Brembo Monoblocs, a tip...

I could see how low speed corners in 2nd gear on a 4-cyl bike might require a little more effort, but I don't blip down to 2nd gear on my Ducs, just feather out the clutch. It's certainly a lot easier with a slipper, but I've done it without slippers too, you just have to be very easy letting out the lever. Doug Polen calls it "Being your own slipper".

On the track just slipping out the clutch works well and is easy on the bike.Another option I really enjoy when I'm coming into a tight turn requiring 1 or 2 gear downshift is to drop both gears, dump the clutch and let the rear wag all over!! Yup, sounds stupid, but really rattles the riders next to you and can break their concentration. When its an drag race in and who will brake the latest, it usually gets them on their brakes. If you are braking hard you have everything on the front tire and the rear is barely touching anyway, it will follow!

About braking ...

I have noticed that the 'right' way is like you guys do it. Using only 1 or 2 fingers. I don't use that technique but the way I do it really works for me. Even when cornering I kinda lock the grip with my thumb and index finger. I never grip on the handle bars anyway and use my legs and body a lot.

I will be trying this technique next time I'm on the track .

jarelj said:

I could see how low speed corners in 2nd gear on a 4-cyl bike might require a little more effort, but I don't blip down to 2nd gear on my Ducs, just feather out the clutch. It's certainly a lot easier with a slipper, but I've done it without slippers too, you just have to be very easy letting out the lever. Doug Polen calls it "Being your own slipper".

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From your experience, does your clutch wear out faster using the feathering clutch technique, vs blip throttle.

1199 is my first bike with slipper, the benefits were immediately noticed. Just need to trust it more. Would turning up the EBC help with limiting the back torque as well?

Same thing with TC, I started with level 8 so it kicks in very often, let me get the feel for it when it kicks in. Now slowing dialing it back down to 5. This bike amazes everyday.

Ryan said:

Does anyone else's brakes squeal or almost vibrate under hard braking like mine? Also going to try to bleed the brakes thanks for sharing

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Mine make lots of noise as I'm nearing stopped, but are otherwise very good.

Ryan said:

Does anyone else's brakes squeal or almost vibrate under hard braking like mine? Also going to try to bleed the brakes thanks for sharing

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Yeah my brakes groan as well. If you grip the brake rotor with your hand it moves back and forth quite a bit on the bobbins,its more than likely some dryness there. Maybe some brake lube on the pad edges could cure it if its not the discs. Its not bothering me at the moment,but soon as I get a chance i"ll try the pads first and report back if its a fix. BTW I bled a bit of air out my hydraulics today too,noticeable improvement.

supduc10 said:

Yeah my brakes groan as well. If you grip the brake rotor with your hand it moves back and forth quite a bit on the bobbins,its more than likely some dryness there. Maybe some brake lube on the pad edges could cure it if its not the discs. Its not bothering me at the moment,but soon as I get a chance i"ll try the pads first and report back if its a fix. BTW I bled a bit of air out my hydraulics today too,noticeable improvement.

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Oh good. I had a feeling it wouldn't be just me...
J.

you might try taking a file to the edge of your brake pads and knocking the edge off a bit

joshinthecity said:

Oh good. I had a feeling it wouldn't be just me...
J.

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Xbox said:

I was just telling a friend about my brakes.

I've literally felt my eyeballs heaving out of their sockets with one finger.

God help me the day I grab a handful in anger

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I did when I forgot about a speed camera......they nearly got a picture of the underneath of my bike.......Simply awesome brakes !!

joshinthecity said:

Get back to us when you do..
If you're not completely blown away by the Monoblocs.. you've got a little air in the system.
Could be the case for lots of us.
If you feel ANY sponginess, bleed them and prepare to be impressed.

No joke, if I had spent 6k on a brake upgrade to get the result I got from bleeding, I would have been VERY happy.
And the brakes weren't bad to start with !

I just fell in love with my bike all over again.

j.

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Dear lord, I am gobsmacked. The difference in braking is amazing! On the track it did okay but not it feels like driving into a brick wall .
I havn't even put the other brake pads in...

