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

[Dazza]

Would the Brembo 2-piece billet GP calipers (2 Pad) be better than the new Brembo P4 Calipers (4 Pad)?
The 40mm GP calipers are what entry-level race teams use......and I was thinking of getting a pair and mating with billet radial lever.
IMHO The GP calipers look much better than the P4's...

Rattler, werent those carbon DyMags formerly on a MultiStrada......?

cheers.
D

[Rattler]

.........I don't know about the Billet 2 pad jobbies against the 4 pad OEM ones, Felix or Skidlids may know this one.


As for the Dymags, they were wasted on a Multistrada, but it does mean that I have a Multistrada adapter and axle so that the OZs can be fitted to a MS if anyone's interested?



Tim

[neil748r]

The billet 2 pad calipers are at least as good if not better than the 4 pad calipers. Plus, they're about half the weight so reduce unsprung weight.

There are quite a few different options for going radial. If you have Ohlins R&Ts then you can replace the caliper mount which bolts onto the fork bottom with a radial mount version circa £700. If you have Showa forks then you can replace with PVM radial fork bottoms and both K-Tech and JHP do radial fork bottoms for Showa as well. All priced at around a grand!

However, your problems (financial!) have only just begun. All of the above conversions are designed to be used with race calipers (whether they be Brembo, AP, PVM etc). All the race calipers use 108mm mountings (i.e. 108mm between centres of caliper mounting bolts). The Brembo radial calipers on the 999R, Aprilia RSVR etc have 100mm mountings so they won't fit! Also, Brembo race radial calipers retail for around £1200 each!!!!

Your other option would be to speak to someone like Roy at Polygon Engineering who will make you (and fit) a pair of radial mount fork bottoms to fit any caliper/fork of your choice to whatever design you would like so you could have them made to look like the bottoms on the factory bikes. When I last spoke to him, he was quoting in the region of £400 per fork bottom. So for approx £1200 you could have the fork bottoms and the cheaper Brembo radial calipers. Having said that, if you already have Brembo 4 pads on there then you'll probably not notice much difference - look bl00dy good though!! Brembo race radial calipers on the other hand then yes you'll notice a HUGE difference! How deep are your pockets?

Hope this helps,

Neil

P.S. Brake lines shouldn't be any more expensive than for any other set-up.

[Edited on 30-1-2004 by neil748r]

[nelly]

I've been following this thread closely
I've just been making enquiries for a customer on the very same subject and have discovered the following.

JHP's fork bottoms are indeed for 108mm mountings, as are just about every other conversion available.
However, JHP are now doing some made by MotorCorse for the 100mm calipers.
These are £823+vat, but the calipers are a lot cheaper than the Brembo Race. circa £200 each.

The brackets that are available that convert the standard mounts to radial are, by general concensous, only any good to achieve the "look". Again, as mentioned above, they seem to have an adverse effect on the braking. Doing nothing for the stiffness of the assembly and in some cases creating vibration.
That is the opinion of suppliers etc. I have talked to. Couldn't comment personally

Still expensive, but have to agree with Neil.......thay don't half look good

[Dazza]

I have Ohlins RT forks, so could go radial bottoms and calipers, but to be honest I want to recreate the WSB look from 1995/6, when they used bilet GP calipers... My bike is an SP3 and the radials would look out of place.....

Yup those wheels were wasted on the multistrada, but they are damn fine - really nice looking, and they were a bargain!

Oh, and Im going to go for a single line to each caliper setup, from a radial master cylinder.......hopefully I'll be able to stop on a penny!

[Edited on 30-1-2004 by Dazza]

[Rob B]

I agree that the conversions don't have the rigididty of the original fitment. If anyone is interested in a set, Motomecca have them and will do deals.

Rgds,

Rob

[Felix]

Dazza, this is probably what your after. And yes, it does stop on a dime. Narrow track 290/320 mm rotors, GP calipers 23/34 titanium pistons, radial master, and Bendix carbon matrix pads. At Rockingham last year, I ran the 290 discs for the first time and they are ace. Even at a fast track like Oulton it's plenty of braking power.

[David Cook]

There have been some really interesting posts on this topic, and I thought that I would add my own experiences with the (front) brakes on my 996SPS.

Start: standard Brembo 2 pad calipers = do the job better than most
Stage 1: swopped for better pads = even better
Stage 2: swopped lever for Brembo Radial Pump = big difference!
Stage 3: swopped for "R" type 4 pad calipers and Bendix pads = much, much better
Stage 4: JHP fork bottoms together with Brembo Race radial calipers, seperate Kevlar lines to each caliper = better than I am ever likely to be, but it won't stop me trying ;-)

And they don't look bad either (although I've changed to fully floating Brembo disks now and YES = even better again!

[David Cook]

[chris.p]

Anybody got a pair of 4 pad brembo`s going spare then????????,


Chris.