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Harley brakes have always been **** until Brembo got involved,
personally I like good brakes that work & the best you cn afford the better, I use duel disc's & the standard shovel twin disc can be made to work, if new & greased mounts are used with braided hoses & an 11/16th bore master cylinder from a twinkie,
it works well for a total of only 2 pistons, but soon upgraded to twin GMA 4 piston calipers & now the brakes are great, exactly what ya need on a big heavy bike & as twin disc's, theresno fork twist on braking either,.just because the MOCO didnt or did use something, doesnt mean it's not a valid upgrade... .
Dual disc brakes on anything improves stopping and looks better than one. My 82 has them (stock crappy ones) and my 3 fxr's had them but I upgraded my fxr's to 4 piston and Russel rotors.
Don't you think the first FX also followed a popular mod of putting XL forks on FLs?
Never saw that where I ran, was always stripped down fat front ends going on the FX's, most couldn't wait to lose those skinny forks on anything other than a piglet. Still have the jig's I made to weld fender tabs back on the FL legs everybody cut off in long bike heydays of the 60's, made a fair bit of change doing that.
Any of you guys cared about dual front discs on shovels?
Not sure if it made any noticeable difference on those bikes but I see some of the sellers point that out as an upgrade and value.
It makes a big difference depending on the original brakes and if you actually ride the machine more than coffee shop hopping and look at me bike nights.
I haven't had a bike without duals on the front the last 3 decades, done many a later front end conversations on older machines.
These went on this 73 I brought back from the dead for a buddy. Picked it all up from a shops junk pile for $300.
The stock dual disc brakes on my 79 are ( probably ) a bit better than most singles ..
They are the small diameter rotors ....Years ago I helped a buddy upgrage to the larger diameter rotors and GMA calipers ... What a difference leverage and clamping can make
Never saw that where I ran, was always stripped down fat front ends going on the FX's, most couldn't wait to lose those skinny forks on anything other than a piglet. Still have the jig's I made to weld fender tabs back on the FL legs everybody cut off in long bike heydays of the 60's, made a fair bit of change doing that.
That, and I see alot of narrow glides going to wide mods. Dont remember seeing it vice versa.
my stock 80 lowrider twin disc front brakes were useless. checked the pads and looked good but someone said change them and clean the discs. wow what a difference. it stops now
again, the MOCO being cheap, FL's had strong 41mm tubes but the FX range only had 35mm forks off of a Sportster & tend to twist on braking FX's being a fair bit heavier than an XL... ,
a good fork brace & twin calipers balance it all for better handling as well as the braking it needed new,...
if you want reliability & as good a handling FX there are many upgrades out there worth fitting to a rider,
it all depends what you want out of it, are willing to pay & how genuine original you need it to be or not to be....
i like to use older motors but use the best running gear & kit i can get, a bit of 'Ancient & Modern',
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