after the weekends run come to the conclusion that my front brakes are not quite right
going to pull them completly off make sure that every thing is assembled and working correctly and replace the rubber hose with a braided one
i went down to the local brake shop today and the bloke there said he can make me up one for about $100 including all new fittings
the type of braided line he uses is about half the outside diameter of the standard rubber hose and is covered with a clear coating and available in different colours (forgot to ask brand)
has anybody used a smaller od hose (the bloke reckons it has the same id) and can anybody see any potential problems

col

sorry meant to put this in wheels tryes

what seems to be wrong col ?....sorry i didnt hear that before

but braided lines ...always seem to be a sought after item

mine are tight as a drum ...even with the old rubber lines ....so far !!!

I'm using Venhill (British) all round, front and rear, but Goodridge, BrakeQuip, HEL, Russell, Speigler & etc are all good. With a properly functioning brake hydraulic system you can feel the extra margin of 'firm' at the lever. The ID is the same as stock but you don't need a massively thick rubber outer like stock hoses. Note that nearly all modern bikes, ABS or not, use braided hydraulic hoses. A hunnerd clams per hose is steep depending upon length and end fittings required. eBay is a great place to locate less expensive complete kits for particular model K Bikes.

I still have my original OEM rubber hoses if anyone needs a spare.

thaks twb
i will have a look around on the internet and workout what to do

i dont know if you saw "gordos" fix col ....it was that he completly filled his reseviour....with no air gap /

what happens is... the master cylinder attempts to suck up more fluid to repleinsh the last operation to the calipers .......if ...there is no air gap the master piston wont return properly to get more "refill" in fact it gets stuck more than half way on the return leg ( the vacume below and above the piston becomes that strong ) from the non return of the calipers/ expansion of the rubber lines ... the fix is to release the screws on the retainer cap to the reseviour ...let the cup replenish the air ....and lightly screw the screws up to seal ....no earbending torque required ...just enough to create a loose seal and let the cylinder breath when it needs to ...and keep the fluid in under most circumstances.

happened to me too when reworking the master a few weeks ago ....i thought i was up for a new master .......easy solve mate !!!

hope this helps someone

seems just like everything else
some cheap and of dubious quality others better quality more dollars i think i will take it off tomorrow and go and see him again and see if he adjust his price a bit would prefer to buy local if i can but not at any price
another question
would it be worth changing metal pipe that goes from caliper to caliper with braided or should i just leave it alone
charlie
brakes work, they dont get stuck on, just feel crap at lever and takes a long time to pull up

hey mate just sounds like you need good pads ......theres a few suggestions in the threads ....and not too expensive ...and run some new dot 4 fluid through them .....dont get the dot 5 .......minimal dot 5.1 ....but dot 4 is still around and best choice .....bubbles i expect in the lines is the other thought ...squishy and fade when hot ????

brand new ebc pads went in last week hoping that i stuffed up with the bleeding and that a rebleed will fix it tie lever to handle bar overnite
i will put braided lines on i always brake later and harder compared to most people everyone has different style

maybe not so bad col ...it would take a while for the pads to bed in ...especially on a previously worn disk ......but a re-bleed would be a great idea

possibly a scuff up the pads ...after the initiall bed in process will get rid of the hard spots that have developed on the high spots .

went back to see local brake bloke today

he will match internet price including postage also told me i need any seals come and see him rekons he will be able to get some for me

amazing how their pricing can change when theyare dealing with someone who is a informed (thanks twb) a little bit better than the average joe public

If you're talking about the banjo bolt seals, these should be 10mm copper since they work best, though some use aluminium. He should be supplying those with any brake hose that requires them. BTW, which hydraulic hose of the three rubber ones up the front are you replacing? It works best if all are replaced. The lower metal lines to the calipers should be OK to reuse assuming there's no corrosion or kinks. Be sure the metal ends spin free on their respective hose for proper alignment. I tend to bleed the caliper that's furthest away from the master cylinder first, get a decent but still soft 'feel' at the lever, then start on the other caliper 'til she firms up. Carefully but rapidly jiggling the brake lever after a the initial bleed and with some firmness at the master cylinder (with heaps of clean rags round the paintwork to catch the inevitable jet squirts of brake fluid) will often harden up the lever as the bubbles that might be caught in the bore pop out of the master cylinder into the reservoir. Strapping off the lever overnight (with the cap loose or off entirely - covered with a clean rag) often has some miraculous 'curing' properties to it too.

Done right and with all of the components in good nick should have the two-piston Brembos stopping that bike just fine. Afterall, they've been around on Moto Guzzi, Ducati and others since the '70s.

col wrote:went back to see local brake bloke today

he will match internet price including postage also told me i need any seals come and see him rekons he will be able to get some for me

amazing how their pricing can change when theyare dealing with someone who is a informed (thanks twb) a little bit better than the average joe public

That's the truth Col. I just had the same experience with tyres. I'm watching this thread closely as I plan to do the brake lines and was thinking braided....pics of the finished installation please!

