Gregory Bender

Disc brake pads

Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police models

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Thanks to Joel Parks for providing this information on the old Yahoo! Loopframe_Guzzi news group (which has now moved to Groups.io). In Joel's own words:

I had asked about brake pads for my 74 Eldo as the ones I was using were OK but I wanted to see if I could do better. Feedback was that the Galfer Green pads I thought were going to work out best were indeed a good choice. Was advised to contact Steve at Bevel Heaven who was able to hook me up with a set for my F09 (not the stock F08) caliper, though he didn't stock them and would probably have to order a few sets to find one for me. Great guy, highly recommended. It was also suggested that I clean up my rotor with 100 grit sandpaper and some brake cleaner to remove any glazing. Finally found a dry enough day to try everything out and I have to say I'm quite pleased. At 60+ MPH an energetic squeeze gets things slowed down in a hurry with a nice bite. I wouldn't be surprised if I could howl the tire but wasn't ready to find out on the post apocalyptic roads we have in the Northeast. To recap, I'm running a larger piston F09 caliper (I believe sourced from an SP 1000 but don't hold me to that) and a smaller 13 mm MC (would have gone to a 12 mm but wanted to keep the stock-looking round reservoir). Disc is a standard iron Guzzi item, though it's been extensively drilled.

All in all I'd say the improvement in the pads alone was easily 25% and you can double that when comparing this setup to the stock F08/15mm combo. Thanks to all for your input. This may not beat the dual disc conversions but if you're behind me and see my brake lamp come on, be ready to grab a handful I be stoppin.