Promised I'd do a thread on putting a pair of Brembos on my 06 Speedy, so here we go. Bought a pair of "Brembo HP Billet series" from:
Jeff Gehrs
BrakeTech USA, Inc.
Ph: 951-471-3476
Fax: 951-471-3536
www.braketech.com
I hate the way my stock Nissins feel. I have not had (yet) the lever-to-the-bar experience, but the "progressive" feel, feels like *****. Really not confidence inspiring, especially knowing their history of failure and the lack of a convincing fix.
Jeff had them in stock along with mounting bolts and spacers. This is a swap he does for Japanese bikes a lot, but this was his first Speed Triple so we had to experiment a bit and Jeff as very helpful and, as a result, now has the "definitive" Speed Triple kit (for the '06 at any rate). Yes, it's now plug & play.
Observations: When you pull off your Nissin calipers you can see that the calipers are recessed to accept a grooved spacer — but the mount on your lower fork is not. So, Jeff has black spacers the right size that come without the inserted aluminum dowel designed for the double recessed setup. Jeff originally sent a bunch of spacers down to me to experiment with, but only the correct sized (black) spacers with the dowel. It was the weekend and I didn't want to wait for the correct set, so I took a file and ground off the dowel at one end. Thus one side fits into the recessed area on the Brembo, the other lays flat against the flat face of the mounting bracket. Jeff has the spacers without dowel inserts.
Next you will notice the mounting bolts from your Nissins will not work with the Brembos. The threaded diameter and non-threaded are different diameters. And, I must admit I was offended by the lame "manufacturing" process used to created the Triumph stock bolt. Apparently they don't fit at the factory, either, so they cut off the ends with what looks like a hydraulic bolt cutter! Anything to avoid the extra cost of a spacer, I guess. Again, Jeff has very nice bolts (not cut off) that fit perfectly with the spacer.
Your banjo bolt from the Nissins will not fit the Brembos, but replacements that come with the Brembos fit the stock Triumph hose fitting no sweat. You will have to do what Triumph did on their Nissin setup, which is swap the bleed fitting and the hose fitting. Otherwise the hose isn't long enough, and, wouldn’t be on the stock set up either.
Ok, for those of you who have never done this before, you will need:
12 mm wrench to take off Nissin mounting bolts.
8 mm Allen/socket for putting on new mounting bolts.
14 mm socket (wrench) for banjo bolts.
11 mm for bleed bolt.
Torque wrench
3/8" clear hose for bleeding. Also I use a syringe from an equine supply with a piece of aquarium air line hose inside the 3/8 to force brake fluid back up from the caliper to the master. What do they drive like? Better than night and day. Cost? With shipping + tax (I live in California so must pay 8.25%) = $1689.06. I know there are cheaper ways to go by adapting a different front end. But when I figure my time is worth much more so this is not only the best way for me to go, but the cheapest. Besides, the Speedy is such a good deal out the door, adding this for great brakes still doesn't seem like much to me.
[ This message was edited by: scrannel on 2007-06-11 13:38 ]
Linear Mode
