brakes? to the back or to the front?

im in the last stages of my pro-street 74 z1 build and iv been looking at other bikes with great interest, iv seen on many they have the front brakes behind the forks and some have them in front? is there any advantage in the first or the latter?

Its not a huge advantage but the brake caliper mounted behind the fork legs are suppose to be more rigid than the caliper mounted in front. The bolts are still in shear but the caliper "works" against the fork leg more.
Or something like that. I know its been covered before here somewhere.

Later, Doug

thanks doug! thats as good an answer is i need to hear.

All the modern super sportbikes, such as the Kawasaki 2008 ZX14 Ninja, 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa, 2008 Ducati Desmosedici RR, and my personal favorite, the 1977 Kawasaki KZ650C1 have the calipers behind the forks. Ed

I agree, look at bikes, cars, etc and you will see caliper being pushed against mounting point as opposed to pulling on it. Makes sense!

Hope I have this right, it's been a long time since I explained the reasoning for the calipers being behind the fork legs.

The reason is called "Polar Moment of Inertia", and it has to do with how well the bike handles. Think about how the weight of the calipers in front of the axle would affect turning vs behind the axle and I think you'll get the gist of it.

i think i get the idea of it, objets will have better ballance when hanging down than when propped up and the caliper will work better when located between the turning disk (which is putting force against it) and the caliper mount on the fork, not the other way round because the pad is trying to grip the disk while it is leaving the pad not entering it?

Not quite. It's how far they are away from the centerline that goes through the steering neck. Grab a hammer up close to the head and twist your wrist. Then grab it down at the end of the handle and twist your wrist again. Hammer head weighs the same, but it sure takes more strength one way as compared to the other. So it's not really how it's attached to the fork leg, as how far away it is from the steering centerline.