Front Brake "tune up"

[Guest]

My front single disc brake on my 78 GS1000N started feeling a little, for lack of a better word, "notchy". It felt like I could not apply it in a linear fashion. To me, it was a safety concern. I disassembled the front caliper and cleaned and lubed the slider bolts. This made no difference, other than a slight less drag on the rotor when off the brake. I then pulled the front brake lever off thinking maybe there was some corrosion growing inside the piston area of the master cylinder....The problem was obvious as soon as I inspected the area of the lever that contacts the master cyl piston. It had sort of a flat spot worn into it. So did the master cyl plunger. I smoothed and polished the part of the lever that was worn and put a little lube on the end of the MC piston and reassembled. Wow, what a difference. Front brake applies as smooth as glass. Brake feel is awesome......Theres also a notch in the lever that activates the brake light. After assembling I wondered if I has put some JB weld in just the right spot and hand filed it, maybe I could get my brake light to come on when I want it to come on. I have adjusted the switch as far as it will go and my brake light will only come on under hard braking (with the front only)......Future project...........BadBillyB

[Joe Nardy]

BBB,

You might want to disassemble the brake light 'switch' and clean it up. It is a very simple sliding metal piece that bridges two contacts to activate the brake light. They tend to get corroded and gunked up. Cleaning the slider and contacts with fine sandpaper then applying just a bit of dielectric grease (not enough to short the contacts) will make it function much better. Be careful taking it apart, there are several small parts inside.

Thanks,
Joe

[jpaul]

Be careful taking it apart, there are several small parts inside.

As someone who spent two hours looking for one tiny spring on a dirty garage floor, I can only say, HEED THIS WARNING!!

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Sometimes the two copper strips in the switch just get damaged from use. The little copper "U" gets grooved/deformed too. Yours is doing what mine did (same bike but doesn't matter). I got a new one on Ebay (someone's always selling one) and it worked like new again. Mine only had 130,000 miles on it. What a jip!
To avoid loosing small parts (spring/"U"/plastic housing), remember to assemble them first. If not already assembled for you... the copper "U" has a little tit on each side. Place the spring over the little post in the housing. Note the two small windows on each side of the housing. The little **** on the "U" will snap into the windows with a small push. Spring, "U" and housing are now a unit.

[Hoomgar]

I took a piece of 8 gage solid copper wire and on the anvil part of my vice hammered it into a flat sheet-like piece. Then I used tin snips and cut it to size to match the original that had cracked and then bent it accordingly. It has worked for years and is still in the bike like that.

[crc1214]

Hoomgar, you are savvy man!

When I lost my spring, I found out the spring that is in "click" type pens works as a replacement, you just have to snip the end off a bit.

[bwringer]

You can buy new brake switch guts for, like, $9 at CRC2...

Third item down:

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/brake_light_switches.htm

If you're just trying to put the %$#@! thing together and go riding, the picture is a good reference for the parts that are supposed to be in there. It's a very mickey mouse arrangement.

CRC2 also sells the far more reliable pressure switches, if you're replacing the brake lines anyway.

After I installed SS brake lines, I had to flip the little copper U and use a file to extend the slots in the housing a bit to get it to engage.

[hp1000s]

That switch is soooo cheesy that it'd give Mickey Mouse a good name. The first time I took one apart, I was amazed that the same company that built a great bike could even think of screwing that POS to the brake lever!

[mixongw]

I took a piece of 8 gage solid copper wire and on the anvil part of my vice hammered it into a flat sheet-like piece. Then I used tin snips and cut it to size to match the original that had cracked and then bent it accordingly. It has worked for years and is still in the bike like that.

"And you, sir, are a steely eyed missle man!"