Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Brake Improvement Advice !

[cl0nd0n]

Hi guys

I'm sorry if this has been covered before but I am in need of some help with brakes.

I am still running stock setup all round and I have got to the point now where i just don't feel confident with this setup.

To get things moving along I have a small budget to improve the setup.

Where would I be best to spend the money first is the question ?

- Pads
- Lines
- Discs
- Fluid
- ?

If there is a good quality budget setup that offers improvement over stock I would really appreciate some help.

Any advice on what bits to go for?

Thanks as always!

[Edited on 12-3-2006 by cl0nd0n]

[PDL]

Before you do anything give your brakes a full service, brake dust builds up on the pistons, clean the pistons and grease them. Be careful not to pop the pistons out though.

Once clean, then braded hoses are a good upgraged, with HH pads.

Stock Brembos are good enough, by you could go for AP, however they do come at a premium.

[rockhopper]

Get a set of four pad brembo callipers first. P4 are they called? You can get them for around £200 a pair brand new including £50 worth of pads. Bit of a bargain if you ask me.

[PDL]

http://www.cbr900rrt.co.uk/garage/mo...kecalipers.htm

£120 each - bargain

[raykay748R]

First and foremost, if you've got no confidence in your original set-up then either there's a problem with your braking system or you're Noriyuka Haga in disguise.
All braking systems can of course be upgraded (at an inflated price) but you must make sure as stated by 'Desmo 748' that what you have is working at it's optimum, chances are that it may not be and that a little wise money could be spent in servicing your system, rather than splashing out on the latest 'carlos fandango' aftermarket system.
Naturally if the bling factor raises (by placebo effect) your braking confidence then who am I to advise otherwise.
Just as an afterthought, it may also be worth looking at your suspension set-up, as braking and susension work very closely in the confidence stakes.
Hope this helps.

[m1keyp]

I have a Discacciati master cylinder from www.redracingparts.com

The Discacciati MC comes with a brake switch,

If you get one buy a spare lever as you will never find one in a hurry if the worst happens.

Two lines to the previously mentioned p4 calipers awesome.

[nelly]

Before you go looking at calipers, check the mounting centres. There are 2 sizes, 40mm and 65mm. The 4 pad calipers are 65mm.
You can get plates made up to adapt them, but personally i'm not a fan.
If you are running 40mm calipers, then a set of Bendix MF compound pads and a radial master cylinder will help no end. Braided lines would be a good idea if you still have rubber lines. They will improve the feel but apart from that your rubber lines will be well past the sell by date.
In fact if you have rubber lines, then i'm 100% sure you'll have 40mm calipers.

[cl0nd0n]

Originally posted by raykay748R
First and foremost, if you've got no confidence in your original set-up then either there's a problem with your braking system or you're Noriyuka Haga in disguise.
All braking systems can of course be upgraded (at an inflated price) but you must make sure as stated by 'Desmo 748' that what you have is working at it's optimum, chances are that it may not be and that a little wise money could be spent in servicing your system, rather than splashing out on the latest 'carlos fandango' aftermarket system.
Naturally if the bling factor raises (by placebo effect) your braking confidence then who am I to advise otherwise.
Just as an afterthought, it may also be worth looking at your suspension set-up, as braking and susension work very closely in the confidence stakes.
Hope this helps.

Thanks!

I am without any doubt a 'nori' and I do agree it is likely that the stock setup needs some tweaking to ensure it is running at it's best! I will have a play at the weekend!

I think a clean, new pads and some braided lines will make a big difference for minimal cost!

Thanks again.

[cl0nd0n]

Originally posted by raykay748R
First and foremost, if you've got no confidence in your original set-up then either there's a problem with your braking system or you're Noriyuka Haga in disguise.
All braking systems can of course be upgraded (at an inflated price) but you must make sure as stated by 'Desmo 748' that what you have is working at it's optimum, chances are that it may not be and that a little wise money could be spent in servicing your system, rather than splashing out on the latest 'carlos fandango' aftermarket system.
Naturally if the bling factor raises (by placebo effect) your braking confidence then who am I to advise otherwise.
Just as an afterthought, it may also be worth looking at your suspension set-up, as braking and susension work very closely in the confidence stakes.
Hope this helps.

Thanks!

I am without any doubt not a 'nori' and I do agree it is likely that the stock setup needs some tweaking to ensure it is running at it's best! I will have a play at the weekend!

I think a clean, new pads and some braided lines will make a big difference for minimal cost!

Thanks again.

[antonye]

As the others have said, make sure it's all working first as the stock setup is pretty damn good. I'd replace rubber hoses with braided ones first as it's not that expensive, and while everything is apart you can clean the calipers and then top-up with fresh fluid and bleed it all through.

When you're cleaning the calipers, and you obviously have the pads out, check for glazing on the pads - you may see a rainbow sheen on them from certainly angles. You can clean this off by putting a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and rubbing the pad across it until the sheen disappears.

If you still find it's not right, try replacing the master cylinder with a Brembo radial - either from a 999/749 (as you can pick these up quite cheap) or the pukka race one. If that's still not enough, you could swap to P4 calipers if you have the 65mm mounts (the distance between the bolt holes on the calipers) or you may want to replace your fork bottoms to allow you to get radial calipers at the same time. Then there's cast iron disks and different pad compounds to try.

I reckon a damn good clean and a flush of the fluid then topped up with some fresh stuff will do the trick though!

[Edited on 14-3-2006 by antonye]