I performed the following upgrade and maintenance to my track only 2010 S1000RR last week:
1. Upgraded the stock front Nissin master cylinder to Brembo RCS19.
2. Removed and disassembled the calipers, cleaned them up inside and out.
3. Got the rotors resurfaced at TrueDisk and sanded the pads just a little bit to smooth the surface.
4. Put everything back together and bled the brakes.
After lots of brake bleeding, I couldn't get all the air out, the brake lever was just not working at all. So here is what I did:
1. Removed the calipers without disconnecting the brakes lines. Lifted the calipers and suspended them overnight, just above the brake fluid reservoir, to let the air rise.
2. Squeezed the brake lever completely and put a zip tie to hold it in that position overnight.
3. Bled again and removed all the air. The brake lever was medium firm, but still did not have the rock hard feel that I wanted.
4. I put the bike on a wheelie stand, in order the let the air rise from the ABS pump and brake lines.
5. Bled again, the lever became better, but still not rock hard.
My friend who is a Ducati Master Tech, suggested that this is due to the ABS pump and since it is a race bike, I should just remove the ABS pump or bypass it. Of course this will require re-routing the brake lines and other mods too.
What have you guys done for this? Do you have a pretty solid Brembo RCS lever even with the ABS pump functional? Any other tips or tricks?
You can adjust that RCS to be rock hard if you want. How is it currently adjusted?
The ABS pump doesn't need anything special to be bled. The dealer told me they can "open up the abs pump valves" but they said it wasn't necessary.
I would also zip tie the brake lever firmly onto the handlebar and leave it for an hour or so, then check all of the banjo bolts and make sure they're not leaking.
It is set to 20 (more braking, less feel) instead of 20. The lever is all the way out, I have to squeeze it more than an inch before it engages the brakes.
I've used this on my Harleys and it works great. Haven't tried it on the
S1000RR yet, but I was thinking of going with the RCS19 too, so I would have to bleed the brakes. I would think this would work just as well on the BMW as it does on the Harleys.
I switched to the Brembo, didn't have any problems bleeding it to get a hard lever BUT I didn't take the calipers apart. Did you try bleeding it at the banjo bolt on the master cylinder? I did that first before the calipers.
I've used this on my Harleys and it works great. Haven't tried it on the
S1000RR yet, but I was thinking of going with the RCS19 too, so I would have to bleed the brakes. I would think this would work just as well on the BMW as it does on the Harleys.
I switched to the Brembo, didn't have any problems bleeding it to get a hard lever BUT I didn't take the calipers apart. Did you try bleeding it at the banjo bolt on the master cylinder? I did that first before the calipers.
I also have the RCS19 pump. I do not understand "rock hard" but my brake lever is without any free play. The moment you touch it the bike is braking. I try to bleed the brakes often and clean the pistons.
FWIW, the GS911 tool allows you to exercise the ABS valves. I think the idea is to bleed the brakes normally, use the GS911 to do the bleed test and then bleed conventionally again. Repeat until no more air appears after the GS911 bleed test.
FWIW, the GS911 tool allows you to exercise the ABS valves. I think the idea is to bleed the brakes normally, use the GS911 to do the bleed test and then bleed conventionally again. Repeat until no more air appears after the GS911 bleed test.
superstock rules in UK would mean they have to stick with oem mc & calipers.
If you watch how those guys brake late into corners then i can't see anything being massively wrong with the oem calipers.
If they were caught machining the mc then they would be excluded from race results so can't see them chancing it.
I have heard that ZX-10 mc have issues & some of the sstk teams are replacing mc after every other race. Not heard that happening with S1000 teams although I think most sstk teams have probably moved to HP4 now.
I have fitted Brembo RCS19 on my HP4 and so far I am blown away by the performance over the stock units. I run Brembo Z04 pads.
I am so surprised that the difference should be so great! The stopping power on tap is significantly better although I haven't tested in a race environment (Sunday is the next round).
The feeling is very progressive with no initial bite, just steady seamless braking power from the moment you touch the lever. My Nissin setup was much 'grabbier' even with the same pads.
If you have a dedicated track bike or race then I would thoroughly recommend this upgrade.
