Front Master Cylinder - Rebuild or Replace?

[Guest]

I took my front braking system apart on a whim today just to see what's inside. I'm glad I did. It was pretty bad.





Anyway, apparently there's only certain parts still available from Suzuki. I can't get the base assembly thing, cap, or the screw holding the reservoir on. I can get a new reservoir, seals, and piston.

Is it worth it to get those OEM parts (costing roughly $70) or should I just get a whole new master cylinder?

[tkent02]

I just bought a master cylinder from Ebay, one of those cheap Chinese jobs. Came in a few days, works fine, comes with a rebuild kit should I ever need it, and it costs less than half of your $70.

There are better ones and cheaper ones, but they mostly all work.

[hampshirehog]

Yep, as Tom says, those cheap Chinese MCs work just fine and they're cheaper than the repair parts. It remains to be seen whether they'll last 30 plus years but my oldest one is 7 or 8 years old and fine.

[ChicagoBob]

I had good results with an MC from Mike's XS. They have several different ones, with different bores, and most have a new brake light switch, which is an improvement over the GS one.

[srg]

Ok, I think I'll replace the whole master cylinder. I always disliked the look of the reservoir anyway. Should I be looking for a specific size or compatibility?

I'm also gonna build my own brake lines with new adapters. Is http://www.anplumbing.com/ still the best place?

On my bike, the front brake line is split into two hoses. The joint is pictured below (that's the front of my forks, looking up - Left side goes to MC, right goes down to caliper.). What's the point of this? In my opinion, another hose fitting joint just adds two more potential points of failure. Can I just run a single line from the MC down to the caliper?

[tkent02]

Yes you can, commonly done that way.

Are you planning to stay with the one front brake or go with dual brakes?

[landshark]

I just bought a master cylinder from Ebay, one of those cheap Chinese jobs. Came in a few days, works fine, comes with a rebuild kit should I ever need it, and it costs less than half of your $70.

There are better ones and cheaper ones, but they mostly all work.

Link?......

[srg]

Are you planning to stay with the one front brake or go with dual brakes?

I'll stick with just a single for now.

[Triam]

Link?......

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...at=0&_from=R40

I bought this for another bike and loved it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Mo...c95f65&vxp=mtr

[tkent02]

This is the one I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121319036854?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[landshark]

This is the one I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121319036854...84.m1423.l2649

Thanks, Cheaper than the ones i could find.

Triam, thanks but they dont post to OZ.

[tkent02]

It's not the best looking piece of machinery I've ever seen, but it works.

[salty_monk]

What I use & recommend... http://www.ebay.com/itm/08-2008-Kawa...1e05eb&vxp=mtr

Can be had for as little as $20 on occasion...

[cowboyup3371]

Yes, you can run single lines to your calipers from the master cylinder.

[srg]

Anyone know what piston bore I should be getting for a single caliper brake? Would I need a different bore if I later upgrade to a twin-pot brake (single disk, just twin-pots)?