Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Front Brake - America VS. Speedmaster?

A question to those of you who have ridden both models: How different do the front ends feel? Is the Speedmaster dual-disc brake as sensitive as the America single?

Several on this board have modified their Americas to dual disk front brakes.
That should tell you something.

(And I'm sure they will too.)

the america with ebc hh pads and floating rotor feel pretty ****** good. cant wait to feel it with my 6 piston caliper

Frank

ok then. Both my Americas are twin up front now, and I'm a city centre rider too. It makes a big difference round town. On the open road it really doesn't to me as i'mva Back brake user then. Then theres the real reason the 06 has been done....it'll stop the warping problem that one has.

However I don't like cast wheels.

I never noticed any real stopping difference since I am able to lock either wheel. I think it comes into play more if you do a lot of hard riding or as Gina says town stop and go. The dual disc would stay cooler in my opinion, improving breaking under conditions where heat may be a factor. Never saw any reason to change Wendys over and I have ridden hers quite a bit.

I probably should have been clearer with my question. The front brake on mine has always seemed grabby. It's just too sensitive when the brakes are first applied, and the fact that the front end is prone to diving doesn't help. Is this characteristic less troublesome in the SM dual-disc system? Is there some other way to create a higher-effort system? Different pads? Different master cylinder? Other suggestions?

I have no experience on the BA so I can't compare the stock BA front brake to the stock SM front brakes. What I can tell you is the modulation & feel of my 07 SM is almost as good as my 02 Speed Four, which is saying something good. Both are 1-finger stoppers. My SM stopping is limited by front tire traction, not the front brakes.

I like the feel, I wouldn't call it grabby unless you compare to old bikes. As far as that aspect goes I would say both are about the same.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I think the front brakes on my 07 SM are grabby with very little feedback/feel. The grabbiness has improved as the pads have bedded in but it's still not as I'd like. On my past bikes, I never had any problems going into a corner on the brakes; I don't like doing this on the SM, even having upgraded the front springs. Perhaps it's a matter of set-up.

That's not to say they don't work; they do, but it's a case of pull the lever, stamp on the pedal and stop.

This winter, I intend to change the fluid and clean/oil the calipers and, hopefully, that will improve them.

My '03 BA is not grabby. I only rode a SM breifly and was so careful I can't say much about the brakes. Better than my antique Sportster!
Now speaking of locking up the brakes, I did that on a single disc Honda once and almost wiped out cause it pulled the fork hard to one side. If you had dual discs this would not happen???

The day I rode my SM home I grabbed my front too hard and the same thing happened. It pulled me to one side and I almost dumped it. Saved it and have gotten used to them now and have no issues with them.

Never had any problem not having enough front brake on my America. Only complaint is squeal since my dealer replaced the pads last time.

Thanks for everyone's replies. I asked this question because the bike went down in a front wheel slide last week. I think the front end/brake characteristics contributed to the accident, and I'm looking for a way to resolve this. I also want to discuss how it happened, but that's a subject for a different forum.

Having had both the America and Speedmaster. I upgraded the brakes on the 04 America and I was more than happy with the difference. Since I got the speedy this year I was just as impressed but even more so when I upgraded the suspension front and rear, the dive has almost gone and it feels a lot better when braking. I hope this answers your questions..

What's involved in upgrading to dual front brakes? My BMW has them, and I really liked them. Haven't ridden the TBA enough to know if I'm okay with the single

need 1 lower fork leg, caliper, rotor, wheel to mount rotor to, line to run from 1 caliper to the other, double banjo bolt for that line, and you are supposed to change the master cyl. since the SM pushes a little more fluid but I think it has been done without doing that.

Joe,
if you really want to do the upgrade then get the kit. It works out a whole lot cheaper than getting the parts separately. I had a spare caliper and was looking at getting floating rotors, and just for the rest was more than twice the price of the kit.

Getting the wheel could be the problem though...unless you like cast wheels.

Thanks. I was just curious. I'll need to do more riding before I decide if I want to do it or not. I've got dual front brakes on my Beemer, and they do a really good job, despite being juttery.

No, haven't done it myself but seems to me the lever would travel slightly farther but sensitivity would remain pretty much the same. I know there is at least 1 member here that added the disc but kept the BA master. I can't remember who but they would be able to tell you better and for sure.

Is it a secret?