The 360 Brake System - First Look

Here at HOT BIKE, we strive to stay on top of the most innovative parts to hit the American V-Twin industry, so we're bringing you a new tech piece entitled "First Look." With this series, we will search out the newest parts and get you the inside scoop on what they are and how they work. Then we will follow up in a future issue by actually installing the part(s), explaining the install process, and giving an evaluation. We're starting this series off with a new brake system from 360 Brake.

Over the past 10 years, the motorcycle industry has gone crazy. Motorcycle builders and manufacturers have made bikes bigger, better, longer, harder, and faster. Finally, someone has figured out a way to stop them. The 360 Brake is a new braking system for motorcycles that replaces the disk-brake rotors and calipers, which tend to hide the custom wheels bike owners have paid a fortune for. Developed by Baldwin Wilson Development Corporation, it is one of the newest components to hit the braking industry.

Fred Baldwin conceptualized the brake design approximately five years ago. Then one afternoon, he visited Tim Wilson's shop. Fred showed Tim some of the design concept drawings for the 360 Brake System, and Tim suggested they use the bike he was currently building to turn the concept into a reality. Tim and Fred both have a long history in the racing industry and had a desire not only to increase available braking performance, but to create a stylish new look as well. In January 2006 the company officially opened, and the brake system was debuted in March at Daytona Bike Week.

So how does the brake work? The design is actually quite simple. Take a clutch and make it work backward, then stick it in the hub spacer between the wheel and the fork legs or swingarm. OK-maybe it's not that simple. The 360 Brake is a hydraulically activated brake that applies pressure to a piston that runs 360 degrees around the axle. The piston movement causes two brake pads, also 360 degrees around the axle, to clamp on the internal rotor. The pads and rotor all float across five drive pins that are attached to the rotor hat.

The 360 Brake uses two square hydraulic seals in a groove cut for piston pull-back that allows the brake to release as quickly as it applies, resulting in decreased drag, less wear, and less noise from the pads.

It looks as if you have no brakes at all, when in actuality you have on average 60 percent more brake pad touching the rotor than with conventional brakes. The stopping is smoother because you don't have the pull of a caliper 6 to 8 inches away from the axle. The brakes now encompass the axle and keep the bike straight during hard stops.