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Galfer Wave Brake Rotors

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Galfer Wave Rotors are made of a proprietary 420 high carbon stainless steel for increased memory retention during heat cycles. Each Wave disc is laser cut for precision and to eliminate the stress most other discs occur during stamped manufacturing.All Galfer Wave rotors are stress tested using our COSMOS analyzing system. Each Wave design goes through an extensive brake dyno test which allows evaluation of its performance in conditions no rider can create.

Wave Discs have been pre-heat treated and parallel double disc grounded to assure perfect flatness and the most efficient contact surface between pad and rotor.

Patented WAVE design includes not only an outer Wave but also an inner Wave which equalizes heat transfer and disipates much faster. Full floating wave blades. With the excpection of solid mount Wave Rotors, Galfer features full floating Wave blades which ensure optimum pad to rotor contact for maximum stopping force and feel. Galfer owns the very name 'WAVE' rotor, and US patents have been granted for their unique design.

GALFER: 60 years in the business!

Galfer has supplied original equipment brake discs and pads to automotive and motorcycle industries worldwide. The very latest manufacturing technology and materials are employed to ensure consistent quality and high performance.

Galfer’s Wave Rotors were first introduced to the Motorcycle Industry for Trial bikes and then Snowmobile machines, soon to follow were Sport Bikes and ATV’s as well as Off Road applications. All Galfer Wave rotors are laser cut and made of a unique high carbon 420 stainless steel material that has been pre-heat treated and parallel double disc grounded to assure perfect flatness and the most efficient contact surface between pad and rotor. Link to SuperBike Rotors

Galfer Tech: Why upgrade to Wave Rotors? Galfer Wave Rotors utilize the entire brake pad surface to maximize stopping power. In testing their rotors & combined with Braided Lines, Galfer achieved stopping power 30% greater than stock disk designs.

How is that possible? When you grab a fistful of front brake, the moment of initial bite is when maximum grip is generated. However, the more you brake, the less grip your braking system will have. Galfer Wave Rotors focus exclusively on this moment of inital bite to generate brute force brake power.

The shape of the waves are engineered in such a way to enable the disc to provide constant new braking surface while the brake pad is trying to establish that bite as the disc is rotating!

Galfer Wave Rotors also offer improved heat dissipatation characteristics. As the disks heat up, your pads can lose their grip. This is because the heat generated from constant braking can glaze the pads. If the rotors heat up enough, they can burn off the pads (been there, done that!), or worse yet- expand the metal beyond its design tolerances. Equals warped rotors.

Galfer's rotors have a wave design that maximizes initial bite plus continues to provide a fresh bite of the disk as it rotates!

	Wave discs are a direct bolt on replacement for original discs, offering several benefits over conventional designs
	High carbon steel rotors offer superior friction properties.
	Significantly lighter than standard discs therefore reducing unsprung weight and gyroscopic effect (bike will accelerate, brake and turn quicker).
	Wave rotors are also great for keeping mud off the surface friction plate, allowing for the brake pads durability to be extended in muddy conditions. (Self-cleaning action)
	Front Sport bike units are full floating and have an aluminum center carrier.
	The Wave shape allows expansion and contraction with less tendency to warp.
	Floating front rotors - sold in pairs, singles upon request
	The shape of the rotor dissipates heat and cools as it rotates, meaning a lower running temperature of the whole brake system.
	Front Sport bike units are full floating and have an aluminum center carrier..
	Easy Install. Simply removed old rotors, and bolt on new Galfer Wave Rotors!
	Up to 4 lbs lighter than stock = less rotational mass = faster acceleration !!
	Boosts stopping power up to 30% over stock rotors
	Some front Off Road applications are full floating.
	All Wave rotors will improve the lever feel and feed back allowing the rider to get a much stronger and progressive brake then other units would. (Added trailing edge on the brake pad surface)
	Note: The ONLY color available for carriers (the center part) is BLACK unless you go CHROME. Local paint shops or companies like Race Ready can custom paint them.
	GALFER has patented the WAVE Rotor technology. (European patent # EP 99500110.4 & US Patent # 638-6340)

GALFER Brake Rotor FAQ's

Why go to a bigger diameter disc?
Bigger is better! Right?!?!? Not necessarily. A bigger diameter disc does  provide more power and better cooling (because any particular point on  the disc spends more time in the cool air dissipating heat buildup) you do end up with less modulation (brake control). Traditionally, downhillers,  free riders, and tandem riders can all benefit from larger diameter discs.  However, riders who spend more time in technical situations need to be  aware that the larger diameter disc (like a lower bottom bracket) has a better chance of being struck and damaged by a boulder, tree stump or  similar object. Take a look at motorcycles and the diameter of their brakes.  Most motorcycles run a larger (or dual) front brake rotor setup

Materials.
Galfer uses only 420 or 410 stainless steel for all of our brake rotors  and it’s all about the memory! What do we mean by that? Metals have memory which means that when you heat up a piece of metal and it expands,  good memory characteristics allow it to go back to its original shape  without much deformation from the original shape. It’s as simple as this: It goes back to it’s original shape and specs faster.

