1200 Sport weak braking

I have recently bought a 2v 1200 sport. It is 57 reg but has stood for long periods of its life and only has 5000 miles on it.

Anyway I am finding the front brake a bit weak which is a surprise as I am used to older bikes.

The lever seems very solid and I don’t get any hint of fade or a soft lever. Initial bite seems ok-ish and routine braking not too bad, but as soon as you need a bit more power it is not there and there is little progression.

It might be my imagination but the braking power might be a bit variable, and maybe a bit better when the brakes are hot.

I am wondering if pads can somehow go off if a bike is stood for a long time? I have not looked at them yet and am not sure I would know what to look for. I don’t think the fluid is a problem as the lever seems hard.

Any thoughts, and any feedback on the braking I should expect with this bike? It has the standard wavey disks and Brembo calipers.

No knowledge of the sport but I would suggest changing out the fluid anyway and upgrading to sintered pads. These made a noticeable difference on my Cali.

Richard

I have same model on a 08 plate and find the brakes a bit lacking when needing to stop from speed. I’m still on original front pads/discs at approx 17K miles with plenty of material left, although I have just changed the rear pads(used Brembo’s) I consider this odd as I try to use front brake harder than the rear and have always worn front pads out quicker than rears on my previous, non-Guzzi bikes.
Perhaps the original front pads are a ‘hard’ compound with the emphasis on long life rather than braking performance.
Front pad recommendations to improve braking performance would be appreciated.

Hmmm… I’ve always thought the brakes on my Breva 1100 were a little underwhelming, requiring a good handful of lever to slow it quickly.I took it for its MoT today, and was astounded that the 2-disc front brakes only registered 70%-ish on the brake tester*. A classic, single-disc Enfield 500 registered 80% just beforehand…(*At a guess, looking at the display, this device seems to measure the weight borne by the front wheel, then compare it with the kgf exerted by the brakes.) Time to change the fluid and pads, perchance?I had good results with Vesrah Sintered Pads on my 09 BMW, and always used Ferodo on my Ducatis. Which is actually no help at all, really, is it…

Thanks. Could do with a few more responses here maybe, looks like I am not the only one.

Recommendations for pads please?

Try EBC HH, or as an economy pad, Goldfren sintered work pretty well and aren’t as dirty as Brembo pads. Both will give powerful two fingered operation, if you know what I mean.

No help idea what brand was used when my pads were changed but I do recommend enlisting the help of a professional. Bled my way though God knows how many litres of DOT 4 before giving up and giving the bike to Metropolis Greenwich (now sadly closed).

Thanks I suspect a professional look over could be the answer ultimately. The breaking is variable.

Good luck. I like doing my own service and mechanical tinkering as much as possible but will probably always get an actual mechanic to work on my brakes in future.

Richard

might be worth taking the brake line off and checking it is not blocked, I found that an old speedo or brake inner cable does the job

Am currently using Carbone Lorraine front and back on the B11, the brakes come close to outperforming the tyres specially in the wet, (sorry about the black marks officer).Cheers, Gerry.

when I had my griso I found the cheaper pads had more feel and end result was I braked a lot harder

Not sure about the details of 1200 brakes but if pads are Brembo would suggest get rid and go for EBC or Ferodo. With the Tontis at least yes there used to be different grades of Brembo pads but for some years now can only get grade 222, I think, which was never the softest and grippiest (which was 224?). In any case I always found Brembos ‘went off’, OK when new then lost their grip. Disc rust can give them a problem too, insofar as clogging the water dispersal channels.

HTH

I had brake fade on my 2008 2V 1200 sport, and had to have the warped discs replaced after 10k miles. Problem starting to come back, and I asked local shop if I could replace the wavy brake discs with some nice cast iron stoppies. This made the mechanic take it seriously and he fitted new brake pads FA244HH to the front and FA181HH to the rear and everything seems to work as expected now. He said that there was the tiniest bit of oil on the old pads, and this was probably enough to stop them working right.

I think this is the clue to what might be wrong.

If you are handy with the spanners, I would suggest stripping down and cleaning up and rebuilding the calipers. It could just be that the pistons are corroded and sticking. This happened to my 2006 Triumph Tiger every winter (well it would have done if I didn’t do this as preventative maintenance). At that mileage I would expect the master cylinder to be OK as it is not so exposed to road salt.

It would be wise to replace the rubber seals of course but if you are very careful and if they are in good condition, you can sometimes get away with re-using them.

Jon

You can’t know the history of those pads, what’s been spilled on them, what diesel has been sprayed over them.

I recent switch to Renthal BP-507-HH on my V11 (same pads on yours) and Rockoil high temp brake fluid.
The initial bite is keen and predictable without being fierce.
Much better then the former (which weren’t bad).

ThanksÂ