How To - Replacing Brake Rivets (bobbins) On Brembo Discs (ducati 749)

Just thought I could write up summary of the brake rivets replacement I did on last Sunday. Mods of this feel free to edit this post as English is not my mother tongue.

Why?
I have Ducati 749 with 30,100 miles on it with original Brembo brake discs that had a adversary on MOT with a note for brake rivets on nearside brake disc being worn/excessive play.
This video shows excessive side/lateral play and one of the rivets having no spring washer.



I have always slight audible knock sound during low speed braking on the bike. Rather than spending money on new set of Brembo discs I decided to buy 20pcs precision cnc bobbins from BlackshadowUK (english company).
I also have measured runout and thickness on the brake disc carrier/mounting and they are within spec.

This is loose rivet:



Tools required:
Drill - use one that allows 13mm drillbit to be inserted. Cordless are restricted to 10mm max.
13mm HSS drillbit - Bosch 13mm HSS drill bit
flat nose pliers - any cheap would do
vice grips / quick grips - I have used irwin blue quick grips

to remove front wheel you will need socket for front axle nut, way of propping up bike to access front wheel (I used mazda MX-5 jack) and rubber mallet+ducati axle drift is helpful, but not necessary. 12mm socket/wrench to remove axle pinch bolts and Allen keys to remove calipers. I usually support hanging calipers with bungee cords to prevent strain on caliper hydraulic housing.

Process:
Prop up bike and remove front wheel



removed front axle with ducati axle drift.



mark the orientation (left or right) on the brake discs and remove them front wheel. Support wheel on blocks of wood when you lay it down so you don't accidentally bent and warp brake discs or marr wheel.



remember to mark rotation and orientation of outside braking carrier to the inside mounting brake disc part so you can match them back once you will be finished with this process.



First, you need to drill off the old rivets from the inside of brake disc. Do not drill through, only remove the top part that holds the rivet in place.


If they spin while drilling, you can hold the rivet in place by clamping them with quick grips to a block of wood. Do not tighten excessively or you can warp the disc.



brake disc mounting carrier removed from outer braking disc part:



This is the kit from Blackshadow, you need 20pcs in total (around £50 + P&P or £2.50 per bobbin set)
The set consists of Bobbin, flat washer, spring washer and E circlip.



Place the bobbins in the old position of rivets and then fit curved spring washer and flat washer on top. You secure the set on the bobbin by fitting E circlip. I used long flat nose pliers to clip E circlip in place, it's bit fiddly, but best practice is to place the e circlip by hand into grooves of bobbin and do slight pressure on washer to compress the set while pushin e circlip with pliers.

(more to follow after quick ride over next weekend)

 

Just came back to report that after 3 months of riding and have done about 1600 miles since discs works just fine, no warping or binding occured. Bobbins hold nicely in place and there is no corrosion.
Very happy with the kit.

 

The wear was on original bobbins themselves. They are quite thin steel and have sort of stretched axialy and shrinked radialy.

 

After 30k on original discs, I would've bought new ones, just for peace of mind.

 

I have checked the runout agains flat surface and thickness at different places and they were in good condition.

 

If the steel bobbins have worn, I would expect the softer aluminium carrier to be worn also.

 

I thought that would happen, but the crescent cutout on the outer disc part was the same diameter as on the inner aluminium carrier part.