As much as I love my 2012 Bonneville I've never been entirely happy with the front brake, while I accept it's never going to be a 2 finger job like my old Fireblade or GSX I find it can be very wooden and takes a firm grip to slow the bike down. Now that my pads are wearing down I thought it would be a good time to go for a better disc/pad combination. Has anyone upgraded at all?
How much do you want to spend??? The simple option is probably a pad change, to something like EBC HH pads or the expensive way is to look at Norman Hydes website, brake conversions with new disc and Beringer 4 piston caliper, £600+
I put EBC pads in my SE and they are definitely better, but not a major difference. Some people replace the fixed discs on the Thruxton 1200 and T120 with floating discs and say that's an improvement, presume you can do the same with an SE as they are the same discs as far as I can see. Not sure that would make much difference though. You can also buy Brembo calipers and mounts that fit the standard discs for Thruxton 1200s and T120s, I think they are about £760 for both sides so presumably you could get a single caliper for half that.
Free Spirits have options and I recommend EBC HH pads https://www.freespiritsparts.com/en...eville-t100-4p-caliper-rotor-diam-340-mm-kit/
This looks interesting. I have both an SE and a Speedmaster. Triumph Speedmaster 2011-16 & Bonneville SE cast wheels – Upgrade floating front brake rotor kit (340 mm) & padsCod. 303810LKBrakes New Products TRIUMPH - Free Spirits (freespiritsparts.com)
See if you can track down a suitable PreTech 6 pot, fantastic upgrade to the stock setup and all you’ll ever need. Replacement Pads and overhaul kits are readily available.
I have to say, after 7 years of fantastic braking on my KTM 950 SM, the braking on my Street Twin was frighteningly poor and now on the T120 with twin discs, still not much cop and a bit buttock clenching. Compounded by the nose plant braking on my Audi RSQ3 I’m not used to brakes being not much better than the old conical hub drums of the 70’s. Maybe a look at a pad upgrade is a good idea.
You can try pads, I put Brembo sintered pads in my Thruxton 1200s, better but not a huge difference. Some have replaced the discs with floating rotors, not sure how much difference that would make, probably approx £150 per disc. You can change the caliper and prices seem to vary a lot, but you can get the Thruxton 1200s Brembo calipers for about £760. You can go the whole hog and get calipers and disks but will probably have to upgrade the forks as well. I don't think you'll ever get the modern force field brake feeling without going the whole hog. I think with the sintered pads the brakes are ok, I've recalibrated my expectations now to use all 4 fingers for a firm pull on the lever and can trip the ABS. I suspect I'm able to brake as hard as I did on my Ducati with huge radial Brembos and no ABS, but it doesn't feel like it.
