PRODUCT REVIEW: ESP SCOOTERS DISC BRAKES
by Craig Bachler

It's probably not as sexy to talk about slowing down as speeding up, but good braking is often where scooters fall short. With as many kits that are on the market (Imola, TS1, etc..) we all need to think about slowing down while we're speeding up. As these top-end kits have become more abundant, products to help slow us down have lagged.

ESP Scooters in Lancashire, UK, are now selling their own disc brake set-up. Eric Tudor, proprietor, has been a long-time scooterist and opened his doors just over 5 years ago. With an emhasis on engineering, ESP has developed a very capable product range, including an outboard disc brake that mounts effortlessley to series 3 disc-links. Along with their beautiful aluminum long range fuel tank, they will be offering double front-disc brake, rear disc brake, and hydraulic clutch. ESP also opened a museum featuring more than 70 scoots. Good, good stuff.

The Unit:
It's a retro-fitted Li hub with a Nissin 2-piston caliper and a BIG disc. It bolts nicely onto Ser3 disc brake links. [fig1.]

The unit comes rebuilt with new bearings and seals and new speedo drive. The hub is finished in silver and the fit and finish is very good. The bracket that mounts the caliper is a beauty. At the headset, ESP provides a Grimeca master cylinder and modified bar-end housing (the bar-end unit in fig2 is not the same as provided by ESP Scooters, but the master cylinder is the same). [fig2.]

What you need to do:
Once you've mounted your throttle-side bar-end unit, you'll need to route the hydraulic line. With the banjo-fitting finger-tight, notch the top and bottom of your headset to accept the line. Route the line in a graceful bend down behind the headset-clamp and guide it to the bottom of the fork. Let it dangle.

Mount your rim/tire to the (new) hub. Then mount the whole damn thing to the links. The axle washers and nuts are provided. The right-side leading stud is now a 10mmX1.5 bolt to the new bracket. Hook up your hydraulic line, tighten the fitting at the headset, bleed it, and you're done (email me at sx200@speakeasy.net if you need help bleeding, or any other part of this procedure)!!

How it works:
The brake works very well. It's a very smooth and even transition from a light tug down to a hard grab. Careful, because it can easily buck you off your scooter. This will stop you FAST. That is what we want. Ride fast?? Sure, but clamp H-A-R-D. You'll ride longer.

Now go ride already!!

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