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[DHTDHT]

In the outskirts of Milwaukee lies the town of Mequon.  Most of Harley Davidson's brakes come from a company in this town. Known by most as Hayes Brakes, they are now reorganized as HB Performance.  I toured their plant a couple years ago during the 100th Aniversary celebration, and was impressed.  I really like these brakes, and I like the way they look on Harleys.  The company does outsource some manufacturing to China, but most of the operations are still in Wisconsin.

I've seen a number of folks here switching out to Brembo brakes. I have Brembos on my European bikes and they are great. I'm not sure what motivates someone to change over to Brembo's on their Harley. Perhaps we can generate some discussion on the pros and cons of going over the fence to Brembo brakes.  

[110tHunDer]

 
DHT, I'm one of the ones who made the switch to Brembos.  There is quite a bit of discussion in this thread and what lead me to the decision to change: http://flhrsei.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1132373412.  I am super happy with the Brembos and feel they are superior to the stock calipers for the reasons I mentioned in that thread, with the two primary areas being feel and overall braking performance.

[DHTDHT]

Thanks, I just read the whole thread. From a visual perspective, which brake would you condider the winner?

[110tHunDer]

 
Well, certainly the stock brakes look more Harley-esque.  They're just what we're so used to seeing on these bikes.  I never minded the way they looked at all.  I think the Brembos look fine on the bike, too, but bring a more modern appearance to the front end versus the stock calipers that probably works better on some bikes in the Harley line-up than others.

[mr_magoo]

Not to mention the 12.6" rotor really fills the wheel area.

[DHTDHT]

Not to mention the 12.6" rotor really fills the wheel area.

I'm not sure I consider this a good thing, esp. with dual disc.  Access and cleaning of the wheel is harder, and more of the wheel is visually obscured.  Look how much emphasis is placed on a nice-looking wheel — and then to cover it up with a big rotor. To me, the Brembo caliper and the additional spacing bracket look a little busy. I know from experience that the Brembo is a fantastic brake system. Every individual must determine how important "the look" is versus function.

[geezerglide]

DHTDHT,

"The Look" is not that important to me as much as knowing I can safely decrease the speed off of my bike when and if the need arises.

The HD Stock Brakes may be adequate for the 65 - 75 HP these bikes produce out of the MOCO. The design is basically over 40 years old, except with minor changes to dual pistons etc. However, with a lot of of the board members who have done major performance work on their engines, with some as high as 138 lb. ft of Torque, I sure would not want to rely on the stock HD brakes to slow me down. Even though they may have "The Look".

[DHTDHT]

DHTDHT,

"The Look" is not that important to me as much as knowing I can safely decrease the speed off of my bike when and if the need arises.

The HD Stock Brakes may be adequate for the 65 - 75 HP these bikes produce out of the MOCO. The design is basically over 40 years old, except with minor changes to dual pistons etc. However, with a lot of of the board members who have done major performance work on their engines, with some as high as 138 lb. ft of Torque, I sure would not want to rely on the stock HD brakes to slow me down. Even though they may have "The Look".

Engine power really doesn't have much to do with how a bike slows down. I don't dispute that Brembos are a very nice brake with better linear feel and feedback than the stock Haynes brakes, but I and 95% of all other Harley riders have no problem relying on those brakes to slow us down.

[geezerglide]

You are correct indeed, however out of that 95% of the owners, very few will put on over 5,000 miles a year and most of that will be on interstates and not on mountainous roads.

The HD brakes will fade very quickly under hard braking and many Stock HD Rotors wrap very quickly.

I have had my Brembos on for over 12,000 miles since last May and I like the system a lot more than my stock HD brakes.

geezerglide

[Grover]

You are correct indeed, however out of that 95% of the owners, very few will put on over 5,000 miles a year and most of that will be on interstates and not on mountainous roads.

The HD brakes will fade very quickly under hard braking and many Stock HD Rotors wrap very quickly.

I have had my Brembos on for over 12,000 miles since last May and I like the system a lot more than my stock HD brakes.

geezerglide

I can attest to that Geezerglide. That stock Harley brakes are just fine for daily "cruising" and ''touring'' with the stock hp/tq output they will be plenty adequate for hauling the bike down safely.

For an agressive rider, once you start adding a great deal of hp/tq and higher quality tires, those corners will be coming up much faster, your entry and cornering speed will be much higher. I would always use up all my oem brakes. There's been times when I had hardley any stopping power after they got all heated up...pretty scarey at times. The oem front brakes would require at least a solid two or three fingers to hault it down.

More hp/tq = quicker acceleration = shorter time to next corner = the need for stronger brakes.

With my Brembo's on the front it's amazing how much less lever effort is needed to slow down. Now all that is required is one or two fingers. And the brake fade is non existant.

The rear pads are just a safety hazard! They lock up all the time in emergency situations. The best thing to do is replace the junk oem pads and put in a set of Lyndall ''Z'' pads. Day & nite difference. One of the best & cheapest safety mods you can make. Use the ''Z'' pads on the front and you'll be a happy camper and have the oem look also.

Also if you add good quality aftermarket rims. The oem brakes start looking out of place. That's another reason to scrap them.

From a proud owner of a set of oem brakes boxed up and on the shelf.

The Brembo's have ''The Look'' and staying power I'm looking for.

Ride Hard & Stop Safe,

Grover

[DHTDHT]

Yes, I guess it depends upon how aggressively you ride your Harley, extra ponies or not.  I actually take it pretty easy on mine and save the aggressive cornering for my Ducati and Moto Guzzi LeMans, which have factory Brembos. For my kind of Harley riding, it makes no sense to spend the extra money on Brembos, esp. if they don't look as good (to me) on Harley rims. I also like the fact that Hayes brakes are made in the Milwaukee area. The Z pads sound like a good idea. I'll give 'em a try.

[Grover]

DHT-

Don't get me wrong. I also like the fact that they are made in Mequon. I live about 40 minutes from there. When my bike was mostly stock the oem brakes worked just fine, with the exception of the pads. Then I started getting carried away with customizing and adding more bling and the oem calipers started looking out of place.

On our Heritage I had to change over to braided lines with Lyndall pads. The rubber lines & pads just didn't cut it for me. Now they perform much better.

It's not like I use the seeg to pretend I'm dicing it up with Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey on the Grand Prix circuit....It's just that at times when I get a hair up my ars I want to make sure they won't fade.

My sport bike days are gone and once someone knows what a good set of brakes can do you kind of wish you had them on everything.

You're very fortunate to have the selection of bikes/brakes you do. You can throw a leg over a set of Brembos and be Joe Rocket, jump on a set of Nissins and be Joe dirt tracker, then when the day's done sit in the easy chair with Mr. Hayes and just cruise.... [smiley=2vrolijk_21.gif] That's pretty cool

Definately give the ''Z'' pads a try. No more accidental lock up of the rear brake and a 100% improvement overall front and back.

[hd-dude]

Off topic replies have been moved to [link=http://flhrsei.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1167147395]This Thread[/link]