Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Speedmaster Brakes on America

Still planning on going through w/ the 998 Big Bore Kit on my '04 America. Got some great advice - don't go hard & fast until you can stop properly. Was thinking about a dual front brake assy like Speedmaster. Is this the best course of action, or is there a way to put another front brake on the America?

Thanks

a floating rotor and 4 or 6 piston caliper would certainly be an upgrade

I don't think the dual brakes set up is what you really need. Wendy's BA stops just as well as my SM. Only benefit might be the brakes stay cooler so if you are going to ride very hard and do a lot of hard braking maybe but under normal conditions the single disc is fine with what Dave suggests.

I don't really mean to go OT here but this might benefit William and others too... but, what's the deal on a floating rotor other than being more expensive?

It floats

Better contact with the brake shoes and more even pressure because the contact surface can move a little in relation to the mounting part of the rotor.

You could always upgrade to a Thunderbird

Apparently floating rotors don't warp the way solids do. A solid rotor will heat the outer portion while the inner portion is fastened to the hub. Yes heat does transfer but the big temp difference between inner and outer combined with the fact that the rotor is rigid restricts expansion which sometimes causes warpage.

A floating rotor separates the outer ring from the inner with rivet type fasteners. The outer ring is in contact with the brake pads and the heat generated is kept from the inner ring in contact with the hub. The outer ring can expand with no restrictions.

A floating rotor can also move to compensate for a slightly crooked hub and as Ian stated maintain pad contact.

Just do the four pot +floating disc thing, much cheaper and great results.

Great picture Colin. Could you also fill us in with the details in case anyone wants to copy your upgrade. Caliper and rotor type and model would be appreciated.

Thanks

+1

I really like that, v interested in the story!

Greg
Brakes are Beringer( no surprise there) you'll get the details off their web site, page 14 I think Brakes
The disc is EBC. Bit of a story with that.
The original disc they sent fitted ok, but the pads were hitting the bobbins on the disc. I called EBC and informed them about the problem, they phoned me right back asked for some pics, which I supplied them with. They then sent me another disc(the one in the pic) no charge. So I really cant complain about their customer service.
Hope this helps.

And it was intentional too

(Note the "smirk" ).

After going through the Thunderbird Sport dual disc upgrade with Speedmaster bits, which does work very well IMHO, I would probably try the upgraded caliper first (I did use the single floating rotor with stock caliper before the TBS conversion and, meh). That said, I ain't giving up my TBS wheel.

#1 you can't upgrade from one of the Bonnieville modles. you can only go down.
#2 floating discs are supposed to........... something about the disc flexing and the mounting points or some crap like that
#3 that looks cool man. I am shure it helps.
Oh, and ahhhh your wheels are dirty.