Stock Brake Upgrade from Ducati

TheFlyingKuz

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Being a complete newb at this I have a questions about brake upgrades... My rear brake seized on me while riding last week and I am curious about either rebuilding my rear brake system or upgrading the whole thing. If I were to ebay some duel front calipers off of a ducati could I use one caliper on the front and one on the back? (with some modifications of course) I am currently setup with mag wheels and a single caliper/rotor on the front and the rear.
 
I would start by just removing the rear caliper, taking it apart and cleaning it very well. If you find a rusty piston I would replace that but if it's ok just reassemble with the parts you have. Be sure to get the groove the oring goes in clean. Any crud in there can push the oring against the piston hard enough to bind the piston.
I might do the same with the master cylinder.
Tear it down clean and inspect the parts.
Rebuild kits can be gotten if you find bad parts in either the caliper or master cylionder. The disc rear brake on mine works very well. I see no need to upgrade that.
On the front brake, up grades there can be a good thing. Lighter disc and caliupers can greatly effect handling as well as get better braking.
Leo
 
A six piston Brembo would be massive overkill on the rear and extremely difficult to keep from locking up. On the front, even with a single disc setup, with the right master, all the brake you will ever be able to use.
 
Pandemonium Choppers makes a kit to install a Brembo caliper on the stock front forks. I have one on my build, Dan even sold me a used caliper at a good price ($75). The kit will require some minor filing to fit and you will also have to ensure proper caliper centering over your disc. Also consider upgrading to a full floating front rotor, such as one made by EBC
 
Being a complete newb at this I have a questions about brake upgrades... My rear brake seized on me while riding last week and I am curious about either rebuilding my rear brake system or upgrading the whole thing. If I were to ebay some duel front calipers off of a ducati could I use one caliper on the front and one on the back? (with some modifications of course) I am currently setup with mag wheels and a single caliper/rotor on the front and the rear.

The Ducati 4 piston calipers are usually sold as a pair. Yes, you can use one caliper on the front and one on the back.

The stock brakes on my 78SE were providing good but not great braking. They were quealing as well, so I decided to go for better braking. In my pics you can see what I did. I bought a pair of Brembo 4 piston (65 mm mounting) calipers that are from the front of Ducati 1999 to 2004 models.

I was originally going to use just a 2 piston Brembo on the back. When I had the pair of 4 piston calipers in my hands, I could see that the 4 piston would go very well on the back wheel as well.

I used 3/8" aluminum flat stock to make the caliper adapter brackets. I like to fabricate parts and this was an easy and enjoyable project. $20 dollars for the aluminum was all I needed to make the adapters.

The Brembo calipers are a natural fit to our bikes. I did not even have to use a spacer for the stock rotor mounting. I used my stock master cylinders and stock rotors, front and rear.

You do have to grind the caliper throat slightly wider to about 1/2" to accomodate the stock 7 mm rotors. If you used 5 mm Yamaha rotors or 3 or 4 mm Ducati rotors, then maybe no widening required.

I moved the front rotor from the right side to the left side,as it made for an almost perfect alinement of the caliper and rotor. I did use one small shim washer for the caliper.

At the back, I had to use 3 or 4 thick washers as spacers on the axle.

How do they work, after one season of riding? Its a big increase in braking power and gives very nice modulation. I used to grab the front brake with all 4 fingers, but now mostly2 fingers. The back brake is also just a joy to use. I'm big on safety, and these calipers give a big increase in safety. I like to ride in the mountains, and these brakes just instill confidence when coming down a long grade.

After using these calipers, you would never go back to stock brakes.
 

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The Ducati 4 piston calipers are usually sold as a pair. Yes, you can use one caliper on the front and one on the back.

The stock brakes on my 78SE were providing good but not great braking. They were quealing as well, so I decided to go for better braking. In my pics you can see what I did. I bought a pair of Brembo 4 piston (65 mm mounting) calipers that are from the front of Ducati 1999 to 2004 models.

I was originally going to use just a 2 piston Brembo on the back. When I had the pair of 4 piston calipers in my hands, I could see that the 4 piston would go very well on the back wheel as well.

I used 3/8" aluminum flat stock to make the caliper adapter brackets. I like to fabricate parts and this was an easy and enjoyable project. $20 dollars for the aluminum was all I needed to make the adapters.

The Brembo calipers are a natural fit to our bikes. I did not even have to use a spacer for the stock rotor mounting. I used my stock master cylinders and stock rotors, front and rear.

You do have to grind the caliper throat slightly wider to about 1/2" to accomodate the stock 7 mm rotors. If you used 5 mm Yamaha rotors or 3 or 4 mm Ducati rotors, then maybe no widening required.

I moved the front rotor from the right side to the left side,as it made for an almost perfect alinement of the caliper and rotor. I did use one small shim washer for the caliper.

At the back, I had to use 3 or 4 thick washers as spacers on the axle.

How do they work, after one season of riding? Its a big increase in braking power and gives very nice modulation. I used to grab the front brake with all 4 fingers, but now mostly2 fingers. The back brake is also just a joy to use. I'm big on safety, and these calipers give a big increase in safety. I like to ride in the mountains, and these brakes just instill confidence when coming down a long grade.

After using these calipers, you would never go back to stock brakes.

I saw your write up in another brakes thread which led me to want to upgrade the brakes in a similar fashion. Thanks for the info. I am going to give it a shot and write up[ the progress as it gets installed.

Thanks everyone for the information!
 
some 2 piston brembos were also 65mm pin spacing. I have a spare laying around!...gonna try it and see if it works with pandemoniums kit too.
 
TFK,

Did your rear brake seize while you were riding? Does the brake release if you let the bike sit and the brakes cool? If this is the way it happened then the solution is simple. What follows is a partial explanation how a master cylinder works in conjuction with the rest of the brake system.

There are two holes into the MC bore from the reservoir. The largest of those holes is a feed hole. The smallest, very tiny, hole is a pressure release hole for the heated up system. The tiny hole is just in front of the lip of the MC piston seal and is covered when you press on the brake and uncovered when the brake is released

The very tiny hole can be plugged with debris inside an old dirty brake system. What hapens is the tiny hole is plugged so the pressure from heat in the system starts to drag the brake. The system heats more, which increases the pressure, which drags the brakes more.... In no time the brake can lock from the unreleaved pressure in the system and the rider is F**KED.

Poke a thin wire through the tiny hole. Flush brake system. This is a minimum.

Tom
 
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