SS Brake lines too sensitive for Hydraulic Brake Switch?

[iDodgimus]

Hey there,

Now the weather's finally cleared up I've been able to ride and test out my new brake lines and they feel great - really solid and firm. While installing the brake lines i put an electrosport hydraulic brake switch as the banjo bolt at the MC.

I'm having a slight problem however - the brakes grab before the light comes on! If I grab the lever to come to a stop its not a problem, but if I'm just slowing down then there isnt enough pressure for the switch to activate...

Is it a problem with the switch you think, or my installation/bleeding?


Oh, and here's a couple of pics... just because:

[Larry D]

If the brakes work well, I don't think there's anything wrong with the install. Try this......

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=142405

[iDodgimus]

Try this......

thanks but its a hydraulic brake switch, nothing to move or clean

[focus frenzy]

switch is not compatible with your application, not a fault with the lines.

those switches require a set amount of pressure to trigger them but on the GS it does not take much pressure to give reasonable braking with good pads.
you need a switch with a lower trigger pressure.
this is why Suzuki went with slide switches.

[focus frenzy]

I have heard of some people using the splitter block froma kawasaki KZ as it has a pressure switch that works very well and reliably.

[Agemax]

Hey there,

Now the weather's finally cleared up I've been able to ride and test out my new brake lines and they feel great - really solid and firm. While installing the brake lines i put an electrosport hydraulic brake switch as the banjo bolt at the MC.

I'm having a slight problem however - the brakes grab before the light comes on! If I grab the lever to come to a stop its not a problem, but if I'm just slowing down then there isnt enough pressure for the switch to activate...

Is it a problem with the switch you think, or my installation/bleeding?


Oh, and here's a couple of pics... just because:

is there not a pressure regulator adjuster on the switch? usually fitted on the top between the 2 electrical connectors

[iDodgimus]

is there not a pressure regulator adjuster on the switch? usually fitted on the top between the 2 electrical connectors

um... you mean at the blue part in my pic?
nope, the two wires disappear into the plastic and the whole end is covered up with some kind of epoxy sealant.

[rudy]

I bought the hydraulic switches for my GS from Mike's XS. Apparently they work well and you can get them in both common thread types, 1.00 and 1.25 pitch I believe. I put them front and back, but haven't had a chance to test them out yet. You have me wondering now. I'll try them out tonight and hopefully I remember to let you know how they work. They're different from the Electrosport ones, I can tell you that. If they're made to work with the old XS's, then they should work with GS's just as well. They're about $12 from Mike's. I have stainless lines as well.

[iDodgimus]

I'll try them out tonight and hopefully I remember to let you know how they work.

Any luck Rudy?

[iDodgimus]

I just got a reply from electrosport saying

"You will need to ensure that the brakes have been bled extremely well."

So i'll be hitting up the search for all the bleeding tips i can find!

[Dogma]

Hmmm..... Does the light need to come on when you start moving the lever, or when you start building enough pressure to begin slowing the bike? If the latter, then bleeding shouldn't matter. Pressure is pressure, no matter the fluid. Unless maybe, an air bubble trapped against the sensor causes if to misread somehow. I dunno how the sensor works.

My thinking is that the light doens't need to come on until the bike is being slowed, because you're naturally going to pull the lever until that happens.

[Stefnwolf]

My thinking is that the light doens't need to come on until the bike is being slowed, because you're naturally going to pull the lever until that happens.

I fitted one bought off ebay made by Goodridge, fitted to the splitter block. I've got standard lines, and it works fine, in that the light comes on when the pads begin to bite.

Get a friend to follow you and verify if you need to improve it or not.

[iDodgimus]

Get a friend to follow you and verify if you need to improve it or not.

thats probably the best advice i've been given

I was testing it alone using a slanted driveway with my car parked at the bottom... rolling the bike backwards slowly, pulling the lever until the pads bit and watching the car for the brake lights reflection.

The pads would bite before the light would um... light!
A firmer squeeze would cause it to light - it seems that the pressure needed to activate the switch is less than the pressure needed to activate my brakes!!!

Here's how I bled my brakes, in case I missed something...

Started with a master cylinder clean out (removed some interesting coffee grinds), then I primed it using the thumb/dowel technique (resulting in a quick squirt of fluid to the eye). Once I'd put the banjo bolt back in and had fluid flowing to the calipers I pumped up the pressure and cracked the banjo bolt to make sure no air was trapped there (that resulted in another squirt to the eye)... then lots of bungee cord wrapping, waiting, bleeding the calipers.

I managed to get my brakes feeling fantastic, really firm, really responsive - just a pity that the light doesnt behave the same.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Real world application it should work fine

[ddominik]

..... converted my 77' GS750 to a dual disk front brake system

.... installed original master cylinder (rebuilt) with a K & S DUAL BANJO BOLT BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH from peakmoto-powersportsinstalled at the junction block under the fork triple clamp ..... very clean installation and everything works.

However the cross holes had to be de-burred -LARGE BURRS!

Dom