I think I may have asked this question before, but if I did I can't remember the answer and I can't find whatever thread I might have started. Remind me: if you want to upgrade the brakes on a 999 (later model) what do you really have to do? The brakes on my 999 aren't bad, but they are the bit that could most do with improvement. If you wanted to have some later radial brakes put on your 999, what would you have to do? I'm really interested in some major upgrade of stopping power. Fiddling about with different brake pads won't do it. But if it means changing the entire front end, I might not bother.
My understanding, and I could be wrong, is that radial brakes were introduced to enable different sized rotors to be used on race bikes along with a simple change of spacer to reposition the caliper. Therefore there is nothing inherently superior about radial brakes as opposed to 'normal' brakes. Braking, in it's simplest terms, comes down to the rotor, the brake pad and the caliper. Are your brakes / disks clean and properly bled ?
Measure your forks top/bottom where the sit in the yokes, I suspect 848/1098 showa forks and M4 mono blocks or P4/34s will sort you out. Not sure if your existing front wheel/spindle/discs will go in ok.....I *think* they will. I'm not that clued up on the 999. :Vomit:
radial calipers won't flex as much under braking as they are bolted to the fork top and bottom of the caliper instead of just at the top on "normal" calipers. it is possible to change just the lower part of the fork where the caliper mounts.
Loads of options depending on budget and standard forks spec.848 radial forks ,999/1098 radial ohlins forks.Plus ohlins bottom yoke if your running showa as oe. Or swap fork bottoms via ebay ducati stores or Moto Corse,NCR etc.I was gonna go the moto corse route until I spotted some 999R ohlins radial fork bottoms for sale. Kit attacchi radiali per Showa (pinze Brembo int. 100) - Motocorse - parti speciali ducati, mvagusta e bmw, ammortizzatori e forcelle ohlins, freni brembo, cerchi marchesini Then its endless choice of calipers and disks from Brembo or AP racing etc depending on budget again.
This is what I did to my 999. They are however marzocchi forks. If you do get some radial forks with 108mm centres I've got some blue spot yam R1 calipers for sale. The PT calipers are awesome.
There's nothing actually wrong with the brakes as they are. They work fine, have newish pads and are well looked after. It's just that when I rode a Streetfighter some years ago, I realised how much brakes have moved on. I find the handling and motor of the 999 just fine. The only thing that would really benefit from some modernity is the brakes, hence my question. It's not remotely urgent, but having more brakes can only be a good thing. I bet on track they'd be important and on the road - well, you never know when they are going to come in handy.
I have radial 4 pads on my 749R and axial 4 pads on my 916SPS. Both have radial m/cyls (RCS on 916) and Brembo f/f upgrade discs and Bendix MRR pads. I can't really tell much difference between the two apart from the 749 has Ohlins KTech forks which behave better under braking. Summary: P4 axial are pretty much the same as P4 radial as far as I can tell. Fully floating discs and decent pads help with feel and stopping power.
I take your point. The front brakes on the Multistrada have power but lack feel / modulation, in extremis I assume the ABS will kick in and maybe save the day. I am very light on the brakes and find they glaze easily which degrades braking performance.
Radial calipers were introduced to race bikes to allow more braking in the corner. The force which is trying to stand the bike up, is less with radial calipers. Then they ended up on road bikes as lot of race stuff does.....for no real reason other than it is race stuff. Although, if you find yourself having misjudged a corner it could be handy. I have experienced this myself, but wouldn't want to repeat it. These days I have a 749R with radial calipers. Previously, I had a standard 749 with regular calipers. At Portimao with the regular 749, my laps when using the brakes as they could be used I was 4 seconds a lap quicker, but I could only do 3 or 4 laps like that - it is exhausting slowing from 160mph to 80mph using the brakes to the limit of their and my potential. I have no doubt more skilful riders would get more out them again. If it was me Glid I would spend the money in getting some forged aluminium or even carbon wheels. You will get the benefit of these on every corner, not just the ones you enter a bit quick on.
Assuming equal braking energy, the force at the wheel will be the same for both axial and radial brakes. The difference may be the stress at the mounting points. It would not effect the overall forces on the forks though. 160mph from a 749 - that's fast.
P4 calipers already fitted? Braided lines, good radial mc and some good pads more than enough for any road riding IMHO
It wasn't a standard 749.... And the numbers quoted are rough. I wasn't spending too much time looking at the speedo at that point, but it was generally 155/156/158 anytime I looked down. The forces being applied may be equal in scale, but not in vector. Back when they first became popular, MCN had a physicist describe the forces during cornering and braking to explain the advantage of the radial calliper. There are other benefits too right enough.
The only difference is the local stresses in the caliper and fork bottom. Overall, the forces are the same however the load path twixt pad and fork is different. That's it, nothing else. This may lead to less/more stress in the caliper and associated mounting hardware that may mean a difference in feel. At the wheel and the effect on gyroscopic forces - same.
As has already been said above, a more rigid caliper, which clamps and releases the pads more efficiently allows the use of smaller discs, which in turn reduces the gyroscopic forces you yourself mention. They came from racing because racers wanted more stable braking into corners and to be able to fit discs which were no bigger than required for that particular track .
