source for brake line kits

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robin1731
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Re: source for brake line kits

#16

Post by robin1731 »

5speed wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:25 am
redglbx wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 7:38 am Too, none taken, we just gotta work together to keep these old birds running, as I said above I think you’re right in replacing those 40yr old lines & i would suggest running new fluid and bleeding the brakes every couple of years as brake fluid does absorb water out of the air and as that happens it will cause corrosion to things in there, should be part of our normal maintenance just like changing oil.

Please don’t ask me how diligent I am in doing that 🤔🤔
have you or anyone you are aware of changed their brake fluid to dot 5?
I have DOT5 in the bike in my avatar. Also ran it in the race bikes. You do have to flush every bit of old fluid out first. Best time to switch is after you rebuild the M/C, caliper, and replace the brake lines.
1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
1992 ZX7 Dragbike (KZ900 style motor w/NOS)
and a rotation of various purchases
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Re: source for brake line kits

#17

Post by toomanybikes »

NotSoLilCrippseys wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:33 am
(I do hope that '81 is treating you right! I remember when you and I were both eyeballing it about a year or so ago.)
The '81 is doing just fine and is in it's final form more/less. Starts, idles, shifts, and rides just fine.

Aside from the front brake, the only other weirdness is a speedo that works about half the time. The cable is fine, so it must be internal to the speedo. I'll probably just live with it rather than source a new speedo that looks "wrong" or a used unit with higher mileage.

Here's a recent pic if anyone is curious ...
PXL_20220508_185500343.jpg
PXL_20220508_185500343.jpg (250.07 KiB) Viewed 358 times
Greater Boston MA, USA
Stable as of 26Dec22: '81 GL1100, '10 Bonnie SE, '86 Yamaha Radian, '83 Suzuki GS650L, '14 Moto Guzzi California, '85 Honda V30 Magna
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Re: source for brake line kits

#18

Post by 5speed »

robin1731 wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:10 pm

I have DOT5 in the bike in my avatar. Also ran it in the race bikes. You do have to flush every bit of old fluid out first. Best time to switch is after you rebuild the M/C, caliper, and replace the brake lines.
good to know robin. tks
1982 1100 standard. (sold)
1986 Yamaha FJ1200
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Re: source for brake line kits

#19

Post by redglbx »

have you or anyone you are aware of changed their brake fluid to dot 5?
[/quote]

Yep, I was a big proponent of DOT 5 for quite a while because it doesn’t absorb water, BUT, the water that normally gets absorbed now just sits at the bottom of whatever like the m/c, the calipers or splitter and causes corrosion, not good ! Which along with it’s limited availability is why I no longer use it.

Also keep in mind that it is NOT compatible with dot3 or dot4 fluids and if mixed will turn things to jello. On my CBX I tried to just flush it out using Dot3 or 4 and that went pretty well for a week or 2 when the brakes became less than effective and finally non-functional at all. So a complete tear down showed things had indeed turned to jello. Add in that testing at work showed that most DOT3 fluids actually come close or are better for temperature resistance and parts lube than the DOT5.

We tested all brake fluids available DOT3, DOT4 & DOT5 and found that a DOT3 fluid by Dow which was their 50-4 HD fluid that they made for Ford far exceeded anything else in any category regardless of claims, really good stuff but Ford was the only customer and they wanted something cheaper so it is no more.

So no more DOT5 for me, just not worth the results. My.02


Too, I gotta say I really like your bike ! So please let us know how you do, you did a good job !
Last edited by redglbx on Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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1976 LTD restored
1980 CBX , in the que, to fix the ignorant heavy handed owner
1981 CBX
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1980 GL1100
1984 GL1200 naked
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Re: source for brake line kits

#20

Post by NotSoLilCrippseys »

toomanybikes wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:50 pm
Here's a recent pic if anyone is curious ...
Umm, yes, I was! Thanks.

Muffler swap. Nice. Looks like a 3" or 4" rise on the bars. Nice. Looks like Progressive (or the like) rear shocks. Nice.

I had a lazy tach on my '82 build. I put a small amount of a light oil where the cable goes and hung it upside down for a bit to "soak" in. (It wasn't working well at all, so I had little to lose.) It came back to life and is both reasonably accurate and quite responsive. It's run well for nearly a year, with some light bouncing here/there at times. Something like that could work on your speedo, perhaps.
Avatar is a summer '21 photo of the Blue Phoenix, our 1983 GL1100I rescue gone naked.

In the Stable and Ridable
1992 ST1100 - my longer haul tourer
1992 XJ600S - son's streetfighter
1987 VFR700 - son's latest, in blue/silver
1983 - GL1100I - naked Blue Phoenix (son's, really)
1982 GL1100I - naked bagger Cabernet
1979 GL1000 - Ginger Lynn, but not that Ginger Lynn (Wing and a Prayer)
1978 CB550K - son's cafe (carb issues still vex)

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1979 GL1000 - Confirmed one owner, with original paperwork. Vetter fairing and bags, off the road in dry, heated storage for 35 years.

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Re: source for brake line kits

#21

Post by toomanybikes »

NotSoLilCrippseys wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:26 pm
toomanybikes wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:50 pm
Here's a recent pic if anyone is curious ...
Umm, yes, I was! Thanks.