88KE

When changing to braided just take care to ensure that the braided line is type approved by your local Department of Transport of whatever they call themselves, if your vehicle is subject to test. Here in NZ if the hoses are not approved they will knock the vehicle back for use of unauthorised brake parts. I have full braided lines on the modified Volvo 245 and first time they tested it I had to prove they were type approved for use here. If it doesn't apply where you are no worries. On my hoses they have an approval label under the clear plastic so the inspector can see it if they want to check.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Col I feel that from what you say that you have a siezed piston on one or both calipers. Would pay to split them and put new seals in and clean any deposits of the pistons and inside the bore of the caliper (I use the green scouring pads and water then wash with metho and dry before reassembling with a smear of brake fluid on the seal).
Be careful handling the pistons as they are hard anodized aluminium and don't like being held with pliers . Use compressed air to get the pistons out and dont get the fingers in the way.

One way to tell that the calliper pistons are hanging up is, upon stopping after your ride, feel the temp of the discs straight away to see if they're different temps from one side to the other. Carefully, because they're often very hot to the fingers. I noticed one of mine was consistently warmer than the other and so I pulled that calliper off, took it apart and gave it a good cleaning as per K Freak's method. It's now the same temp as ta' other one after each ride: cool unless I've been braking hard just prior to ending the ride. I got the seal kits from Motobins with a bulk order and had them in my spares stash.

G'dy Col,I fitted a braided line on my K75 about 18 months ago because of higher handlebars. I had a line made up at the local 'speed shop' for about $67. The genuine BMW part was about $160.Before fitting the braided line I tried a normal line from the local wrecker.The braided line is great and is 100% more effective.Cheers Tom Grabau

Two Wheels Better wrote:One way to tell that the calliper pistons are hanging up is, upon stopping after your ride, feel the temp of the discs straight away to see if they're different temps from one side to the other. Carefully, because they're often very hot to the fingers.

True but not always I had a piston stuck back off the disc and the brake felt fairly good but as the other piston was pushing on only one side of the disc the brakes weren't very effective. That was on the Z1300 years ago but is still applicable to a K100.

update
pulled entire front brake off bike
will replace the single rubber hose (deterioration on inside)
split callipers popped out pistons
left side was harder to get out than right side lots of crap hiding behind pistons but no signs of leaks
pads had a couple of small shiny spots on them (high spots on disk)
inside of metal pipes look ok will clean out with brake clean and blow out
master cylinder (looked ok) went to brake shop for bloke to measure if not right he will install stainless sleeve and new piston and seals
will scuff up disks and pads on reinstall
have to work up till sunday night so wont be able to play in shed till next week hopefuuly be able to go for ride on tuesday and report back that the front brakes are superb as they should be

col wrote:will replace the single rubber hose (deterioration on inside)

Col, are you meaning the single brake hose from the master cylinder to the T at the steering head? There should also be the two rubber hoses from the bottom of that T to the metal lines to the calipers unless the PO changed them to braided. Changing them all (the rubber ones) should improve things.

http://www.johnstamnas.com/

Thats where i got my braided line for my last bike (Suzuki vl800) from. He has the Goodridge brand of hoses. They were really helpful at the time, cost me about 90 bucks all up. that was for Clear coated s/s braid with zinc plated ends and came complete with new banjo bolts and washers. Sounds expensive but that was about 800mm long. Did make a considerable difference though. They also stock pads and other types of braided line and fittings. They are located in Cooroy Qld but post anywhere.

just one rubber hose to just above right hand caliper changes to metal pipe at front guard then there is another metal pipe over the guard to left caliper
brake bloke rang me today master cylinder good light hone new seals
all new rubbers for calipers ready to pick up first thing monday (gee i hate having to work to pay for my vices)

braking news
all good on the front breaks
reassembled front brakes yesterday,scuffed up pads and discs, bleed brakes
zipped tied lever in over night with rag over master cylinder put cap on this morning check doubled checked every thing , then tripled checked every thing in case i missed something,went for a ride along new favorite road (lots of twisties ) front brakes performed brilliant like they should ,lever feels heaps better and i don't have to squeeze the heck out lever to get the bike to slow down for the corner
happy happy happy

yay ....good work col ... its a nice feeling eh ?



one of our young and dumb "engineer"s ...finally tracked down one of his brake issues the other day .....for 15 months he had been riding around with at least one brake pad ...metal to metal....not just worn out....actually installed backing plate to disk .....



yeah you have to love it when they say "trust me i'm an engineer " ...i get the most fun out trying to predict his next blooper ....grin



these are the same guys that actually admit that more than 25% of their development time ...is spent looking for tools ...

i love tradies ...

nothing like confidence in front brakes when approaching corners at riding pace i love the bike even more now

Good stuff Col,makes a difference when the anchors are working as they should be. Yeah,25% of time looking for tools is about right if they knew what tool they were seeking.Cheers Tom Grabau

Good news Col, now you'll be able to corner with gusto mate.
See you in the rest area.
RT