durable as well as re-buildable. This is money saver in the long run for us 9 to 5’ers because we actually have to save up our money for every upgrade to our trusty steeds. If you damage a part of your rotor send it to Brake Tech and they will rebuild your rotor (labor free) and you will only be forking out the money for the damaged parts that were replaced.
We tried the Brake Tech rotor in conjunction with the Ride Engineering Brake Caliper as well and found the front brake lever to be slightly less firm, but even more powerful under heavy braking. The front brake lever had more of a progressive pull to it with the RE Brake Caliper installed. Without the RE Brake Caliper installed the lever has a firmer feel to it as Matt Sirevaag explains in this test. Either one of these products (by themselves) will help braking power on your machine. You will just have decide on how much stopping power you need.
The Brake Tech Cobra MX rotor kit retails for $339.95 and the brake pads for $59.95. This price is on par with most oversized rotors on the market as I did some research before typing out this article. Brake Tech is another great option if you are in the market for more braking power. Head over to BrakeTech.com and check out their selection of brake rotors and pads. -Matt Sirevaag 205 Pound Novice (Full Time Electrician/Husband/Father/Dirt Bike Lover)
If you have any questions about this test please feel free to email kris@keeferinctesting.com