I have a stock multistrada and reading a thread on here about the brembo RCS master cylinder lead to a few questions. I appreciate they may seem a bit obvious . All my questions pertain to road riding a lot is stop start around london so can be fast brake fast brake. 1) If I can lock the front/back wheel with the stock setup will upgrading provide shorter stopping distances after all i have hit the limit of friction on the tyre. 2) From what I have read the master cylinder change is all about feel at the lever it does nothing to decrease stopping distance is that correct? for a multistrada what are the best mods i can do to achieve shorter lever travel and braking that is less progressive more off / on and if possible shorter stopping distances. Due to the riding style / conditions , it tends to be lots of hard braking or two finger braking. Obviously I love the look of brembo stuff so a bit of bling never hurt but don't want to change stuff just for looks . Regards Chris
This is something that I have thought about too Chris . You would think that when you reach the limit of grip of the tires that would be it. I think with brakes that the less hand effort needed to get the required level of braking the more "feel" you get and this is an advantage at the point of lock up . A bigger ( dia ) m/cyl will give you less lever travel and less feel and more effort , a smaller one will give more travel and feel and less effort . The manufactures usually get this about right . Brembo ( for instance ) wouldn't want to see their product being bagged in the press just because ( oh , I don't know ... maybe ) Ducati get it wrong , so you have 2 major players lookin after their own asses as well as yours . If your not happy with the fine tuning of the brakes I would experiment with different pads . I have had different pads on different bikes but Im not really up with the play enough to advise you on this :smile: Hamish
Thanks , it makes sense now, it does seem about feel rather than shorter braking distances. I think for the money I am going to try new pads, lines, fluid and a rcs master cylinder to try and get a more instant less travel feel but i guess more force will be needed. cheers Chris
I used to obsess about getting instant braking as soon as my finger touched the lever, but after a while I realised that its not nessessary or practical .Part of the problem is that there is a small port in the m/cyl connecting the fluid reservoir to the actual cyl and the first part of the lever travel moves the piston forward to close off this port , and this initial movement is something you just cant get away from . If you fit a bigger m /cyl you will still have this movement before braking starts and then higher lever effort . This port must remain open when the lever is released, IE don't be tempted to "adjust " the lever so that this port is perminantly closed ( I have seen it done ) because as the fluid in the calipers heats up and expands it will have nowhere to go if the port is closed off and the expanding fluid will force the pistons in the calipers out and jam the brakes on . I rode with a guy once who had done this and we had to stop every few km's the open a bleed nipple ..... until he lucked out and dropped it right in front of me smashing his ignition cover and points plate ( XS750 ).................. I left him 1/2 way up the west coast:smile: It would be good if you could " try before you buy " Hamish
