I’m ready to report on the dual front brake conversion that Howard Messner (MotorcycleMetal.com, a Forum sponsor) did on my ’06 Street Bob, and I have some numbers. I offer this write up to give riders some information to think about as the ‘winter project’ months approach. I’ve ridden the bike now +2,000 miles and the brakes are the best upgrade I’ve done on the bike…by far. In controlled tests, my braking went from 95 feet at 50mpg to less than 75 feet- about a car length and a half shorter stopping distance, which is really what I was looking for ever since a near death experience a year ago! But having dual brakes also eliminates any twisting or pull to the side in hard braking, and there’s no brake fade, not even riding 2 up with gear! Brake lever pull is 2 fingers with little effort and feels even throughout the braking cycle- linear, not edgy or choppy. I never once locked up the front brakes in the testing, though I certainly locked up the rear brake(stock w/ Lyndall gold brake pads) on several runs. I had much better control of the dual brakes in even the hardest stopping.
I do a lot of riding 2 up loaded with camping gear, but I also use the bike to commute to work and other solo riding. With the stock single caliper I noticed a great deal of brake fade when riding 2 up or when riding solo on twisties. I’d pull the brake lever hard and I could feel the slip on the pads- even with Lyndall gold pads installed. The feel at the brake lever is entirely different now that I have the dual Brembos- I pull, and the pressure is even and more pressure = more stopping power. Great improvement and makes a world of difference. And no lock up of the front brakes.

The Basics-
I chose to use V-Rod lowers to avoid the offset problem of the Fat Bob lowers on the Mid glide trees of the Street Bob, but I didn’t want to change the rake/trail, so some design/machining of the internals was needed. I wanted the Brembo calipers and needed to change to a duel caliper master cylinder (same as on ’08 FL) to operate the pair of Brembo’s (a change from a single and needed a larger bore) and 300mm stock rotors (for the 06 ~ current Dynas), so I would get maximum stopping power with stock parts. The Brembos I used require dot 4 brake fluid, glycol based(dot 3 or 4) not silicone based(dot 5). Using the wrong fluid will destroy your system.
I had already put Race Tech cartridge emulators, Progressive Springs and Progressive 440 shocks on the bike, so that helped eliminate the Front End dip in hard braking.

I used new parts from HD. Roughly:
• VRSC Lowers(including internals fabricated by Howard, oil, and labor to put them together)- ±$500/pair
• Brembo Calipers- $357/pair
• 1 SS Brake Rotor- $224
• Spacer seals, guide bushings, Banjo fittings, Brake T, wheel spacer and lines- ±$150
• Design/Fabricating all new internals by MotorcycleMetals.com- was included in the price of the parts necessary to complete the conversion. You can find a photo of my bike here LINK: http://www.motorcyclemetal.com/gpage24.html. Howard did a great job on the project and has some great information and products on his website.

Other improvements to the bike-
• I also wanted a stock look, so I had the V-Rod lowers powder coated.
• RaceTech cartridge emulators, Progressive springs and 440 shocks
• Stage 1 with D&D Fat Cat 2 into 1 pipes
• Excel Aluminum rims to lower unsprung weight
• Metzler 880 tires
• Sundown seat, sissy bar, custom luggage rack for my camping gear(Jackyl’s good work), saddlebags, detachable windshield for touring
• Kuryakin Panacea brake lights and other safety add-ons.

What I have now is a great all-around bike. More fun than I can handle solo, stripped down. Good for touring, 2 up loaded. With brakes that accommodate the twisties and don’t fade. Hope this helps. Jay Risk

 

Thanks for the write up Jay.

mud

 

A pleasure to do it, Mud. I hope it helps others. Now, if I could only figure out how to add my signature picture, I'd be great. Jay

 

Fantastic NOW if only someone would take on the project of putting the SE USD forks on a Bob without using the wide trees (custom mfg?) I would be a happy rider, from my location in Canada I have been unable to connect with anyone that will take it on.

 

I checked out the site you mentioned. Per the listed prices, that can be a costly upgrade but then again who can put a price on piece of mind. After reading Mud's post regarding that DIY upgrade posted elsewhere on this site I've been contemplating it myself. I know my local dealer has some chromed vrod lowers in the bargain bin but haven't checked part numbers and I'm sure price would be decent. Appreciate your write-up as it just about solidifies reasoning for that upgrade. Ride safe.

 

Jay...re: sig pic, what you need to do is 'close' the html statement. instead of using [SIGPIC] at the end, you need to use [/SIGPIC]. I know you preview it when you're editing. If it doesn't work, then just use lowercase. [sigpic] [/sigpic]. Mine is in lowercase and works fine.

 

Mud...does that sound less abrasive?

 

I noticed the other day that Howard is now offering the dual disc setup as a package. I know that first one was a bear, but I imagine he'll be doing that mod to a lot of the new Dynas soon.

 

Thanks sclonghairbadboy- let's see if it works this time. Jay

 

That's awesome! What did you mean by "so some design/machining of the internals was needed"? What was machined? Would you be able to use chrome VRSC lowers? As you can see I'm very interested in this. I went to the website, he is located in Florida, which for me is great, even though he's about five hours away. Anyway, that front end looks, and most importantly performs great. Thanks.