Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[spydglide]

Nope, it's 'kicking my butt'.  But I got a BIG screen monitor so my ole tired eyes are loving that.  I was able to figure out how to transfer some files and settings, but lost a lot of 'stuff' that I miss.  Sometimes 'change' is hard on us old guys.  Har!  I'm hoping to get around to figuring out how to post pictures soon.....but just now got my email up and running again.  Have got to leave for Daytona soon......so, I'll just ride and forget this danged ole 'puter.  Where's ole 2lane been lately?  I hope he's on a bike trip.  har!  [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] spyder

[110tHunDer]

Well, after a lllllllloooooooooooong winter, I finally got to roll a few miles on the bike with the new Brembo calipers.  One of my biggest complaints about these big bikes after coming off of Kawasaki Concours sport tourers were the brakes.  These Brembos are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!  Not only does the bike stop quicker, which is great, but probably the best thing is the "feel" is tremendously improved.  You get a lot more communication from the rotor/pad/caliper with this setup than stock which allows better modulation of the brake for any given circumstance.  With the stock calipers, I could (of course) feel myself slowing down, but I couldn't really feel anything at the lever which left me sort of "disconnected," for lack of a better word.  These are great in this regard.  You squeeze harder, you feel, through the lever, the force being applied at the other end, you let off, you feel the caliper releasing.  It's very progressive and in to sum it up, SWEET!  Another nice surprise is they are totally silent around town since the pads completely disengage from the rotor.  No more hearing the pads make that scrubbing sound while profiling down main street, LOL!

Ditto the rear, which is night and day different from the stock set-up.  Now, during the entire length of the travel there is an ever-increasing amount of braking force that feeds back to you via the pedal.  No more feeling of going from full "off" to full "on/lock-up" with the rear brake!  

One thing the jury is still out on is the amount of brake dust the pads that came with will generate.  Probably can't get much worse than stock in that regard, however, wiping my finger across the wheel after about a 50 mile ride, much of which was in town/stop-and-go, did produce a layer of black dust.

Thanks to tony1968, BLM777, and others who pointed me toward the Brembos.  Expensive, yes, but so far, I'm totally pleased with the upgrade.  Can't wait to get it in the twisties!

[rubaga]

I am riding HD for the first year and one of the things I noticed (compared to Bimmer which I rode before) are weak and uninformative brakes.  So the whole information on your brakes installation is potentially solution I am looking for.  Before going forward with my purchase I just wonder what you think about those brakes now when you used them for the season.

Thanks
Ruben

[110tHunDer]

 
Ruben, I am still really pleased with the peformance of the Brembos and my opinion has not waivered from my post back on April 15!  I've only put about 4,000 miles on them so far, but I couldn't be happier.  It's difficult to describe, but I think from what you wrote in your first sentence, you'll understand when I say the feedback you get with these calipers and pads is much, much improved over the stock ones.  The power is immense and you CAN LOCK the front wheel, but only near the end of a stop (talking about dry pavement here) and there is plenty of warning through the lever before that happens.  Basically, the lever transmits what is going on at the rotor, which is what I was used to on the Nissin's on my previous metric bikes.

As good as the front is, the rear is where the majority of the improvement is.  The rear brake has always been my primary b!tch with the stock Harley brakes.  Gone is the "on/off" feel of the stock setup.  The Brembo caliper gives a much more progressive action, with, again, much better feel at the pedal, even through a boot.

On the dusting, they are marginally worse than the stock DP pads that the H-D's come with, even more so when used hard, but the dust is seemingly easier to remove than with the stock pads.  I used to have to scrub to get the calipers and wheels clean before, and now it pretty much all comes off with the use of Armor All or Harley's wheel cleaner and a strong stream of water.

So, to sum it up, I'm totally please with the upgrade.  I know that many here have reported success with the Lyndall pads, so that might be a way to go, first, to see if that gives you the performance you're looking for.  I haven't tried them, so I can't comment on that, but if you're looking to get the chrome calipers and what I feel was a substantial performance improvement at the same time, I can highly recommend the Brembos. [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]

[rubaga]

Thanks for your answer.  I certanly do understand how a responsive brake system works given that I also used to have Ducati before and did Motocross and Enduro.  So the feel of when you are about blocking the wheel is an important one.

I will have a read on Lyndall brakes but Brembo is the brand I know well about as BMW uses them and they are used on sports cars.  I just have a lot of respect for this brand.

[reo]

Thanks again 103 for another very informative and descriptive test report on the brembo calipers. I've been riding my BMW trying to get some exposure with a for sale sign on it and during the process got reacquainted with just how good riding with Brembo's are.

Last month I had a minor mishap while riding my wife’s Deluxe to work: while taking off from a stop light the girl in front of me just slammed on her brakes. Very minor in that I put a dent in the fender of the Deluxe and 3 scratches in the girls plastic back bumper. I found out how pitiful the brakes on her biker really are, I just couldn't stop. I remember the BMW would let me stop hard enough to get the back tire off the ground and very control-ably. I actually got pretty good at doing this after experiencing it the first time. Now I know putting Brembo's on the Harley’s wont give me the ability to pull the back tire off the ground or even stop at the g-forces that can be obtained from my BMW but heck the Harleys have 200 pounds on the BMW.

