Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Advice Wanted Brembo CNC Calipers and Levers

[Dazza]

Im after some info about Brembo braking components:

Brembo PR16 Radial Master Cylinder Brake lever

Brembo PR19 Radial Master Cylinder Brake Lever

Brembo Clutch RAdial Master Cyl Lever (size??)

Difference between Cast and CNC/billet Levers in terms of quality and performance?
What difference do the sizes and lever lengths make, what sizes and lengths are avalable?

Can i fit the brake light switch to the Radial Lever, is this an easy mod?

Brembo Racing GP P4 30/34A CNC Calipers
Brembo Racing P4 32/36 calipers
Brembo Goldline 4 Pad Calipers

Difference in performance between these calipers.

I will be using Brembo Cast Iron floaters 320mm - could i use P4 32/36 calipers?
I have Ohlins RT forks with 40mm replacable caliper brackets so i could go to 65mm - but I see that CNC P4 Brembo Calipers are 40mm and only the new 4 Pad Goldline calipers are 65mm, is this correct?

Will I have to change brake fluid resevoirs if I use radial pump levers?

Best brake lines to use?

Is it worth upgrading the rear Caliper to a Brembo CNC 2 or 4 pot caliper ?

Waht overall performance increase will I see if I upgrade the whole braking system to CNC Calipers and Levers, over the standard goldline brembo parts?

And finally, anybody know where i can get a catalog and some technical info, maybe a pdf to download (not the Ducati performance catalog)?

Thanks!
D.

Be Happy Everybody

[Edited on 18-8-2003 by Dazza]

[KJ]

B4 I went Radial - I went down the Billet GP Caliper route - they are awesome!

But you will need the narrow band disks for the perfect setup - I think that the Cast Iron Rotors are mainly used for the "normal" setup found on Ducati's (goldline) from the factory.

The GP Calipers are on 40mm mountings and are basically the same design (to some extent) as the Radial Monoblocs with 32/36 mm unvented Ti pistons - no dust seals - servcing every 1000 miles @ £40 per caliper!

The upgrade is definately worth doing IMHO in conjunction with the Brake Master Cylinder and the proper disks - Brembo rec the 19mm type MC for this setup - not sure what is right for the others - I have always used a 19mm MC - even with standard goldines and it works perfectly.

James Walters @ GP Racewear (01908 220777) is the best man to talk to - very helpful and knows all there is to know about all the products that you have mentioned here.

If you go the GP caliper route - make sure that you shop around as I have heard that you can get them for a massive discount at the moment!

The Standard Brembo pads used with teh cast SS narrow band disks is an excellent setup - loads of feel, bite and performance and the pads hardly even wear the disks - I have done about 10,000 miles on my cast SS disks - firstly with the GP calipers and now with the Radial Monoblocs and I recon on <0.1mm wear - amazing!

If you need any further info - call me on 07966 454874 at anytime.

KJ

PS - I might even have the 40mm Ohlins caliper mounting brackets lying around somewhere!

[Edited on 19-8-2003 by KJ]

[JPM]

KJ/Anyone...

Can you tell me what the differences are in the brake m/c cast/billet? apart from the obvious construction, and how come the cast one is nearly £200 cheaper?

Do they come with brake light switches, or can they easily be modified etc?

Just curious as it's an upgrade I've been considering.... how well will it work with wavy discs etc also?

[pguenet]

I don't know what the effective difference in braking is exactely between Cast & Billet but most very good racers at Club level don't go to the expense of billet, so I would not think this is very noticeable for us mere mortals!

There is no mounting for brake light switch on the GP Master Cylinders but this is easily corrected by using a pressure banjo that makes contact when there is pressure in the lines. Check at Demon Tweeks.

The standard reservoirs work with those although you might have to relocate them as they could get in the way with the fairing.

As far as upgrading the calipers, you would get ultimate performance with those, but let's face it, the normal 4 pads road set up + GP master cylinder is more than enough for our level of riding especially on the roads (well speaking for me here). Many guys use that set up with fully floatters in racing and seem to do very well with that. A popular choice is also the AP set up which seems like a bargain compared to the Brembo stuff.

I will be fitting soon some 32/36 to my SPS but this is mainly for fashion / pleasure of building a race rep as they are truly beautiful pieces of engineering. Well I did pick them up cheap too.

The thing though is to use their race discs too as they are slightly thicker than the 996r/998r ones and the pads being very narrow you need the narrow band discs to avoid using them unevenly (in case you ever want to revert to normal calipers... when selling the bike for instance).

Also you might get some great deals on those CNC second hand soon since racers using that kind of equipment should upgrade to radial mounts and those that have serious money should upgrade to the brand new 4 pads version as they use in GPs.

Check www.redracingparts.com they are the best prices I have seen for them so far on the Net (but as KJ said, worth looking around for discounts).

All brembo Race calipers are 40mm or Radial. Only road calipers are 65mm mount.

[DJ Tera]

motowheels.com do a 999 style radial master which comes with a built in brake switch apparently much easier to fit

http://www.motowheels.com/italian/my...ion=4%7CBrakes

forgot to say its only 240 dollars!!!

[Edited on 19-8-2003 by DJTera]

[pguenet]

DJ, you have the same stuff at Casoli for £165. Roughly the same price as in the US without the risk of custom tax when coming in!

[flyingbanana]

I had a radial cast master cylinder lever fitted by nelly at cornerspeed a few months back and have loved every minute, the feel was phenomenal on the standard sps goldline calipers with braided lines and full floating iron discs straight off the bat. Just fitted the P4 calipers I bought off Rattler and i'm in shock, they're even better unlike standard goldlines that don't have much initial bite the p4's are like pit bulls with a brush of the lever and that's without hard braking ! I still haven't got used to them yet especially when they warm up and I keep braking too early only to find out I had around 9 seconds left. And it's not smack in the face braking it's totally progressive all the way to full squeeze. I'd say this setup is without doubt the most balanced when it comes to cost and performance, stunning.

[Edited on 25-8-2003 by flyingbanana]

[Dazza]

Hmmm.
Thanks for all the replies.
Looks like radial master cycl. is the way forward.
How about going for the Brembo Racing GP P4 30/34A CNC Calipers instead of the new P4 4-pad jobs....I guess they'll be even better, eh?

Now what about Brake-Lines...