What front brake master would you suggest to upgrade the braking power on my 916SP - the old master seems to have worn itself out! Had the callipers reconditioned, and fitted new Hel lines but lever is still spongey so can only really be the Master! SO is it a RCS19 and if so do they would they foul the tacho? Would the master off a Hypermotard do?? Are there any issues adding bigger Master to old callipers & lines? Any recommends / suggestions appreciated
I assume you have done all the usual checks. I had a spongy lever. Took all 3 bleeder nipples out, cleaned them up, cleaned inside where they bite in the cylinder and put together with new fluid. Lever is now solid as a rock and braking feel is excellent. I had considered moving to Brembo radial master cylinders (clutch too) but the purchase price isn't yet in the budget plus I got such a good result cleaning them up I don't think a piston rebuild kit is available for these MCs.
I had an RCS on my 916. It was fitted with individual hoses to each caliper- no clearance issues. I also fitted 4pad axial calipers so don’t know how the RCS performs with standard calipers.
One important design consideration when you select braking components is the cross sectional area of the master cylinder in relation to the total area of the caliper pistons. This determines how much the pull force at the lever is multiplied at the calipers and is directly related to the “feel” at the lever. If the total caliper piston area divided by the MC piston area is too large, the lever has a soft feel; too small, and the lever feels wooden and lacks feedback about what the brakes are doing. There’s an area ratio that most agree gives good modulation characteristics: about 27. Here’s a rough scale for (two caliper) lever feel/modulation. 30:1 — soft 27:1 — sweet 23:1 — firm 20:1 — wooden Early 916 SP/SPS Ducati braking systems were purposely biased toward a soft lever feel, probably to reduce the likelihood of brake lock-up when emergencies arise on the street. Preference for a certain lever feel is somewhat subjective, so a different hydraulic ratio may be preferable for some riders. In particular, a Ducati 916SP has a 16 mm master cylinder (201 mm²) and P4 30/34 Gold Series calipers (6459 mm²) giving it a ratio (6459/201) of 32, quite soft. If you change to a 18 mm (254.5 mm²) Hypermotard master cylinder you’ll get a ratio (6459/254.5) of 25.4, a bit firm. If you change to a 19 mm (283.5 mm²) RCS master cylinder you’ll get a ratio (6459/283.5) of 22.8, a bit wooden. If you change to a 17 mm (227 mm²) RCS master cylinder you’ll get a ratio (6459/227) of 28.4, a bit firmer than stock and closer to ideal. This is the ratio that Ducati uses on the 749, 999, 1098, 1198, Streetfighter, and Multistrada Pikes Peak S. This would be my choice for a 916 SP.
Thanks for all the replies guys! But kudos to @Shazaam! for the in-depth answer and explanation!! I knew someone on here would know! Many thanks for your detailed answer!! So an RCS17 would be the ideal option rather than a 19 - makes sense - I didn't mind the feel of the standard brakes but they've got a bit spongey or maybe I like the more modern stuff more now after riding my Hyper and a Daytona 675R on track?! I just want a bit firmer lever!! Calipers had a full rebuild and lines replaced with Hels, Master was cleaned and swapped for a 'new' old stock but want improved the feel for me - so will hunt for a 17 Thanks again for all the replies!
Nice to see Shazaam on here at last, I used to really enjoy his posts when I was a member of the DSC.
Having followed Shazaam for a long long time on the DSC I would say he's a great asset to this forum with his vast amount of knowledge.
