QTM Inc., the master distributor of Brembo brakes in North America, has hooked up with Drag Specialties to serve the V-Twin marketplace. The QTM Inc headquarters is located in Anaheim, California,

ention the name Brembo just about anywhere in the performance world and you’ll get knowing nods all around. Brembo is a well-known and respected name in the braking business. This is the company supplying OE to the likes of BMW–both cars and bikes, Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Ducati, Moto Guzzi and a host of others. Check the brakes on any Formula 1 grid in the world and you’ll find it filled with Brembo. Brembo has been a major player in the brake field for decades, and now all that expertise and performance know-how is available in the Harley-Davidson and V-twin world and it’s coming exclusively through Drag Specialties.
     The word is spreading fast. What people in the biker world are coming to realize is exactly what everyone else has known for years–that in addition to all that legendary Brembo braking performance these calipers, rotors and pads outlast just about anything else available. They might be a little more expensive than the cheapest stuff available, but the long life and outstanding performance more than offset any price differential. Big Dog is a believer, now using Brembo. So are West Coast Choppers and Boss Hoss. Hellbound Steel and Paramount Customs have made the switch, too, and Big Mike’s Choppers use Brembo, as well. Even Harley-Davidson is mounting Brembo on its top-line sport touring V-Rod. All for good reason.
     The Brembo brake conversion for a Harley-Davidson is a bolt-on deal. The rotors are direct fit and all the bracketry needed to install the calipers is included. The package comes with Brembo brake pads and all the hardware needed there, too; everything required to make the change, install it all properly and make it look and work right. Those high-performance Brembo calipers, most often 4-piston differential bore units, are fully compatible with the stock Harley-Davidson master cylinders, too. The switchover is easy and the results are astounding. The full Brembo kit–calipers, rotors and pads–has been shown to knock off 50 feet from the 60-to-0 stopping distance of a Road King. Impressive. That’s the distance of an intersection.
     There’s a reason for that performance. It’s Brembo quality. Take the calipers. There are a lot of design and engineering upgrades in a Brembo caliper, all combining to make it the quality piece it is. This is an aluminum caliper body with hard-anodized bores, a far superior design to the sometimes seen and certainly cheaper to produce stainless steel inserts. With Brembo there are none of the problems inherent to that use of two dissimilar metals. The pistons are hard anodized, as well, and they’re micro-polished. And a Brembo brake piston is double-sealed; there’s an extra “wiper seal” to keep the piston and bore clean. Here’s something else: that Brembo hard-anodize treatment extends to the caliper inlet and the bleed-screws, as well. Corrosion in these areas just doesn’t happen with a Brembo caliper. Routine maintenance is trouble-free.
     The Brembo brake rotor is just as special. It’s fashioned from a proprietary stainless steel made in Italy, perfected by Brembo over the years. A two-piece unit, the rotor center is 6061 billet that’s double-disc ground to insure flatness and then mounted to the rotor itself with polished, hard-anodized buttons using Bellville spring watchers to eliminate any rattling. And the Brembo brake pads, used in conjunction with the Brembo caliper and rotor, are generally good for 20,000 to 25,000 miles of use. That’s a lot. A proprietary sintered compound, these pads–in conjunction with the Brembo calipers and rotors–deliver a braking feel that’s just wonderful. The feedback from those hard-anodized aluminum pistons in their hard-anodized caliper bores is easily modulated at the lever or foot pedal. We’re talking one- or two-finger braking.
     And all this is built to last. Brembo calipers, for example, are tested on a brake dyno for a minimum of 300 life cycles, and that’s with water being poured over them, heat being applied, bathed in salt water–anything and everything to subject that part to the harshest use and environment it will ever see. Brembo easily spends $35 million to $45 million every year just in R&D, and the result is a brake system where the hardware will outlast the motorcycle it’s mounted to.
     And now all this is available for the Harley-Davidson and V-twin market. The Brembo upgrade brake kits include the calipers, the rotors and the brake pads–and it’s all from Brembo. Kits are available for all models of 1984 and later Harley-Davidsons, both front and rear, and Drag Specialties, exclusively, carries them. Call your rep today for more information.

Those shiny Brembo brake calipers not only look great, but they last. Thanks to a “dual o-ring” design, the internal parts are protected from unwanted dust, debris and road grime. Brembo’s stopping power is competition-proven.

Those shiny Brembo brake calipers not only look great, but they last. Thanks to a “dual o-ring” design, the internal parts are protected from unwanted dust, debris and road grime. Brembo’s stopping power is competition-proven.