If you have bled at both calipers and also bled the master cylinder at the top then that's all you can do without bleeding the ABS pump. Might have sucked air in. You want a little free play with the piston to the lever otherwise your brakes will lock on. The GS-911 or Dealer PC is needed to bleed the pump. Can try unbolting the calipers and raising them up higher than the master cylinder. The way I manually bleed is to pull the lever in and then unlock the bleed nipple. Then lock it up and let the lever out. Making sure to keep fluid topped up at all times. I've never had to syringe from the bottom.
When I installed my RCS19, I was surprised how long it took to get the air out. I did not have a GS911 at the time and eventually got it feeling pretty firm. After install, if I remember correctly, I bled the master cylinder, left caliper, right caliper, then the master cylinder again. Zip tied it overnight it but I don't think that made much of a difference. A few weeks later, I got a GS911 and repeated the process but also ran the ABS pump. This made a noticeable difference and I'm very happy with it now.
I think the thing is to run alot of blake fluid through it and make sure every last bubble is out. I initially tried a cheapo vacuum pump, but went back to doing it by hand and was able to get good results.
I think you should be able to get it working well enough to ride without a GS911, unless there is a bunch of air trapped in the ABS unit or something. But like I said, mine was working ok without using one. Never measured the travel before I used the GS911, but right now I have about 1/2" at the end of the lever before it firms up.
Resurrecting an old thread rather than starting a new one...
My Brembo MC install went fairly easily. Because I:
- kept the line high and full of fluid
- Bled from the MC FIRST
- Used the GS tool to cycle the ABS pump.
I had a full lever before I used the GS tool to cycle the ABS pump. Passed first try. I've got a bungee on it right now since last night and will bleed it again tonight to be sure.
I DO have a question: The Brembo is a different size hose than the OEM. TJ was gracious enough to send me a piece of tygon tubing, smaller but able to fit over the OEM reservoir. However, that mean the OEM hose clamps were too loose. What has everyone been using? Zip ties? or did you find some other clamps somewhere that fit?
Resurrecting an old thread rather than starting a new one...
My Brembo MC install went fairly easily. Because I:
- kept the line high and full of fluid
- Bled from the MC FIRST
- Used the GS tool to cycle the ABS pump.
I had a full lever before I used the GS tool to cycle the ABS pump. Passed first try. I've got a bungee on it right now since last night and will bleed it again tonight to be sure.
I DO have a question: The Brembo is a different size hose than the OEM. TJ was gracious enough to send me a piece of tygon tubing, smaller but able to fit over the OEM reservoir. However, that mean the OEM hose clamps were too loose. What has everyone been using? Zip ties? or did you find some other clamps somewhere that fit?
I have just installed first one RCS19, and then after that, I installed another RCS19 instead of the first one, because I was unhappy with the feeling with the first one. Both where spares I had laying around from my previous race bike.
The first one I installed had a point that it had to "overcome" in free play, probably because of warn sealings I think.
Anyway, both of them where installed without the GS911, and I only bleed the MS. Took like 10 minutes all in all. No drama, just swapped it, and everything works perfect.
I have 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch before it´s getting hard.. laugh
I also noticed that the hose clamp from the reservoir was a little too big to make a tight fit on the RCS19, but it took like 10 seconds to squeeze it in to the right size, and it have a snug fit now.
My point is, don´t "overcomplicate" a really simple job
I have 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch before it´s getting hard.. laugh
I also noticed that the hose clamp from the reservoir was a little too big to make a tight fit on the RCS19, but it took like 10 seconds to squeeze it in to the right size, and it have a snug fit now.
My point is, don´t "overcomplicate" a really simple job
I was able to squeeze OEM clamps to fit on 6m tubing. But I did not like the feeling. It was not snug enough. So I went with smaller clamps. It could prob work fine.
I'm surprised you went with rcs19 for racing. I don't race and I did not like the feeling. With with 19x18 billet one. Solid feedback.
I did not even use GS911. I bled the brakes while keeping pressure in the lines at all times. A friend pulled lever while I bled. Def a two-person job.
Kurveygirl has a little clamp kit for like $4 with several different sizes of clamps. I wanted a shorty lever so I just ordered these at the same time.
I will say, now that I've had a chance to ride it a little, I'm very impressed with the Brembo. Smooth, immediate delivery of braking power with tons of feel. Removed the "snick" I felt when the BMW MC would engage which was the only thing I didn't like about the brakes. Can't wait for March (3-day trackday at Barber with STT) to debut!
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