4 piston caliper brake conversion - Paso750

Gerhard - Sept.2003

First of all some general informations and precautions. Do never use aluminium or stainless steel screws on brake or frame mounting parts. Each screw has a number on it describing it`s grade. This number muliplied per 100 NM indicates the strength the screw rips apart when pulled in length. As an example most stainless steel screw are grade 7. So with a pulling force of 700 NM the screw will brake. Before this the screw already starts to deform. For brake and frame, screw grades from 8 to 10 are highly recommended ! Further do not use oil or anti seize on the brake mounting screws, but use a torque wrench to tighten them correctly. As brake fluid is quite aggressive to painted surfaces consider removing both front side fairings and (or at least) the front fender. Needed: - PS16 brake pump - 2 calipers Brembo oro P4 30/34 C - 2 mounting adapters - 2 screws M 10 x 25 - 2 screws M 10 x 25 (different thread) - 2 screws M 10 x 20 - optional: new brake lines with bajo bolt connection to the caliper The sub company of Brembo, Motor Quality (mq) offered a complete brake conversion kit for P750/906 (including 280mm floating discs, 4 piston calipers, mounting brackets and braided brake lines). The part numbers is 51DU0280. In year 2000 this kit costed about $ 870. http://www.motorquality.it The same company also sold the single mounting adapters for about $ 70 for both. (Part number 07J01, 280 4P D (= destra -> right), 280 4P S (= sinistra -> left)) I do not know if these parts are still available. Refer to your dealer or contact Moto Quality. Of course you can also machine the parts. Find the measurements attached. (thanks Harry for the CAD files of my bad first drawings!) The brake calipers can be found in ads or on ebay. They are the same on all pre 1997 400-900S, Monster, 888, 748, 916, Senna1, Senna2 (40mm mounting hole distance). The 4 piston brakes should not be used in combination with the original Paso PS13 brake pump. This should be changed to a PS16 or higher. The PS16 is used on the models mentioned above and most other newer Ducatis. Of course also brakepumps from Nissin (5/8" or bigger) can be used. These are cheaper and about the same quality. The advantage is that they are used on most japanese bikes and are therefore easy to find.

The following description is for a Paso 750. It should be the same on the 906, but I can`t guarantee. Beginning: 1, To remove the original front calipers you don`t have to remove the complete wheel. Just remove the brake pads and you will be able to take them off gently. There is no need to remove the brakelines either. Doing this you would only risk to have brake fluid dripping all over as it will take some time until your finished. Let the calipers hang down as you proceed.

2, As next step mount the calipers to the adapters. Notice that you cannot use the screws which were on the Paso anymore. Specially because the thread of the new brake calipers is different ! (The newer calipers with 65mm mounting hole distance have the same threads again as used on the Paso). It`s up to you if you use screws with 25 or 30mm length. Both will do. The last will stick out a bit, but still be far enough away from the brake disc. There is no need to secure the screws with a toothed ring, just use some Loctite and tighten the screws with 30NM.

3, If you want to stay with your old brake lines which are on the Paso you will have to switch the bleeder screw of the P4 calipers to the lower connection were the brake line connection is. This has to be done as it is impossible to connect the Paso brakelines to the horizontal positioned connection. They would be bent too much. Switching the connections on the caliper doesn`t have any effect. Probably if you buy new ones they are already assembled this way.

As an option you can also change your brakelines to aftermarket parts with a ringand banjo bolt connection. But also here it makes no difference if you use the upper or lower connection of the caliper. I stuck to the old lines. Before removing the brake lines from the old calipers hold the caliper upwards and wrap a towel around the line to prevent spilling as far as possible. Then connect directly to the new caliper. Do this one after another on both sides.

4, At last the brake calipers have to be mounted to the fork. Note that also here the old Paso screws can`t be used as their heads won`t fit the drilling in the adapters. Use the M10 x 25 screws on top and the shorter M10 x 20 below. A longer screw here will touch the brake disc ! Again use some Loctite to secure the screws and tighten with 30 NM.

5, Bleed your brake system. Hint: be careful that your brake fluid reservoire is full and doesn`t go under MIN while bleeding or it will suck air again. Do not pump without the cover on top of the brake fluid reservoire as it will squirt out and get on your fairing and instrument panel. Do not use a half filled water glass standing on the floor and a dark tube. The air bubbles will always move upwards to the bleeder screw. You can do this on your car where you have much more brake fluid in your system. If you don`t have an underpressure brake bleeding pump take a clear plastic bottle (mine is a bigger spice bottle). Drill a hole in its cover to stick in a clear tube. Put some wire around the bottle neck and form a hanger. Then hang the bottle somewhere near and in a way the connected tube has an upwards slope. Else than putting a glass on the floor you won`t have to pump so much fluid through until there is no air in the line. This works fine also on the rear or the clutch.

5, Here`s the result:

General hint: If you don`t get the screws in the needed length you can shorten them. Now don`t just measure a screw, mark a length and take your saw. Mostly this will result in a slightely longer or longer screw simply because you will start sawing in the thread groove and not where you have marked (on the thread). For that reason when measuring the needed length of a screw turn it until you find the point where the thread groove is where you have to cut. In case you get used calipers (P30/34, 40 mm mounting hole distance) be careful about the brake pad retaining clip. The early brakepads had a metal wire at the upper part of the pad. This wire formed an upwards bow covering the hole of the brake pad pin which locks them in place. The function of the wire was the same as the newer retaining clips. Used brakes often miss this clip as they had been used with the "correct" pads. Newer pads like the ones from LUCAS do not have this wire. Therefore the pad retaining clip is needed ! Ordering is no problem. Using a newer Brembo P4 30/34 brake caliper (see next picture), the one with 65mm mounting hole distance is theoretically also possible. This will require a construction of an individual mounting adapter though, as this is (as far as I know) not available. Attached you can find the technical drawings of the P4 30/34 C and the newer P4 30/34 F brake calipers.

Add on: I noticed that the Paso brakedisc seems to be thicker as the usual 320mm disc so new brake pads won`t fit (a friend who also did the conversion didn`t have any problems). In this cas you might use used ones or look for some which are thinner as the stock Monster/SS brake pads. As far as I have seen in some catalogues the pads can be found in different thicknesses for other bikes. You`ll have to investigate. Furthermore I noticed that the alignment of the brake caliper to the disc is about 1,25mm offset. This has no influence in functionality, but it has when it comes to fitting new pads. So you might consider to make the mounting brackets thicker or to fit a 1 or 1,5mm washer under the bracket before mounting it to the fork.