Laser cut vs. stamping.
Stamping is great when you are doing mass production of tens of thousands  of rotors. This is because the stamp itself is VERY expensive to make,  but after the initial expense, it can quickly produce rotors that are relatively good quality. On the other hand, laser cutting requires minimal initial expense other than a few hours programming time to make sure the  laser follows the desired pattern. This allows you to easily and cheaply  change the design after testing if the need arises.

Because the programming time is all that is required for a completely new prototype, Galfer has the ability to do small batches of custom rotors to meet the needs of our clients. Galfer can do an infinite number of combinations of diameter, bolt fixing pattern and wave pattern. We can even cut your company logo  or name into a rotor design. Laser cutting provides the most consistent  cut quality and leaves the rotor substantially flatter than stamping.

Why the Wave pattern?
Admit it! You’re interested in Galfer waves because they look cool!  We like the way they look as well but believe it or not, there is quite  a bit of thought that went into our patented technology. On a normal round  rotor, the leading edge (think toe-in) of the brake pad is in contact  with the entire height of the blade as the pressure is applied. Because the contact covers the entire height of the blade heat buildup takes much  less time to occur and you end up with heat related problems like brake fade, thermal lockup, and inconsistent braking performance.

What the wave pattern does is take that leading edge of contact between the blade and  pad and constantly move it up and down, thus minimizing heat build up  and its inherent problems. Cool air is also introduced in greater amounts.  In addition, through centrifugal force, any foreign matter is thrown clear  of the outer rim of the blade and doesn't’t get lodged in the pad  material.

Do holes in discs help?
Well, it depends what you mean by “help”. Holes in the “blade” of a disc (the part that the brake pad sweeps over as it is in motion) will save a bit of weight but contrary to public opinion, they do not  help to cool a braking system. Notice on MotoGP motorcycles and most race cars, there are no holes on the rotors. There are actually situations  where holes can be detrimental to your braking.

In muddy conditions, dirt gets trapped in these holes and proceeds to chew up pads that, in turn will chew up rotors because of the constant uneven abrasion between the pads (which have the dirt imbedded in their surface) and the rotors, which  get gouged to heck by that dirt. If you’ll notice, if there are holes in a Galfer rotor, they are never round. They are usually oval, teardrop or cylindrical in shape so that foreign debris is directed away from the rotor via centrifugal force.

Who does the testing on Galfer products?
We do! At Galfer we like to joke that we are world-class riders, but we  know what the truth is! We’re slow compared to some of our sponsored  athletes. That’s why we sponsor some of the finest riders on earth  before releasing our brake products to the general public. Teams like  Maxxis Racing and Santana Tandems for our bicycle products, Yoshimura  Suzuki superbike team for our road motorcycle products, and AGP racing for motocross, and World Trials champion Dougie Lampkines thrash our stuff on a regular basis. And we feel that if those guys love our stuff, then  you will too!

Do you make an oversized motocross rotor?
It depends on what you mean by “oversized”. There are a couple of companies who do a 270mm rotor kit that requires a bracket to reposition the caliper. This was a great kit 5 years ago when stock front MX rotors were 240mm and the jump to 270mm gave a definite increase in power. Today,  the OEM’s stock sized rotors are 260mm (only a 5mm difference in  rotor radius) and the power difference is almost nonexistent. When you  factor in the extra cost of needing a caliper bracket, it doesn't make any sense to go to one of these particular oversized kits. But we do make  a 320mm kit for most modern motocross bikes that are to be raced on the supermotard circuit. We also carry Accossato Master Cylinders, brackets,  and calipers for Supermotard applications.

Why do your front sportbike line kits not follow the stock routing?
Almost all of our front line kits are 2 line systems that have both lines  exiting from the master cylinder and then going down to their respective  calipers. We have found that this type of routing allows for shorter lines, which allows for a firmer brake feel.