Brakes

[Monkeybrain]

Want to improve the braking on my O4 Softail Stanadard.

What have you done and has it worked?

Goodridge?

New pads?

Or is it a big money job and a new caliper??

[SJC69]

Goodridge hoses will help, but if your brake lines are newish as yours are you will most likely not notice a great deal of difference.
All they do is take the sponginess out of the lines. IE the rubber lines are flexible and expand under pressure, the older they get the weaker they are so expand more, Goodridge don’t they are like having a solid metal pipe no expansion under pressure.

New pads can make a great deal of difference over the OEM ones and are relatively cheap compared to a new calliper.

I would also make sure your callipers are working to their best ability by inspecting and lubricating all the moving parts to ensure they are not partially seized, this can make a big difference if they are.

If after a clean and check of the calliper and or a pad change you decide to go for a calliper try and have a test ride your chosen one you might be surprised how little difference some can make and can also loose a lot of feel to the braking with a very wooden on/off feel to them which you might well not like.


Harrison are one of the few companies that you are not required to replace the master cylinder or use a mounting bracket as they are tailored for the bike, this is also worth another consideration and can reduce the overall cost.

If you do replace the calliper then change to Goodridge hose, don't replace it first then change the calliper as it might not then fit your chosen set up!

Steve

[Moley]

I know quite a few people who have switched to Pretech 6 pot calipers.

They ain't cheap but they are supposed to be very good. My mechanic swears by them & has them on all his bikes.

They don't come chromed as standard but I think they will chrome to order if you want a bit of flash as well!

http://www.pretech.co.uk/consumer/in...products_bikes

[nick_dj]

Try new pads first, I changed the pads on a sportster a few years ago and the diffrence was amazing. I now have a dyna sport and am about to do the same even twin disc`s are only as good as the pads.
Try an independent and ask for high friction.
Let me know how you get on.
Nick dj

[kiwidave]

H-D brakes are a huge improvement now on what they were 20yrs ago.

I would take the above advice and change pads first......yours are prob too new for the lines to be knackered....

There's no point in spending huge money on new calipers for a newish bike when there are cheaper experiments to be tried first.

But if you still aren't satisfied.... HARRISON.

[simonDyna]

I've put Harrison Billet 6's on the front and the rear of my Deuce. I have also swapped out all the hoses for Goodridge hoses. The bike stops extremely well!

One note on the rear, the Harrison Billet 6 and the Goodridge hose combination are notoriously difficult to bleed. Take your time, get it right and wow, does it work!

[simonDyna]

Just noticed that the picture doesnt show the rear hose. Oh well, never mind. It is on the bike.

[Phil]

A good set of floating rotors can make a huge difference.
A perfect braking surface would be a cast iron or similar with bulk & venting to dissipate heat. The problem on a bike is that the rotor needs to be wide & thin, if it was made of that kind of material within a few miles the heat would warp it like an old LP record left in the sun.
HD rotors (& most other solids) are a compromise made between adequate braking & ability to resist warp under high heat use.
Floating brake rotors allow a decent brake surface to be mounted around a solid mount, allowing the brake surface to expand, contract & move slightly under use. It is not for looks that sport & race bikes use floaters.
I put all floating brake rotors on my FXDX & it made a huge difference, also a lot cheaper than calipers.

[Phil]

Sorry bout that, Baz if your looking, how the hell do you re-size that

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by Phild

Sorry bout that, Baz if your looking, how the hell do you re-size that

There goes Phil, Showboatin' again!


Several posters above suggest that with new rubber brake lines like yours you will be unlikely to notice a difference. I found that braking on my 18 month old FXST was transformed by simply fitting Goodridge to the front and leaving everything else alone. The big difference is that the brake starts to bite the second you touch the lever, whereas before it only started when you were already 1/3 of the way in.

However, recent OE calipers are a vast improvement on what went before and most say that selection of best pad/disc combo will yield great results!