1979 GL1000 Brakes?

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Colin the Kiwi
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1979 GL1000 Brakes?

#1

Post by Colin the Kiwi »

I've got a project GL1000 in 16 boxes. The engine and Vin numbers say it's a 79. I've got two sets of most parts and I'm trying to work out which brake parts are for the 79.
I have a round front master cylinder with a 17.4mm piston and a square one with a 15.8mm piston.
I have front calipers ... One set with 42mm pistons and the other with 38mm
Help! ... Can anyone tell me which combination is right for the 79?
To add (slightly?) To the confusion, I thought the 79 had a square master cylinder, yet I've also got a large promotional poster of a 79 (instrument binnacle on tank) with a round one.
This is my first GL1000 rebuild. I've done a few Suzuki GT550 and GT750 so a complete change to four-stroke and Honda.
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pidjones
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Re: 1979 GL1000 Brakes?

#2

Post by pidjones »

Square MC, but some early '79s were put together from left-over '78 parts. Check your frame's cross-member that the center stand pivot is mounted to. If it has extra gussets, I believe that to be a later, more updated '79.
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Shadowjack
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Re: 1979 GL1000 Brakes?

#3

Post by Shadowjack »

Pretty sure the 17mm master and the 38mm wheel cylinders are from '75-'77. Honda found that those were so mismatched they were the proverbial wooden brake, so they changed the sizes for the later bikes.
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Re: 1979 GL1000 Brakes?

#4

Post by redglbx »

The later 78 and on brakes are indeed much better than the 75-77’s but I will add that when I went to braided stainless steel brake lines on my 76 early this year I was totally amazed at how it transformed my brakes. They still aren’t “2 finger” brakes like most modern sport bike but now they actually work pretty well !

Brake pads that aren’t as hard as the oe’s will help as well. I still have the hard as a brick oe’s on the front with plenty of material left at over 50k on them, but they work pretty well now with the SS brake lines.

One word of caution is that you need to be careful about mix/matching parts in your brake system because you need to have enough displacement in the m/c to supply pressure to the caliper pistons AND compensate for the expansion & flex in the calipers and lines and not bottom the m/c. My .02
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Colin the Kiwi
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Re: 1979 GL1000 Brakes?

#5

Post by Colin the Kiwi »

Thanks guys, that helps. So it looks like the 79 has the 42mm front calipers and the square master cylinder? My only puzzle is that the square master has a smaller bore than the round one, yet is pushing bigger calipers ... Is that correct?
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Re: 1979 GL1000 Brakes?

#6

Post by Shadowjack »

All part of the change to better brakes.
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: 1979 GL1000 Brakes?

#7

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Speaking of brake lines, the original type rubber lines should be every 2-3 fluid changes (= 5-6 years) so you should probably be thinking about a set of modern stainless braided lines that last practically forever and double the life of the fluid.
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