just finished the front brake rebuild - ahhhh piece of mind

[Guest]

The brakes had never been really gone though. I was used to squeezing the lever until it quickly grabbed. A friend rode it and said - there's something wrong with your brakes.

So, I cleaned up the m/c, put on a new stainless line and a did deep clean in the caliper.
The m/c and reservoir were fine but required a good deal of picking away with dental tools. Yes, I pricked the tiny hole with a single strand of wire, and thanks for reminders to do so.

The caliper required a new piston because of some pitting. Inside the cylinder there was again, a great deal of picking with dental tools and brushing with soft brass brushes required. Getting the rubber on the piston and housed inside the cylinder at the same time was tricky, but as always, there was a thread here that explained the procedure.

It all went back together lickity split and I had no issues with the rebuild.

I did some early testing in the back alley and then let it all sit for a day before taking it out for a short ride. So far everything feels great and the feeling of modulation is so novel.

Thanks again everyone, I'm stopping safely now.

[pete]

Good to hear! I'll need to tackle my caliper and master cylinder before too much longer...

[Octain]

Dont ya feel better?

Just ordered parts for three calipers on the Skunk. MC's rebuilt last week.
Still toying with whats what and what I wanna go with on the lines.

I hate brake fluid more than any other automotive or motorcyle fluid.

[Jagir]

yes, i feel so much better and I echo what you say about brake fluid. It eats paint, has a quick life once opened and is ugly toxic.

[Nessism]

Nice work. I wish more GSR'ers would take care of their brakes instead of waiting for them to fail.

[DPage]

It really is worth it to rebuild the calipers and masters on both ends. Not just to prevent a catastrophic failure, but the brakes are so much more responsive. The rear brake felt like an on/off switch before the rebuild, but now it modulates very well.

[GS Jim]

Brake rebuild

The brakes on my GS1000 were not really confidence inspiring - needed all 4 fingers for a medium speed stop. Dealer said, "that's a 30 yr old bike, don't expect modern braking performance". PO said, it was "normal" too. Having read otherwise here on GSR and desperate to have better brakes, I gathered up my courage and tore into them yesterday.

This is what I found:



The carrier (mounting bracket) was practically frozen on to the spindles, so much for a floating setup, huh?

Old pads still had plenty of meat left on them, but the surface was glazed and porcelain-like. Replaced them with new organic pads from EBC Brakes direct.

Fortunately pistons were still operating normally, cause I really wasn't looking fwd to a complete tear down. Anyway, as soon as I finish polishing the fork sliders I should have it back on the road for a test drive.

[Nessism]

Fortunately pistons were still operating normally, cause I really wasn't looking fwd to a complete tear down. Anyway, as soon as I finish polishing the fork sliders I should have it back on the road for a test drive.

Good start but you should pull the pistons and clean out all the gunk. It's almost certain to be full of chunkies, and replace the rubber brake lines too.

[makenzie71]

I hate it when I find a piece of my mind in my brakes.

[GS Jim]

Ed, you're right of course, but the prospect of dealing with brake fluid and bleeding the system doesn't thrill me. If the brakes improve, as they should, after the carrier/spindle refurbish/pad replacement, I will indulge my denial a little longer The brake lines, at least, are already braid steel ones.

[Nessism]

Ed, you're right of course, but the prospect of dealing with brake fluid and bleeding the system doesn't thrill me. If the brakes improve, as they should, after the carrier/spindle refurbish/pad replacement, I will indulge my denial a little longer The brake lines, at least, are already braid steel ones.

There was a thread here a while ago where one of our members had their brakes lock up, which promptly landed the rider on his head...or more specifically, his face. Not a pretty picture (the thread has photos of the aftermath).

[GS Jim]

There was a thread here a while ago where one of our members had their brakes lock up, which promptly landed the rider on his head...or more specifically, his face. Not a pretty picture (the thread has photos of the aftermath).

I hear you, Ed. Will take under advisement. Must not get in over my head with the project though, seeing that, as of 6 months ago, the most complicated thing I'd ever done on a bike is change the oil & filter!

PO provided a pair of extra used calipers (these served as donors for parts for refurbished ones). I'll take 'em apart and play around with them some - see how it goes. If I get brave, I'll order rebuild parts and recondition them.

[cowboyup3371]

Jim,
Taking apart calipers and cleaning them is no harder than doing the carbs or a valve adjustment and take about as much time as the valves. Do yourself a favor, look on Basscliff's page for his rebuild article, look up a couple of posts (one of mine will help you out tremendously), and go for it.

[GS Jim]

Cowboy, Ed, you guys were right. Having finished the fork polish job, I put everything back together and took her for a ride. The brakes are only very marginally improved (if at all), and the lever still feels wooden and only extreme pressure gets it slowed down. I guess the pistons are partially stuck.

Oh well, here goes nothing. I'm ordering the parts for the full rebuild.
Jim

[Smokinapankake]

You won't regret it Jim, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy this work really is.
Have fun with it!