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View Full Version : Q about Brembo Radial Masters...


antonye
09-Jul-2006, 23:36
Getting the bike out of the back of Eric's van, I must have knocked the Brembo radial m/c as the lever is now floppy!

I can pull it back to the bar ok, and it pumps the piston fine, but it drops away from the bar far too much - like it's lost a spring or something to hold it in place.

Dunno what I've done, but will have to take a look - anyone done something similar or can give me any pointers?

mikesps
10-Jul-2006, 03:45
The actuator rod is weak as it has a hole drilled through the small diameter part of the shaft. If you are really unlucky the broken part of the rod can fall out, leaving you with no front brake! There is a repair kit available.

After seeing several of these failures and a couple of people exiting the track with no brakes, I decided to use the Performance Technology radial MC. It has a stronger shaft design.

Rattler
10-Jul-2006, 08:04
There's a small ali washer that is designed to fail if the lever is forced forward. Its happened to me a couple of times. It has to go back to an authorised Brembo place to be sorted, unless you know someone who's very familiar with these. Its not an expensive part, but will cost around £40 to sort maybe.

I think that GPR can get them sorted - pm Ali for advice.

I've got a Brembo m/cyl at home with the same problem. Let me know if you find somewhere to get it fixed.

Tim

Nattyboy
10-Jul-2006, 09:01
U2U ant..

weeksy2
10-Jul-2006, 09:04
Tim/Ant.


GPR are indeed the people.... price quoted by Tim is pretty close to correct. Happens fairly often with the Brembo... Give them a shout :)

antonye
10-Jul-2006, 10:01
Thanks for the advice guys, I hoped it would be something pretty simple as the unit itself hadn't failed but it just went all floppy ... not a problem I usually have ;)

weeksy2
10-Jul-2006, 10:12
People often just cable tie them so they can't go forward... as an interim solution. Mate of mine did it and then got a 7th in Open class.. :)

JPM
10-Jul-2006, 10:20
You haven't lost the span adjuster knob on the MC have you? I'm sure I spotted one bike at oulton on saturday without one but didn't think anything of it bizarrely???

antonye
10-Jul-2006, 10:21
Next race is Donington in 4 weeks, so plenty of time to get it fixed. We've got changes to do as I've blown the fork seals *again* so I'll be stripping out the front end anyway.

antonye
10-Jul-2006, 10:22
You haven't lost the span adjuster knob on the MC have you? I'm sure I spotted one bike at oulton on saturday without one but didn't think anything of it bizarrely???

No, everything is there.

Mark found a picture of the spares kit here:
http://www.moto-racing.co.uk/ccp51/media/images/product_xlarge/Brembo%20MC%20Repair%20Kit.jpg

It looks like the ball on the pin had pulled through the washer, so need replacing as above.

Dominic Clegg
10-Jul-2006, 12:10
is that what happened to shakey at snett

ali
10-Jul-2006, 12:37
I spoke to Steve Tuckey at GPR regarding master cyl/caliper servicing last week. I was trying to persuade him to supply me with some spares for everyone in case of this kind of thing, but he's extremely reluctant to do anything other than offer to service kit himself as he's seen too many bodge jobs.

I can understand his point of view given the liability isssues placed upon him for supplying and me for distributing, and it's obviously not a profit-making exercise at GPR as labor is done at cost, so I'd recommend whipping the master cyl off and sending it back to GPR. Bit longwinded I know, but it's the one bit of the bike that you really don't want going wrong!

Cheers,

Ali

paynep
10-Jul-2006, 12:53
Agree with Ali, and GPR turn them round pretty quick.

Given that s/h radial m/cyls often go for as much on ebay as you can buy them new (if you get the ACU discount) I decided to invest in a brand new spare in case of mishaps at the track.....and so far haven't needed it!

Dominic Clegg
10-Jul-2006, 13:43
bit concerned about this as iv just invested in one of these master cylinders could one of you hav a look at mine at donny

antonye
10-Jul-2006, 14:13
bit concerned about this as iv just invested in one of these master cylinders could one of you hav a look at mine at donny

It'll be really obvious - the lever doesn't stay in the normal position where it should be, but flops forward out of hand reach. You can still operate the brake as normal though.

antonye
12-Jul-2006, 12:12
Got the m/c off last night and it has indeed pulled the ball out through the alu washer, so I'll be sending it off to GPR for repairs and will let you all know how I get on.

couchcommando
12-Jul-2006, 12:14
What causes them to fail like this ? is it a bad design ?

paynep
12-Jul-2006, 13:09
What causes them to fail like this ? is it a bad design ?

Crashing/clipping the lever with your toolbox/catching it on the van door when unloading/General Cackhandedness (recently promoted from Major Clumsiness).......

It's designed that way so a) it doesnt damage the rest of the cylinder or upset the relationship between seals and ports and b) Brembo make money selling spares - a bit like 916 sidestands:lol:

antonye
12-Jul-2006, 14:04
What causes them to fail like this ? is it a bad design ?

As Paul says it was my fault entirely as I took the bike out of the van. It looks like the alu washer is designed to break in that way to save damage to the more expensive components - a bit like the shear bolt holding the mirrors in place on the 916 line.

antonye
12-Jul-2006, 14:05
Apologies for the out-of-focus piccy but it's from my Treo and it doesn't have a macro mode! You get the idea anyways, just squint your eyes a bit...