Muffler swap. Nice. Looks like a 3" or 4" rise on the bars. Nice. Looks like Progressive (or the like) rear shocks. Nice.

I had a lazy tach on my '82 build. I put a small amount of a light oil where the cable goes and hung it upside down for a bit to "soak" in. (It wasn't working well at all, so I had little to lose.) It came back to life and is both reasonably accurate and quite responsive. It's run well for nearly a year, with some light bouncing here/there at times. Something like that could work on your speedo, perhaps.
The bars are 3" at most and wider than normal. I had them lying around.
Similar to the exhaust, shocks are from an HD. Had to grind down the eyelet to fit the LH lower mount.
I've tried a little oil in the speedo, still flaky.
Headers from GL1000

Overall, the project had a few hiccups beyond the normal, belts, carbs, etc. The fuel and water pumps both had to be replaced. I couldn't get the tank clean enough, so I lined it.
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Stable as of 26Dec22: '81 GL1100, '10 Bonnie SE, '86 Yamaha Radian, '83 Suzuki GS650L, '14 Moto Guzzi California, '85 Honda V30 Magna
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Re: source for brake line kits

#22

Post by redglbx »

Too, on your gauges, I’ve refaced a few and found that the source of the gauge being slow/bouncy/noisey is the bushing in the stem. I will drill a small hole at the top of the stem (carefully, not to deep) and add a bit of oil there which will then lubricate the stem bushing, may require a few applications.

I’ve been through all this with my 76 where the speedo would squeal, bounce, be sluggish to rise or fall. Also had the speedo cable fail as well as the drive at the wheel, don’t know why I’ve been so lucky with my speedo and it’s components. 🤔 I did write an article for the VJMC newsletter that also was in the CWC newsletter on all of this. Restoring/redoing old bikes will get you experience in all this,,,,, I got a lot of grey hair ! 😁
Red 1976 oe owner
1976 LTD restored
1980 CBX , in the que, to fix the ignorant heavy handed owner
1981 CBX
1977 CB750 K7
2014 FJR OE owner, sold
1980 GL1100
1984 GL1200 naked
1969 CL350, in the que
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Re: source for brake line kits

#23

Post by pidjones »

So far (four units), my fix for low/slow speedo and tachs (Nippons) has been a part of a drop of silicone spray lube (spray into cap and apply with toothpick) on the needle bearing. Seems to thin the old dried-out lube and provide good lubrication itself. I first started using spray silicone on RC helicopters that just wouldn't work long with any other lubes. Don't get it on the gauge face!
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Re: source for brake line kits

#24

Post by Sidecar Bob »

After messing around with then less than 40 year old instruments on my winter machine (for some reason mechanical tachs can squeal loudly when it is cold out, even after all lo the fixes and lubrication methods have been attempted and even new cables installed) I eventually smartened up and changed to a modern electronic instrument panel. When the tach on my '83 started acting up a few years later I ordered the same instrument panel for it.
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
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Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
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Re: source for brake line kits

#25

Post by toomanybikes »

My speedo is binary, it either works fine or not at all. Aside from dropping some oil in I haven't torn into it at all.
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Stable as of 26Dec22: '81 GL1100, '10 Bonnie SE, '86 Yamaha Radian, '83 Suzuki GS650L, '14 Moto Guzzi California, '85 Honda V30 Magna
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Re: source for brake line kits

#26

Post by fcmusician »

https://spieglerusa.com/ Got mine here front and rear specifically for my 83 Interstate. 3 day shipping.
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Re: source for brake line kits

#27

Post by toomanybikes »

Update on this thread. I haven't (yet) replaced the brake lines, but I did swap out the brake lever, reservoir, and master cylinder as some have suggested the m/c was the cause of the squishy brakes. After using them on two other projects, I've settled on the ebay unit shown below. $25 including shipping. Assembly and bleeding are easy and the switch matches the same logic as the OEM. Interesting that it has two markers for "LOWER" ... I guess that got overlooked in the design review.

Just installed them today, so I have no long term data, but so far so good.

Supplier is https://www.ebay.com/str/k1motorcycle
PXL_20221211_153127690.jpg
PXL_20221211_153127690.jpg (105.63 KiB) Viewed 187 times
Greater Boston MA, USA
Stable as of 26Dec22: '81 GL1100, '10 Bonnie SE, '86 Yamaha Radian, '83 Suzuki GS650L, '14 Moto Guzzi California, '85 Honda V30 Magna
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Re: source for brake line kits

#28

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Keep an eye on the sight glass. The ones in Chinese made master cylinders have a reputation for softening after a few years of exposure to brake fluid. I figure the effective life of the sight glass is about the same as the brake fluid change interval with stainless braided lines (Note that contaminants accumulate in the fluid faster in rubber lines, especially old ones) and replacement sight glasses are cheap so I bought some replacements and change the sight glass with the fluid.

Re fluid level: As the pads wear the pistons rest further out of their bores and more fluid is held in the calipers so the level in the reservoir will naturally decrease. Assuming the marks on the reservoir are correct, that means that if you fill the reservoir to the upper level (I think that should be the mark on the reservoir of yours) when the pads are new the level should approach the lower mark by the time the pads are due to be replaced.
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
"A guy with two sidecars can't be all bad." - Cookie
Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
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