FRONT BRAKE

[vincent3664]

I have recently rejoined the Riders club after a good 30+ year absence and have tracked down an identicalMorini Strada to the one I owned back then and I remember the front disc brake being pretty hopeless back then.Well guess what, things have moved on and it feels even worse now!!
At the time I improved the brake a little by drilling the disc and fitting a braided hose.
Having got a little wiser with age I would now like to stop when I apply the front brake and I was wondering what makes the most difference ? changing the disc or fitting a better caliper ? Is there a brembo caliper that will fit my 1979 bike without too much modification for example. Any suggestions may save me from the reason I sold my origonal strada ,the loss of my ACL ligament after a car pulled out in front of me and I didnt stop, well actually I did stop rather quickly when I hit the car.
PS hello Chris Webber and "Nutty"Nigel Manning Morton from the first time round in the riders club.

[norbert]

You better look for a smaller like a 14 mm pump, then the rest can stay as it is and stainless tubes

norbert

[vincent3664]

Thanks for the info norbert

[vincent3664]

I have had a couple of replies to my brake question both suggesting fitting a master cylinder with a smaller piston to improve brake performance, one saying 14mm and the other saying 12mm, I assumed that the larger the piston the more pressure it would force the brake fluid down the brake line, am I wrong to assume this? and does anyone know what size the piston is in the standard Grimeca master cylinder? To confuse matters even more I have already fitted a new aftermarket master cylinder with a 14mm piston and this appears to have a similar performance to the standard Grimeca master cylinder.

[Daddy Dom]

Yes, you have it the wrong way, a smaller bore increases the pressure. The same amount of fluid must be forced into a smaller tube. Another option is to fit a second disc using a fork-leg with caliper mounts. It was a factory option at one point.
DD

[Habilis]

I got tired of trying to get a better feel on the front brake by bleeding

the Original master cylinder was awkward to fill with clip ons , i had to lean the bike over to get it full enough to bleed.

so i saw this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121922066021 on Ebay and at that price ,( i paid £12.65, but its gone up to £14.44) nothing to lose.

its angled , so easier to fill with clip ons, but the best part is, that braking is at the very least, 50% better ! probably the best bang for buck modification you can by , the original had a dodgy brake light switch
this one works very well and has a mirror boss too !

Grimeca in a poly bag on the shelf gathering dust ...

[70sbikes]

I did the same:





Way better!

[AndyB57]

Presumably you are both happy with the quality?

[Habilis]

I can not find a thing to criticize, brake switch easy to connect, fits very well , angled reservoir , looks far better in my opinion ( with clip ons)
very big improvement in braking power , lid fits well , if the tables were turned and you asked if i was happy with the quality of the grimeca after paying ££££££££ for much less braking power and far less feel i would say no.

If it was £140 not £14 , some people would be happier , like the Stella advert "reassuringly expensive"

I am more than happy with the quality.

[Steve Brown]

I got tired of trying to get a better feel on the front brake by bleeding

the Original master cylinder was awkward to fill with clip ons , i had to lean the bike over to get it full enough to bleed.

so i saw this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121922066021 on Ebay and at that price ,( i paid £12.65, but its gone up to £14.44) nothing to lose.

its angled , so easier to fill with clip ons, but the best part is, that braking is at the very least, 50% better ! probably the best bang for buck modification you can by , the original had a dodgy brake light switch
this one works very well and has a mirror boss too !

Grimeca in a poly bag on the shelf gathering dust ...

Thanks for that link Habilis-I just ordered one as well.
For those unsure I'd add my voice to the approval of a smaller bore master cylinder. The originals were meant for and good with twin discs but too large a bore for the single disc. My bike has had a smaller bore master cylinder fitted for years, that came from a Moto Guzzi of some sort but is now well worn and past it. A seal kit for that would cost more than this one from China. Plus you get a neat front brake lamp switch too.

[AndyB57]

I can not find a thing to criticize, brake switch easy to connect, fits very well , angled reservoir , looks far better in my opinion ( with clip ons)
very big improvement in braking power , lid fits well , if the tables were turned and you asked if i was happy with the quality of the grimeca after paying ££££££££ for much less braking power and far less feel i would say no.

If it was £140 not £14 , some people would be happier , like the Stella advert "reassuringly expensive"

I am more than happy with the quality.

Great, thanks for the extra info

[vincent3664]

Thanks for the info guys, I will buy my second master cylinder,this time with a smaller piston and try the disc the guy is selling on ebay and sintered pads and report back to you when its all fitted.

[70sbikes]

The only thing I didn't like was the brake lever - it was black. Paint stripper & sandpaper took care of that.

I also have a braided steel brake line, modern brake pads, a later (heavier) piston in the caliper, and many years ago, my father-in-law ground the hard chrome off the rotor. With this setup, I now have really good two-fingered braking.

[Stubaker58]

Wish I’d read this before I bought the seal kits for my Grimeca cylinder, I could have bought three for the price! One on order now and disc away being ground and drilled.

[70sbikes]

For those who are interested, here's a side-by-side comparison of the Grimeca 1010 vs 1025 caliper piston. The later, thicker walled piston seems to have better "feel". Don't know why..