I loaned my Gold Wing 20 cents, and it gave me better braking!

[robin1731]

RTV would work very well in that application.

.

[BigSherm]

No glue is needed.
The dimes are kept in the round hole between the lever and master cylinder by the spring tension of the brake lever.

Scott

[WingMan71]

No glue is needed.
The dimes are kept in the round hole between the lever and master cylinder by the spring tension of the brake lever.
Scott

Wow! Then something is way wrong with my setup. I've got a good 1/4" between the brake lever and the master cylinder activation shaft when at rest!

As I mentioned before, brakes just totally rebuilt and working fine. Apply firmly, and come all the way off at rest.

Hmmmmmm ? ? ?

(I'll take a picture later and post it when I get a chance.)

[BigSherm]

Hey Wingman-
You don't think the dimes would fill in that 1/4" and be held there by the lever?

Scott

[WingMan71]

Hey Wingman-
You don't think the dimes would fill in that 1/4" and be held there by the lever?
Scott

No, I don't think so.

My brake lever just kind of flops around loose over that 1/4" of play. If there is supposed to be a some small parts or something pushing on the brake lever at the pivot point to take the slop out of the lever, I don't have any, I just pulled the lever off and looked.

Well... maybe I'm missing some parts! This parts diagram (for a '77 model) shows that I'm missing parts 18 and 19. (A control lever bushing and a control lever plate.)

http://www.hondapartshouse.com/oemparts ... brake-hose

Bushing shows as available, plate shows as not available. I don't have either of those. Guess that's why I have a floppy loose brake lever?

If anyone knows how those parts are installed, or if that's what I'm missing, I'd appreciate the advice.

EDIT: Well... upon further investigation that plate (19) just holds the rubber bushing (18) in place and serves to keep the brake lever from rattling up and down. So, nothing to do with the excess fore and aft play I have in my lever.

Makes you wanna say... Hmmmmm ? ? ?

[BigSherm]

Hey Wing-

I just looked at mine.

Mine freely flopped back and forth before contacting the piston, too. That's why I used shims (dimes), to take up that empty space.

If there's still too much room after adding your own shims, I'd say either your master cylinder piston isn't retracting all the way back out to where it should, or something is allowing your lever to travel too far away from the grip.
Maybe someone installed the wrong lever along the bike's 40 year life?

Hope this helps.
Scott

[WingMan71]

Hey Wing-

I just looked at mine.

Mine freely flopped back and forth before contacting the piston, too. That's why I used shims (dimes), to take up that empty space.

If there's still too much room after adding your own shims, I'd say either your master cylinder piston isn't retracting all the way back out to where it should, or something is allowing your lever to travel too far away from the grip.
Maybe someone installed the wrong lever along the bike's 40 year life?

Hope this helps.
Scott

Scott,

When I removed my lever, I turned it over and looked at the numbers on the bottom. They were 369. The correct part number for the brake lever is 53175-369-003. Also looked at NOS Honda brake levers for my bike on eBay. Same part number stamped on the bottom, 369. So, I'm pretty sure that this is an original Honda brake lever.

I'm beginning to suspect that the master cylinder is a replacement unit (looks too nice to be old), and that is perhaps where the difference is.

My master cylinder actuation shaft retracts out even with the rubber bushing around it, but not past the rubber bushing.

I think I'll try adding some dimes!

Thanks for the feedback!

Bob

[CYBORG]

another thing to consider is wear on the piviot pin of the lever. Sometimes hard to see with out taking it apart

[WingMan71]

another thing to consider is wear on the piviot pin of the lever. Sometimes hard to see with out taking it apart

Yup... took it apart. All fine. No noticeable wear. Lubed it up and put it back together.

Think we've just about covered all possible issues. There's just some slop built into the assembly.

Time for some dimes!

[Dirty Dave]

No glue needed that I can see. Lever holds the coin(s) in place. Just now did the cheap fix to my friend's 76 Wing in my garage for the Winter. Never liked the slop in the lever. Thanks Big Sherm. Brilliant.

[BigSherm]

You're welcome!
Even this blind hog finds a truffle once in a while!

Scott

[BigSherm]

Hey Wingman, how'd it work out?

Scott

[WingMan71]

Hey Wingman, how'd it work out?
Scott

I didn't put the dimes in my MC yet. Way to nice a day in Atlanta today to do maintenance! 70 degrees and sunny this afternoon. I took a ride instead!

I posted up a "first ride" report here:

http://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=62460

I'm actually thinking about putting a strip of metal on the other side of the brake lever (opposite side of the pivot) where that piece of the brake lever stops against the MC body if you push it forward. I think a shim there might work just as well.

I'm gonna do one of the two, but it was just too nice outside today not to ride!

***

[Dirty Dave]

The dimes are perfect, a 3 minute job. Even Canadian dimes worked.......

[WingMan71]

OK... I FINALLY FIGURED THIS ISSUE OUT!

It just didn't make any sense that Honda would build something that was so loosie-goosie and required shimming. That's not their style at all.

So... the question was "what wore out on the front brake that would cause the brake lever to wiggle fore-and-aft a good half an inch?"

I know what it is now. Here's a micro-fiche parts diagram of the parts in question. I added colored arrows to go with the explanation:



8/16/17 EDIT: Damn Photobucket!!! Not much help if you can't see the picture. I'll add it as an attachment.

GL1000 Brake Lever Anti-Rattle Bushing-2.jpg (43.18 KiB) Viewed 82 times

OK... here's the deal.

The RED arrow shows part #18, which is a rubber bushing! That's the baby that wears out.

The GREEN arrow shows the hole in the bottom of the brake lever assembly that the rubber bushing is inserted into. (Note that part #19 is a metal plate that holds the rubber bushing in place.)

When inserted into the brake assembly, that rubber bushing actually sticks out about 1/8" into the inside of the brake lever assembly through a cut-out in the metal inside. (If you look at your old crusty dried-up bushing it will be worn flat and look just like another piece of metal in there. It's not. It's the rubber bushing.)

The BLUE arrow shows a round extension on the leading edge of the brake lever. When the brake is released, that round extension on the brake lever comes to rest ON THAT RUBBER BUSHING!

It's that rubber bushing that takes up the space and keeps the brake lever from wiggling fore-and-aft about a half an inch.

Replace part #18 with a new bushing and your sloppy brake lever is fixed. Part #18 is still available from Honda:

BUSH, R. HANDLEBAR CONTROL LEVER
45526-341-000 $2.95

Things like this can keep me awake at night.

I've just got to figure them out!

***