Showa and Nissin harmonise forks and brakes
By Ben Purvis
Astemo - the component supply and tech company that's majority owned by Honda and Hitachi and parent to Showa suspension, Nissin brakes and Keihin fuel injection - is working on new forks designed specifically to improve brake cooling.
With both Showa and Nissin under its ownership, it's a logical step to take a holistic view and the results can be seen in a concept form of integrated fork bottom and brake caliper that was displayed and EICMA last year, and in new patent applications that show how the same thinking might be incorporated in a future production fork.
The 'Harmonised Function Design' concept shown at EICMA featured a four-piston brake caliper and fork bottom machined from a single block of aluminium, improving cooling because the entire fork bottom acts as a heat sink, and reducing weight by around 200 g in the process. However, it also presented complexity in terms of manufacturing and maintenance, as it's impossible to remove the caliper.
But there was an additional element to the EICMA concept that Astemo didn't mention, and that's a cooling air intake positioned between the bottom of the fork stanchion and the front axle, allowing air straight through to the caliper behind it. It's this element that has become the focus of a new set of patent applications that show how it's likely to be incorporated into a more conventional setup with a standard, bolt-on radial brake caliper.
Brake cooling has been increasingly the subject of research in racing, and some modern production bikes including the BMW M1000RR and CFMoto 675SR-R and 675NK now come with cooling ducts around their discs, and the Astemo design allows air to take a more direct route by passing above the front axle. The use of radial calipers allows a trellis-style design for the caliper brackets, replacing any rigidity that's lost in the forks by incorporating the cut-out through the axle section.
Since Astemo is 40% owned by Honda, with Hitachi owning another 40%, it's likely that Honda will be the first beneficiary of any new fork and brake technology developed by the company.
