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Any one change over to an after market brake system like brembo?

I am looking for reviews of calipers and rotors.

Why in God's name would you want to waste money on brakes? The brakes aren't a problem. Think CHROME man. CHROME!!

Hey now :-), from a functional standpoint, there's nothing wrong with wanting to improve the brakes. They, like everything else on the Speedmaster / America are of good quality and performance, but there's never anything that couldn't be improved upon :-) That being said, there's not too much out there for what you're asking about Chuck, BellaCorse sells a Norman Hyde upgrade that is centered around a new caliper, but that doesn't do us any good. Brent @ newspeedmaster.com, probably sells the most comprehensive "upgrade" available, which is an EBC full-floating rotor conversion, along with EBC HH compound brakes. Other than these, you can experiment with using S.S. braided Lines, and different compounds from different brake pad companies, and BellaCorse sells a span-adjustable brake lever that we can use as well. For myself, more as a curiosity than anything else, I snagged a pair of Triumph TT600 brake calipers (opposed 4-Piston) off of Ebay for a relative song, and will eventually get around to see about adaptation. The biggest problem right now seems to be that the fork mounting points are about 1/2 a centimeter too far apart on the TT600 calipers; otherwise can't see what would prevent them from fitting on the Speedmaster. If and when I can physically mount them, the next headache would be to experiment (without killing myself in gory fashion) with the calipers to ascertain their functionality with the Speedmaster reservoir / master cylinder. But that's another story for later I guess.

I don't see any need to upgrade my Speedmaster's front brakes, for me they have plenty of stopping power. I did order some Progressive fork springs though to see if I can alleviate some of the front end dive when braking hard. I'm due for a fork oil change so that's why I'm changing out the springs.

To further reduce front end dive, you could possibly consider going to a higher weight fork oil. When I had my progressive springs, I had the dealer use 15W oil, and have since been very happy with the results; good and firm, but not painful over bumps, and it really cuts down on alot of that weight transfer.

Oh, DannyBoy
the chrome, the chrome
is calling
(sorry just had to do that)

Okay, RoundSlide and SalMaglie,
maybe on the Speedies with their twin front brake system, there is adequate stopping power, BUT one of the few things that has always managed to instill a bit of uneasiness in my otherwise high regard of my '02 BA is that FRONT BRAKE. Sorry but it just should NOT come this way from Hinckley, and I can fully understand why one of Chuck's first questions as a new member, would be this particular question if he's just bought a BA.

I've ridden a few other BAs(demos at a Triumph dealer) and "sponginess", lack of feel and a long lever action is the norm.

Dwight

Already have the 15w fork oil ready to go after reading another thread. Fork springs should be here any day now.

Dwight, You don't have to explain about your uneasiness with the single rotor, that was one of the major technical reasons why I bought the Speedmaster. There are some conventional avenues open to you that can give you more confidence, they may suit your needs, rather than exploring the dubious possibility of Stealing from another bike, or an expensive aftermarket set-up that may or may not be tailored specifically for the Triumph. Let the collective know if you find anything cool out eh?

Chrome....what's that...

That's the main reason for my purchase of the speedie, no F'n Chrome....for me it's all black powder coat baby...

I come from the other side (sportbike rider), this is my first cruiser. To me High performance brakes are as important as tweaking out the engine.
I've always loved brembo brakes, and my friend bought a Victory V92 with them installed stock.

I just wanted to see if anyone found a company that made after market 4 piston calipers for the speedie.

Chuck, just sent an info request to www.qtmi.com these guys have a snazzy website, and seem to make their money off of chroming brembo calipers and fashioning mounts to adapt exclusively to cruisers. As with anything else, their main focus is the Harley market, with some scant attention paid to victory motorcycles, and old Nortons of all bikes. There's probably a data source somewhere that can tell you the center point to center point dimension for the caliper mounts (my rough measurement was 4 centimeters), if you can find another caliper for something close to a 310 mm front rotor (like the 308 mm TT600 rotor) and matched that caliper mount spacing, you should be in business. The TT600 calipers that I snagged are opposed 4-piston and look like they will dimensionally fit around the rotor and rim, just need to figure out that caliper mount discrepancy!

I have the EBC rotor and pads from Brent. Once I get my replacement bolt for the one I stripped out trying to remove the stock rotors, I'll give a review. I upgraded to braided stainless lines last year, mainly for looks with slightly better performance as a bonus, certainly can't hurt!! I also think that brakes should be very high on the priority list for us "single front" guys. We spend time, money, and envergy to make it go faster.... why not stop better too?

The balanced approach to performance is always the best approach: engine, brakes, suspension, all equally important :-)

Your right Roundslide, that qtmi site rocks, those black calipers would look sweet, not to say the performance would rock...

Yeah I've got the engine and brakes covered, next on my list (after a seat...) is the suspension. Front seems easy and inexpensive with the progressives, the rears are a little more loot cakes, but worth it!

Try to answer two at once, Yeah Chuck, waiting to see if the qtmi people respond to my info request. If any of those Brembos have mounting points like the nissin calipers on our rides, then It's just a matter of taking the plunge and dropping $300 plus moccassins on it. I'll share whatever I find out. Benny, I'll bet honest money that after you install the Progressive Fronts, you'll want the progressive rears. I got my 412's from www.bikebandit.com (bikebandit is the SHIZNITS) for a relatively decent price, and they really help "balance the equation" between the front and the rear. Those really are some of the best mods I've done to my Speedmaster

Thanks Mike. I'll look into that. Just ordered my Corbin thismorning, so maybe once the tax man cometh I'll hit up some shocks!!

Yes, just received and installed my corbin seatback last night, pretty expensive, but I think it will pay dividends on my long ride up north for the RAT Raid in Alabama. When I get back, then I'll start messing around with those TT600 calipers. Why do these threads always digress?? :-) :-)

I know what you mean... There's several threads I should probably go back and formally apologize for derailing personally!!

Man o Man...I guess I'm just not riding fast enough! Looks like a bunch of you out there are pushing the bikes pretty hard. OK by me...been there, done that. I've owned 2 V-Max's, a Honda V-65 Magna, and (way back when they were the scariest bike on earth) a Kaw 750 2-stroke triple. Plus a hoard of others and fast dirt bikes. I bought the TBA for relaxation rather than excitement and it just seems to fill the bill perfectly. I guess that's where I'm coming from when (in jest) I said "Think Chrome".

To each his/her own and may we all have a good time!

No Biggie, after taking another look at www.qtmi.com and the prices for those calipers, I think I'll stick with messing around with those TT600 Calipers. My Friend and I were bleeding our brakes, and we unbolted one of the front calipers and put the TT600 Calipers in place. From what we could tell, the mounting holes are almost dead on, the TT600 caliper takes a mounting bolt that seems to be about one MM larger in diameter than the Speedmaster bolt. There will definitely be some machine work required, looking at the caliper from the front view, the mounting bosses are a little too tall to for the caliper to fit around the rotor and with the Fork mounting points. I think having a machinist Mill both bosses evenly to take off about 3 or 4 mm, will get the calipers right about where they need to be physically, and then just fit new bolts. More on this as things develop :-) Regards to All!

I'd definitly be interested in seing how those calipers pan out!! Paint em red and go racin!

Oh, no racing for the Speedmaster :-) Just Calipers with "Triumph" in raised relief on the side, and 4-piston stopping power :-)

That would look nice!! I think the idea of red or something if it were to be a completely aftermarket thing, or even anodized blue, would offset the black nicely and match my dice choke knob:)