Up grade hog brakes to brenbo? Harley Brake Issues Discuss Up grade hog brakes to brenbo? in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; If you look at the front brakes on the Buell 1125 the rotor is so large that it is mounted directly to the rim and not the hub. The caliper ...

[milindh]

If you look at the front brakes on the Buell 1125 the rotor is so large that it is mounted directly to the rim and not the hub. The caliper actually is mounted inside the inner edge of the rotor. That's right, it has a single rotor and caliper on the front. Now that's what I call a bitchin' front brake! Light and right. Kinda ugly though....

[03fxst]

.....most folks in the V-Rod circles use the Lyndall Racing Brakes Z-Pads in both types of calipers."

Hey RJ, why those pads? Will they improve braking on a Softail with stock discs and calipers?

Frisco, wht pads are you using?

I've only ever used the stock pads from the dealer but I'm always open to an upgrade. I have enough pad to eek out the final couple of rides left in this season but will be changing them during the winter.

03FXST

[HarleyCruiser]

I’ve got to agree with Frisco on this. Unless you are upgrading on of the older single piston units not sure if you want more brake. You have got to figure that HD has designed the brake not to lock up on the front or at least take a lot of pressure to do so.
It is pretty easy to change the brake pressure and braking power simply by changing the piston ratio of the master and the caliper, and making the pads larger.
So if Harley wanted you to be able to lock up the front wheel they could do it.
I have experimented with several aftermarket HH brake pads after reading an article
You know the kind, kept going on and on about how great they were.
It was written like he got a free pair of brake pads for writing the article about how great they were.
That or he was part of the advertising staff.
I did not notice any difference except wear on my rotors.
If my old hand get more arthritic, then maybe I will do something to make the brakes lighter pull, or if you were a female with limited hand strength then maybe I would advise upgrading the brakes, but for me, I like my front tire not locked up when I stop.
I have done that on dirt roads and you are on the ground before you know you are going down.
Now if we are talking anti lock then that is a different story.

[rjrivero]

Originally Posted by milindh

If you look at the front brakes on the Buell 1125 the rotor is so large that it is mounted directly to the rim and not the hub. The caliper actually is mounted inside the inner edge of the rotor. That's right, it has a single rotor and caliper on the front. Now that's what I call a bitchin' front brake! Light and right. Kinda ugly though....

The rotors didn't change. The ZTL Caliper is a six piston, and the ZTL2 caliper on the 1125 is an 8 piston caliper. I haven't ridden a bike with the ztl2 caliper yet, but I'm considering changing to it. (I run Buell Wheels on my V-Rod as of July of this year.)

[rjrivero]

Originally Posted by 03fxst

.....most folks in the V-Rod circles use the Lyndall Racing Brakes Z-Pads in both types of calipers."

Hey RJ, why those pads? Will they improve braking on a Softail with stock discs and calipers?

Frisco, wht pads are you using?

I've only ever used the stock pads from the dealer but I'm always open to an upgrade. I have enough pad to eek out the final couple of rides left in this season but will be changing them during the winter.

03FXST

There was alot of brake squeal with the stock pads. The lyndall z's seem to have improved. They produce less dust, and the braking is as good, if not better than the stock compounds. The pads themselves are thinner, but last a good 15-20K miles depending on riding habbit. V-Rod guys are very happy with them. I got a set on a buddies road king, and the dust factor alone makes him happy.

[frisco-rigid]

03

I seem to like the HH pads more and I get them when I think of it but usually I just get what is available at the shop when I need some..
However, because I use the smallest master-cylinder I can get away with on all set-ups I can still lock-up whatever I have at will..
It's not just the ability to lock-up, it's mostly the very light touch needed that I like most about the smaller cylinders..
I have posted the difference in mechanical advantages between the various sizes of master cylinders 2 maybe 3 times in the past 3 years..
That's one reason I mentioned it earlier in this thread..

Oooh yeah,, dirt and front brakes,, like the flying Wallendas,, for sure..


RJ

The pads material does seem to make a diff BUT the bigger diff I have always felt is the rotor material no matter how big the pads surface..
Ah,, healthy discussion,,,, um, that doesn't mean Non-Fat or anything like that does it..??

[tommyglide]

Greetings all, I am going to upgrade my oem front caliper on my 85 FXEF, to what I'm not sure yet, but is there any reason I can't use the stock master cylinder, or is there something inherently wrong with a Dot 5 system? It is the old single puck caliper and maybe those have seen better days.

[frisco-rigid]

Hey there Tommy

It prob says on your current master cylinder what size it is..

And most likely whatever caliper you get will have a recommendation on the size they suggest you use and if they do or do not want you to use Dot 5..

If you can keep using D-5 with the new caliper you should at least try your master cylinder, whether or not it is the recommended size, with the new caliper just to see how it feels.. If your master cylinder is too big you will have to squeeze very hard to activate the caliper pistons and it will feel crappy..
However if it feels fine whether or not it is the recommended size heck, you just saved cash.. Yeah Baby..

[tommyglide]

So, Frisco, if I size the new caliper larger than the current master I should be okay if I'm understanding you correctly, just needing a little more lever action to brake, right?

[frisco-rigid]

Hi Tommy

Yes, you have the right idea but that's why I say to at least try your current M-C with whatever caliper you get.. You won't know for sure till you try it..

It might be possible to run out of fluid--- If a caliper/calipers requires a 3/4" M-C and a 9/16" is installed, it is theoretically possible to run out of stroke before braking is achieved, hasn't happened to me yet but I reckon it can happen..

I looked in a couple books and I found for your year, a 9/16", 5/8" and 11/16" front M-C.. All from '84 up..
What size is your current M-C.?

Um,, personally, I think those old single-piston floating calipers are great,, has yours actually stopped working well or ya just wanna up-grade..??