heritage softail braking

[jake2351]

i want to upgrade the braking on my 06 heritage softail im thinking of adding  a six piston caliper and braided stainless line. I already have high performance pads which are much better than stock but it still leaves a bit to be desired in the stopping catagory.has anyone swapped the caliper for  a six piston performance machine or other caliper possibly Brembo
caliper and braided line? did it make a noticable difference in your braking performance? . 

[boooby1744]

Sounds good,but I'd add a good floating rotor with that combo.

[PC_Hater]

Braided stainless brake lines are well worth it.
The 6 piston caliper will be better than whatever you have now.
They will make a noticeable difference to your braking performance.

But will it be enough for you?
An enormous new brake disc or twin disc conversion and associated costs may well be in your future!

[Maddo Snr]

A used FLHRC front end would be an option. The RK front guard would look fine on a heritage and the spoked wheel matches as well.  Twin Brembos, throw on a set of 'Braking' floating discs and it'd be a great stopper.

Fitting a bigger disc to the FLSTC can be an issue with clearance to the fender mount bolts. From memory I think 320mm is all that will fit. A FXDL front end also might be worth looking into.

A used FLH front end might be a lot cheaper as you could sell the take-off FLSTC set-up to recoup the cost.

[tommy g]

I spent lots of money on a 6 piston Hawg Hawlter and noticed little difference. I bought a 4 piston 4 pad Brembo from QTI several years ago for my 09 Heritage and am happy with that.

[88b]

I put a Harrison Billet six pot and bigger disc on a friends 01 Heritage , made a huge difference

[nibroc]

...I run an ultra rear disc on my heritage because I have ultra wheels on it but heritage front disc on a ultra wheel. ultra discs are thicker than heritage discs...........

[Hilly13]

I like Maddo's idea, that one I'm jotting down.

[FSG]

A used FLHRC front end would be an option.

True, but don't forget a Softail Front end is narrower than a Tourer.

[Phu Cat]

Jake, Define 'braking performance'.  Will adding any more pucks necessarily make you stop faster?  If you have enough "brake" to lock the wheels now, how much more stopping power can you get?  You may be able to make more high speed stops before the brakes fade with the up graded system, but you may not be able to stop faster.  Depends on what you're actually looking for.  If your bike can already lock the wheels at both ends, would going to stickier tires accomplish what you need?  It sure would be cheaper.

PC

[barny7655]

this has worked with the master done as well ,all chrome,with braided lines

[jake2351]

If i could lock the front wheel i wouldnt have an issue. i do have an extremely strong grip and even with a rebuilt caliper and master cylinder semi metallic pads theres no locking this baby up they are well bedded in. I want to be the one to decide how much braking i need  i can always back it down pressure wise on the lever if needed.

[donk_316]

I upgraded my previous FXSTB (had a single caliper inverted HD front end) with a 6 piston PM super fancy caliper. Very little improvement over stock. Added a floating disc thinking i was getting misalignment or something, again, no improvement. I wouldn't do it again unless its just for show.
The factory twin disc/ABS on my FXSE is easily 10 times better.

[Hilly13]

I went the twin disc route with my old wideglide, had flash floaters and twin 06 calipers to start with, wasn't happy and ended up with the calipers off a modern fatbob and the stock discs off a tourer, the setup was definitely better than the single disc 06 dyna setup but, and I swear this is fact not imagination, the single disc set up on my 2016 FLSS is easily superior in both feel and bite, I do struggle a little with that but it is what it is, a decent disc and caliper can do wonders, although the RK idea does have appeal, twin brembos on good discs would be hard to beat in our world.

[barny7655]

i find on the front the avon tyre seems to work good with the brembos,slowing into corners, and on straights,on the rear some what limited as the tyre is a 17 inch, but have the normal twin cam calipher on there, but hardly use the back, the twin discs made alot of difference in braking , its like having a balanced front end ,

[jake2351]

Well it appears the performance machine caliper may not be the answer i defer to the knowledge of the members here. you know what has worked and im here to listen. it appears i should look for a different front end with dual disks already installed? possibly from one of the touring models? would i need different calipers? or would stockers be strong enough? i only want to do this once and your feedback sure beats learning the hard way spending a lot of money on parts that wont do the job doesnt make any sense.
could i just add a different right side slider with a caliper mount and source a set of different calipers and second rotor? or would it be more cost effective to pickup a whole front end and swap over what front end would be the easiest to add to this bike 2006 heritage softail? thanks for all the help i really appreciate it. 

[barny7655]

This is what i found i had to do ,First the right front end ,as to the trees , forks and sliders , if these are all right , the wheel next thing , all front wheels the bearing side of the rotor, is pressed home in the hub ,so wheel goes on one way , on a dual rotors you must know what side has the pressed bearing into the hub boss , some front wheels  by HD have to go on the right way ,my mag rotation goes on my deuce one way , but other models after a date goes the other way, after you have that info the next part is aligning the rotors to the sliders, mount the calipher on the pressed bearing to hub side slider , put wheel on  with axel shims , align that side with wheel spacers so the wheel rotor runs true to middle of that side calipher, i had to cut one side to get the axel spacer right , next calipher  mount it and see where it runs with rotor , then shim it to fit under mounting bolts, i didnt have to mill mounting tabs on the calipher, on my mag wheel there are two metal shims that go on hub then rotor , these are factory items for the wheel and must be fitted ,this took me about 6 hrs to get it right ,but as i said one side has to be done first ,that side the hub bearing  pressed to the inner boss,any bearing replacment must be done the same or puts your front end out on the rotor alignment and axel sapcers ,when changing axel spacers be sure that your not changing the overall measurement for the wheel , i had a overall measurement of the two axel spacers before so the wheel sliders werent crushed or spread,if you cut one spacer you have to shim other , hope this helps,i have ny own engineering shop at home ,so easy to do ,get a white board so you can write down all measurements,tools you will need ,measuring equipment,general tool range,see my  photo of my post, cheers

[FSG]

Well I put dual discs on the front of my 03 Fatty, in hindsight fairly straight forward

the Fatty front wheel, the valve tells you it's the right side

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had I gone with a larger diameter aftermarket wheel other options would have been available and more are now


now a 2006 Heritage has a Spoke 16" wheel,

the spokes are going to be a problem if you use the HD Brembo Calipers, you could shave the back of them down but IMO it'd be better you use Brembo Brembo Calipers and 320mm Discs

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[barny7655]

when i got my front wheel a mag, HD had directions for what yr bike it was to go on ,to direction didnt go into the whys , it was some what a challange for the deuce as i had to fit another slider S/Eagle,and the brembos,as well  as wheel hub shims ,wish it had been like yours FSG straight forward,but im very happy with the out come ,Barny