Upgrading brakes on BMW R80/7?

**Dodo** · 12th November 2010, 20:57

I have a 1979 R80/7 with the under tank master cylinder and i am looking to upgrade the front brakes.

I understand that you can get a handle bar mounted master cylinder kit which is a marked improvement, has anyone done this and can they tell me how they found the results?

From what i have heard it seems that this option is going to be relatively expensive and not likely to give amazing results. The kits i can get from the UK are 250 pounds + tax + postage.

Does anyone know if the fork lowers of the later monolever R series bikes will fit onto the earlier forks? If they fit but the axles are not compatible this wouldn't necessarily be a problem as i could get one made up.

Does anyone know of a someone wrecking a monolever R series?

If anyone has any advice or thoughts to offer they would me greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joseph

**Kickaha** · 13th November 2010, 09:41

Originally Posted by Dodo

I have a 1979 R80/7 with the under tank master cylinder and i am looking to upgrade the front brakes.

I understand that you can get a handle bar mounted master cylinder kit which is a marked improvement, has anyone done this and can they tell me how they found the results?

From what i have heard it seems that this option is going to be relatively expensive and not likely to give amazing results. The kits i can get from the UK are 250 pounds + tax + postage.

Does anyone know if the fork lowers of the later monolever R series bikes will fit onto the earlier forks? If they fit but the axles are not compatible this wouldn't necessarily be a problem as i could get one made up.

Does anyone know of a someone wrecking a monolever R series?

If anyone has any advice or thoughts to offer they would me greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joseph

Do you have twin discs or single?

Sidecarbob on here has done the handlbar mounted m/c on his R100 race bike and reckons it's a big improvement

Join the BFTP group on here, there is a boxer twin thread and a couple of guys who can give you all the ins and outs of the conversions

**Dodo** · 13th November 2010, 17:29

I have dual front discs, at the moment they may as well be decorative. At the minimum i want front brakes that work and ideally i would like some serious braking power at the front.

I just picked up the bike and the previous owner told me he had changed the brake fluid within the last month without an improvement.

In my other post about the fork lowers you asked what i wanted to do, my thoughts were that if i could fit the lowers that match the brembo calipers then i could find some decent modern brakes and have adapters made up for the calipers and the hub. I realize this will require me to go through the cert process as well as mucking around with the accelerator assembly but if i can get a decent setup at the front it may be worth it. I prioritize functionality above keeping it period-correct though the latter is still a consideration.

I assume it would be very difficult to fit any modern calipers to the lowers of the /7's?

Any suggestions or experience would be appreciated, Cheers

**Kickaha** · 13th November 2010, 19:06

If you fit the later front forks the wire wheels wont fit, pm Max Headroon or Voltaire they can know all the deatils

Sidecarbob fitted a throttle/Master cylinder assembly from a later Brembo equipped bike

I'm doing a brake conversion on my R100/7 which will be like the Butler and Smith race bikes which adapted Lockheed calipers onto the original /7 fork legs

**98tls** · 13th November 2010, 19:19

Are they crap from the get go or when things get hot,just thinking that braided lines and decent pads may help,i went to the trouble of fitting calipers off a late model Busa to my TLS,in hindsight i would have acheived as much by staying with the 4 pots and doing the lines and pads fwiw.

**Kickaha** · 13th November 2010, 20:23

Originally Posted by 98tls

Are they crap from the get go or when things get hot,.

They are shit direct from the factory

Single piston pivoting caliper,cable from the brake lever to a under tank master cylinder, you probably could design a shittier system but you'd have to try fairly hard

**98tls** · 13th November 2010, 20:26

Originally Posted by Kickaha

They are shit direct from the factory

Single piston pivoting caliper,cable from the brake lever to a under tank master cylinder, you probably could design a shittier system but you'd have to try fairly hard

Figured as much hence adding fwiw.

**Voltaire** · 14th November 2010, 10:43

I've ridden Max Headrooms R90s and I found the brakes fine.....fine that is because he has a handlebar master cylinder, braided lines and probably a full caliper rebuild.

The standard set up is not the greatest and probably in need of a rebuild too.
There is a Boxer thread on BFTP, worth joining in as there are a few guys with them.

**Dodo** · 14th November 2010, 20:15

Thanks for the reply's

Voltaire - How decent do you mean by fine?

Kickaha - I haven't looked into it but i guess that if i was to have a custom front axle made up i could retain the spoked front wheel?

**Voltaire** · 14th November 2010, 21:11

[QUOTE=Dodo;1129908428]Thanks for the reply's

Voltaire - How decent do you mean by fine?
QUOTE]

Fine to me is riding and not saying to myself " hmm these brakes are not very good"

on the day I rode it Max rode by Ducati.