Sportster brakes

[Benporaken]

I'm looking for a big brake conversion for my '07 sporty. The stock setup is near useless.
Arlen Ness does a 15" rotor kit, but i can't find any decent supplier or listings online in this good for nothing country.
Even e-bay is no real help, they've screwed up their what used to be good search engine and it just brings up garbage now, not what the search is for.
Anyone offer any advice or suggest somewhere actually useful?
I don't have the finances for a full front end swap with the ludicrous prices everyone wants for anything with the Harley name attached to it.
Thanks.

[HDNZ]

Can you post up the original rotor part #, and caliper part #?

[Benporaken]

The ref number from Auckland Harley parts listing is 44156-00 for the disk, and 44121-07A for the calliper. Is that what you're after or are there other numbers somewhere?

[HDNZ]

Lots of options for rotors and calipers on eBay for a decent price. You don't necessarily need to go bigger, 11.5" up front with a new caliper and sintered pads should be plenty if your rear is already acceptable. A front master cylinder rebuild and new lines can help too if the existing ones are well aged and not performing well.

[Benporaken]

Lots of options for rotors and calipers on eBay for a decent price. You don't necessarily need to go bigger, 11.5" up front with a new caliper and sintered pads should be plenty if your rear is already acceptable. A front master cylinder rebuild and new lines can help too if the existing ones are well aged and not performing well.

Unfortunately I came from sportbikes, I like to stand my bikes on their nose with 2 fingers. The rear brake is barely adequate either. I've done a front braided line. The lever is firm enough, just no real stopping power. What's the grippiest pads for them?
I had a couple of goats run out in front of me on saturday and it really brought to light how bad the brakes really are.

[Baggger]

Yeah, stock Sportster brakes are about as effective as throwing an anchor off the back, especially if you’re used to sportsbike brakes. The master cylinder and calipers on these things just don’t push enough bite, and a bigger rotor won’t magically fix crap brakes if the pads are garbage.

If you want max stopping power, get sintered metal pads—they’ll bite hard and tend to work well in all conditions. If you're doing a lot of slow-speed cruising or don't wanna wreck your rotors, semi-metallic pads are a good middle ground—still decent bite, but won’t chew through the rotor as fast. Organic pads? Might as well use a pair of work boots to stop the bike, because they fade fast and don’t do squat when hot.

Also, since you've already got a braided line, consider rebuilding or swapping the master cylinder. If the lever is solid but still feels weak, you might not be pushing enough fluid to the caliper. Otherwise, it’s time to ditch the stock caliper for something with more piston action.

TL;DR: Sintered metal = max bite, Semi-metallic = decent mix, Organic = garbage.

[Benporaken]

Yeah, stock Sportster brakes are about as effective as throwing an anchor off the back, especially if you’re used to sportsbike brakes. The master cylinder and calipers on these things just don’t push enough bite, and a bigger rotor won’t magically fix crap brakes if the pads are garbage.

If you want max stopping power, get sintered metal pads—they’ll bite hard and tend to work well in all conditions. If you're doing a lot of slow-speed cruising or don't wanna wreck your rotors, semi-metallic pads are a good middle ground—still decent bite, but won’t chew through the rotor as fast. Organic pads? Might as well use a pair of work boots to stop the bike, because they fade fast and don’t do squat when hot.

Also, since you've already got a braided line, consider rebuilding or swapping the master cylinder. If the lever is solid but still feels weak, you might not be pushing enough fluid to the caliper. Otherwise, it’s time to ditch the stock caliper for something with more piston action.

TL;DR: Sintered metal = max bite, Semi-metallic = decent mix, Organic = garbage.

I just got a set of Ferrodo (my personal favourite) sintered pads to chuck in there. I've got a 14" disk coming (I'll machine up an adaptor) which I'm sure will help, I changed one of my sportbikes from 310 to 320 disks and you could definitely feel the difference.
If that's not enough I'll make an adaptor for either an early R1 caliper, or maybe even a radial 6 pot R1 caliper, if they'll clear the wheel. I'll find something if I need it. 
The master may be trickier, I haven't looked into who does an 1" clamp master that I could use yet, especially as it's only running one caliper. The stock master feels ok, but a rebuild may not be a bad idea anyway, should probably do the caliper too.

[Benporaken]

Made up an adaptor and fitted the 14" brake today. Hopefully will get to try it out tomorrow.

[HDNZ]

Nice how did you get on with the road test

[Benporaken]

Didn't get out today unfortunately. Might try for tomorrow arvo even if it's a short one.

[Benporaken]

So made it out today for a shortish run. What a difference, the thing actually stops now. Well worth the effort. And everything still needs bedding in properly.

[HDNZ]

That's good mate glad to hear she brakes better. Nice work.

[R3DRUM]

Looks way better too!