My plan is to put the Brembo’s on both bikes


Deluxe
Front: chrome 4 piston 2 pad

Fatboy
Front: chrome 4 piston 4 pad
Rear: chrome 4 piston 2 pad

[jimp]

If I have the chance to do it over again I will go with the four pad calipers and 12.6" rotors on the front.

[reo]

If I have the chance to do it over again I will go with the four pad calipers and 12.6" rotors on the front.

Jimp, I'm guessing you have the 2 pad setup on 3 calipers. How do you like them? How do you compare it to the stock setup?

[jimp]

Jimp, I'm guessing you have the 2 pad setup on 3 calipers. How do you like them? How do you compare it to the stock setup?

To me comparing the stocker's to the Brembos is like a 88 vs 103, another words they blow the stocker's away. Also the feel is there with less fingers like on my Jap bike, never noticed much increased brake dust either.

[HWYMAN1]

Well, after a lllllllloooooooooooong winter, I finally got to roll a few miles on the bike with the new Brembo calipers.  One of my biggest complaints about these big bikes after coming off of Kawasaki Concours sport tourers were the brakes.  These Brembos are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!  Not only does the bike stop quicker, which is great, but probably the best thing is the "feel" is tremendously improved.  You get a lot more communication from the rotor/pad/caliper with this setup than stock which allows better modulation of the brake for any given circumstance.  With the stock calipers, I could (of course) feel myself slowing down, but I couldn't really feel anything at the lever which left me sort of "disconnected," for lack of a better word.  These are great in this regard.  You squeeze harder, you feel, through the lever, the force being applied at the other end, you let off, you feel the caliper releasing.  It's very progressive and in to sum it up, SWEET!  Another nice surprise is they are totally silent around town since the pads completely disengage from the rotor.  No more hearing the pads make that scrubbing sound while profiling down main street, LOL!

Ditto the rear, which is night and day different from the stock set-up.  Now, during the entire length of the travel there is an ever-increasing amount of braking force that feeds back to you via the pedal.  No more feeling of going from full "off" to full "on/lock-up" with the rear brake!  

One thing the jury is still out on is the amount of brake dust the pads that came with will generate.  Probably can't get much worse than stock in that regard, however, wiping my finger across the wheel after about a 50 mile ride, much of which was in town/stop-and-go, did produce a layer of black dust.

Thanks to tony1968, BLM777, and others who pointed me toward the Brembos.  Expensive, yes, but so far, I'm totally pleased with the upgrade.  Can't wait to get it in the twisties!

Have been following thread for a while, glad you really  like your new stoppers. Having been thinking of doing same. Only question I have is, did you replace your rear rotor?(can't tell from picture) thanks John

[110tHunDer]

John, the rear rotor is the stock unit, which for a SEEG is a floating rotor.  As you're probably aware, the SEUC's have a fixed, non-floating rotor on the back.  You might want to think about upgrading the rear to what you have on the front of your bike when you're doing this work.

[HWYMAN1]

Thanks,
That was the plan, but was double checking to make sure that was the correct things before spent more $$$ on bling. John

[spydglide]

  I know that [highlight]many here have reported success with the Lyndall pads[/highlight], so [highlight]that might be a way to go[/highlight], first, to see if that gives you the performance you're looking for.  I haven't tried them, so I can't comment on that, but if you're looking to get the chrome calipers and what I feel was a substantial performance improvement at the same time, I can highly recommend the Brembos. [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]

Well, Brian, I've finally worn out my stock pads and bought the Lyndall pads for my front brakes....gonna just try that and hope to be satisfied.  :-? If not, I'll be contacting you for a ballpark total on the Brembo ' up-grade'.  Har!   spyder

[Fired00d]

Well, Brian, I've finally worn out my stock pads and bought the Lyndall pads for my front brakes....gonna just try that and hope to be satisfied.  :-? If not, I'll be contacting you for a ballpark total on the Brembo ' up-grade'.  Har!   spyder

Spyder I'm waiting for mines to wear out and I'm going to try the Lyndall pads also. Grover highly recommended them to me {he's using Lyndall Racing Pads (Z series)}.  [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]

 [smiley=pumpkin.gif]
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 [smiley=fireman.gif]

[spydglide]

Spyder I'm waiting for mines to wear out and I'm going to try the Lyndall pads also. Grover highly recommended them to me {he's using Lyndall Racing Pads (Z series)}.  [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]

 [smiley=pumpkin.gif]
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 [smiley=fireman.gif]

Yeah, that's the ones I got.....BLM777 recommended them to me awhile back and I'm finally bought 'em today.  I don't hurry into some of these things.  Har! [smiley=drink.gif]  spyder