Hakosuka said:

Dear lord, I am gobsmacked. The difference in braking is amazing! On the track it did okay but not it feels like driving into a brick wall .
I havn't even put the other brake pads in...

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Now you know what I was getting at !
Glad to hear you got the same result as me
josh.

Thanks for the heads up. Blead my brake master and whamo, much better! Both my clutch and brake had air at the master. I am wondering if the lines running by the engine for the abs are causing the fluid to boil. Has this happened on a non abs?

any concerns about the abs when bleeding?

i love my brakes, but from what i was expecting, i miss a certain pressure poingt, so bleeding could be a solution.

Phil said:

any concerns about the abs when bleeding?

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Should be no different than non abs other than more line. I would just worry about the bleeder at the master which is where the air will be. I checked at the caliper and it was fine, no air.

bet money they need bleeding, I was amazed at how much better these brakes were than my streetfighter which are pretty good.

Phil said:

any concerns about the abs when bleeding?

i love my brakes, but from what i was expecting, i miss a certain pressure poingt, so bleeding could be a solution.

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Glad to hear this actually, because while the brakes on my 1199 are good they don't quite feel as strong as I was expecting. I did some practice emergency stops and I thought the brakes were a little weak feeling. I bet I do have some air in the system, will have to check that.

Noisy Brakes

mine makes a god awful noise while braking hard. Its been howling and squeaking since day one and is not getting any better. I am ready to take it into the dealer and say these are the worst sounding brakes ever. Its embarrassing being around friends on dirt cheap bikes and they all look over and ask what is wrong with your brakes, and I spent $26,000.

Jamier said:

mine makes a god awful noise while braking hard. Its been howling and squeaking since day one and is not getting any better. I am ready to take it into the dealer and say these are the worst sounding brakes ever. Its embarrassing being around friends on dirt cheap bikes and they all look over and ask what is wrong with your brakes, and I spent $26,000.

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Jamier, a trick I learned as a mechanic for Team suzuki here in Australia is to remove your pads and "deglaze" them on your garage floor. Make sure the floor is clean, and level and make a figure of eight about 1 foot across. Do this lightly until the pad has lost its deglazing. Blow the brake pad with air or CRC brake clean and it is like having a brand new set.

I did this on my bike as I had a small squealing sound just before the bike came to a complete stop. It worked a treat and 2000km later I haven't heard a thing.

when setting up the brakes on mine, it took 1 whole night and day. they were bled, kept under full pressure with a zipstring for 4 hours, all parts tightened, and that done 3 times. now they are like rock rock hard and will have instant bite and continuous feel everywhere. .Its the only way to get all of the air out. also the mini bubbles that is within the oil. Why the pressure : it's the only way to make sure the whole system is airtight. because if it isn't air will get back in..

the one finger approach is the only way to be able to serially and continuously apply enough and controlled pressure as you don't have to transfer your hand from the bar to the lever. Doing so, there is no reference to where your hand is on that lever and the power applied differs everytime you grab the brake. if a brake system is capable of being used to full power with one finger, applying 4 will always overdo it. And will make sure there is no way in hell you can trailbrake without hitting the deck.

Any brake system will throw you over the bike when applied full hand in full anger.. but not all systems will give you the instant bite, controlability and continuaty of reaction with 1 finger.

but indeed : thorough bleeding is the key to make whatever you have work well..

i haven't heard of any issues on ABS when bleeding.

Cloner said:

I've roadraced for &$_#Y* years (OK....like 25, damnit) and during all that time I've never used more than two fingers to brake. I think this came about so that I could more easily blip the throttle on downshift (before the advent of slipper clutches....you remember those days, don't you?!?) without upsetting the chassis by tranmsitting that blip to the brake lever. Somewhere along the way I adapted to a single finger (probably in the mid 90s when I got my first set of Brembos), so my current technique is to lay my index finger on the lever...usually up near the pivot....and use my middle finger to brake. The index finger does nothing and the middle provides plenty of umph for brake modulation.

!

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+1

Two fingers here. The other two are used for blipping throttle for downshifting while under braking (yeah, yeah, I know it has a slipper clutch - old habits die hard).