Brembo front brake

HopperXL said:
Harleys have come with Brembo calipers and discs both ends for some years now. I am sure they could be adapted to fit Nortons.
Personally, I use Tokico four-piston calipers on such conversions. Cheap as chips off pre-radial mount GSXR-1000 Suzuki sportbikes. They work spectacularly well on older Harleys and Brit bikes. (I do file the Tokico name off the calipers and repaint them though!)
Click to expand...
I do the same with the Nissins for a cheap up grade.
 

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That Brembo front brake would a much better option than the disc on the Mk3 Commando. For the life of me, I cannot think why Norton would only make the calliper fork leg for only one side. And chromed discs do not work well, with any type of disc pads. It seems to be the same mindset that created the bathtub on the back of a 1958 Triumph Thunderbird - idiocy.
I suppose Britsh motorcycle manufacturers do not want to seen as copying the Japanese or the Italians.
 
I thought Harley rider did their maximum braking by dragging a foot on the road - or is that to hold them up from falling ? When I was a kih I owned a 500cc Indian Scout. My mate had a 750cc WLA Harley. THe engineering on the Indian was far superior. We went somewhere and the two top hat bushes on his clutch lever popped out, so I towed him home. There was something wrong with it steering - if he relasxed, he would end up in the gutter. Another friend had a 1962 Duoglide - it was very good, but cost a bomb. These days, one of my friends loves them - they are rebuildable. But so what ?
 
jseng1 said:
H

Here's a quick sketch of the bolt spacing for the home made bracket:
Brembo front brake


A straight on shot - blow this photo up to scale or cut out paper templates until everything clears.
Brembo front brake


The 1/8" stick spacer between caliper and bracket:
Brembo front brake
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Jim, thank you very much! :) you`ll get an email with a final drawing of your scetch from me in the next days
 
baz said:
It's really not difficult to make your own drawing
I generally make them in cardboard first then transfer it to metal using it as a template
I've made many this way
But then I am a caveman when it comes to engineering
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No Baz, it is realy not difficult to make my own drawing. my daily business as an engineer. But I don`t know the measurement for a working system.....it`s easier to share some knowledge. And this is how I think this forum is meant to be. I do my drawings on CAD. Why on CAD and not just on cardboard? because i archive and share the files and data if somebody needs it. And my local machine shop uses this CAD-files to laser cut brackets/adapters....
 
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I prefer thin plywood for shaped brackets, its a measurable thickness. Once the plywood shape is finalised plus the hole positions then stacks of known thickness washers can be used to get the correct thickness at the hole positions. On my P3430 Brembo adapters there are 4 holes with the 2 pairs at different heights.

This is my adaptor for the disc to hub, 5 holes to 6 holes at different heights and this was prepared in the same manner, no CNC machinery, DRO is as far as I have gone on my 1942 Mill.

Brembo front brake


Glass 5 micron scales on Mill

Brembo front brake



DRO computer

Brembo front brake


Display, 4 scales combined into 3 axis on the Mill, this is the lathe DRO display 2 axis

Brembo front brake



Mill DRO Display

Brembo front brake


Hole position programming

Brembo front brake
 
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kommando said:
I prefer thin plywood for shaped brackets, its a measurable thickness. Once the plywood shape is finalised plus the hole positions then stacks of known thickness washers can be used to get the correct thickness at the hole positions. On my P3430 Brembo adapters there are 4 holes with the 2 pairs at different heights.

This is my adaptor for the disc to hub, 5 holes to 6 holes at different heights and this was prepared in the same manner, no CNC machinery, DRO is as far as I have gone on my 1942 Mill.

Brembo front brake


Glass 5 micron scales on Mill

Brembo front brake



DRO computer

Brembo front brake


Display, 4 scales combined into 3 axis on the Mill, this is the lathe DRO display 2 axis

Brembo front brake



Mill DRO Display

Brembo front brake


Hole position programming

Brembo front brake
Click to expand...
Looks a bit more professional than my backyard DROs 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
 

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Chris Zet said:
Jim, thank you very much! :) you`ll get an email with a final drawing of your scetch from me in the next days.
Click to expand...

Chris - Looking forward to your drawing. If there's any confusion about my sketch I can easily send an AutoCad drawing (I was just lazy). When yours is done it would be good to post a jpeg conversion of your drawing for others to use.
 
I use cardboard, a hand held jig saw, a linisher and a pedestal drill. If it doesn't work, I lay the bike on the road. - Modern technology. I am going tp make a petrol tank by basket weaving.
 
kommando said:
I prefer thin plywood for shaped brackets, its a measurable thickness. Once the plywood shape is finalised plus the hole positions then stacks of known thickness washers can be used to get the correct thickness at the hole positions. On my P3430 Brembo adapters there are 4 holes with the 2 pairs at different heights.

This is my adaptor for the disc to hub, 5 holes to 6 holes at different heights and this was prepared in the same manner, no CNC machinery, DRO is as far as I have gone on my 1942 Mill.

Brembo front brake


Glass 5 micron scales on Mill

Brembo front brake



DRO computer

Brembo front brake


Display, 4 scales combined into 3 axis on the Mill, this is the lathe DRO display 2 axis

Brembo front brake



Mill DRO Display

Brembo front brake


Hole position programming

Brembo front brake
Click to expand...
Slick, very slick 😎
 
I got a question about bracket thickness:
Jim is using aluminium with a thickness of 1/2" (about 12.5mm).
I would like to make my bracket in stainless steel ..i just like the material. Which thickness would you suggest and do you see any contras using stainless steel?
 
I am not a purist, however I do not think stainless steel was used on 1970s motorcycles,, Even though a Brembo brake is out of period, stailess steel would probably make it glaringly wrong. I prefer to use bits which do nor make modifications too obvious. On my own bike, I know what is wrong, but a couple have guys have told me 'at least your bike looks right'.
Even chromium plated spokes look wrong in a classic restoration, and are probably dangerous anyway. Spokes are probably not mild steel and plating can cause hydtogen mbrittlement
 
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Chris Zet said:
I got a question about bracket thickness:
Jim is using aluminium with a thickness of 1/2" (about 12.5mm).
I would like to make my bracket in stainless steel ..i just like the material. Which thickness would you suggest and do you see any contras using stainless steel?
Click to expand...
I'd go for 6mm thick if there's no machining
 
Matchless said:
I used one on my recent A65 build along with a CBR1000 disc. Took inspiration from Fast Eddie's T140. The as new caliper was £80 on fleabay. About £250 new.
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Looks good! What's the size of the disc?

- Knut
 
Here is the .step of the bracket I used for the 40mm bracket, most of it was projected from cad of the caliper and the fork, so some of the dimensions aren't "nice". Sry I don't have time to make a drawing, but feel free to do what you like with the step file. The two holes on the fork side are tapped for the bolts from the original caliper (or similar), the other two holes are clearance for the brembo bolts.
 
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Chris Zet said:
I got a question about bracket thickness:
Jim is using aluminium with a thickness of 1/2" (about 12.5mm).
I would like to make my bracket in stainless steel ..i just like the material. Which thickness would you suggest and do you see any contras using stainless steel?
Click to expand...
There are many ways to do it. I see no problem with SS.
 
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