Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 851 / 888 > 888 brake upgrade

[aka.eric]

Originally Posted by doogalman

You need these
http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/sh...ad.php?t=35605

Expensive paper weights.

[loony888]

if you still have the standard rubber hoses they would be the first thing to change. they deteriorate badly over time and bulge when you apply the brakes, meaning the force from the master cyl isn't being transferred to the calipers. if you have decided on new calipers and are happy with 40 to 65mm adapters go for the 4 pad brembos, they are great value and are very strong (i have em on my S4R). note though you need a specific hose for these, so don't go buying new hoses for your existing calipers thinking they will fit the 4 pad version, they won't. radial m/cyls are great but i decided on 996 goldline m/cyls after thinking they are hard to fit (no experience with radials, i chickened out!) in short it depends on your budget and how far you want to go.

[Nattyboy]

The main problem I think is the small bore of the standard brake master cylinder..change it for a brembo radial, and with some good pad material youll notice a huge difference..

Nat

[dig7465]

what pads do you think. dave.

[Jools]

I know what you mean, when I got my T8 the brakes were the first thing I wanted to update after a couple of "Oh my gawd the lever is back to the bar and I ain't slowing down much" moments.

Don't go down the P34 caliper route. P34's are later Brembo brakes with a brake pad for each of the 4 pistons in the caliper. I'm not knocking them, I have them on my ST2 and they are without doubt awesome. In fact my ST has the best stopppers of any bike I tried at the recent Cadwell trackday. Trouble is that for a T8 they are just plain wrong. Because they have 65mm spacing on the mounting holes you can only fit them to the earlier 40mm spacing forks on a T8 with an adaptor plate. It works, and you'll have fabulous brakes but it will look awkward and clumsy (not to say plain ugly).

I would go for the Brembo radial caliper and the GP billet brake mod, either one or both in any order. You'll have to be pretty flush to buy both straight away...I got the GP billets first because they're pornographic, but they do need the master cylinder uprated as well to get the best from them.

[dig7465]

where can i see these objects i lust after. cheers.

[Screwy]

Hmmmm
I,m more than happy with the standard set up on the 851 though I will admit to never having taken it on a track day so couldnt comment on there absolute stopping power but for fast (for me ) road use they have been fine and even managed to haul the bike down quite well in France the other week when a Gendarme stepped into the road and indicated I should pull in for a chat about my eeeer excessive speed , I think we where both quite relieved that Ducati,s have decent brakes

[Jasper]

I have a radial m/cylinder,used to have P34's with adaptor plate,awesome brakes,but look so wrong on the SP5.I changed them for the P4's now they are truly awesome.Costly mind you.

[dig7465]

The p4 caliper looks awsome, where did you get them from, how much etc, have you a pic of the m/cylinder. cheers dave.

[Jools]

Yep, the billet calipers are pure porn, that's what I've got on my T8.

The best place - bar none - to get them is

http://www.gprdirect.com/epages/GPRD...0/Catalog/1227

You'll get the best deal at GPR, sound blokes all round. The ones to have are top row far right, second row far left.

But. There's no denying it, the calipers thenselves are pricey, even from GPR. Best part of £600 for the pair once you've got the required brake pads (and after all, the best calipers in the world ain't much use without pads)