GS1100G Road Runner Project

[londonboards]

Do I Replace Those Brake Pistons?

It seems like the sensible thing to do. Just replace the pistons. And as it happens I do have the pistons "in stock" as I have bought some for my other GS1100G project. I would prefer not to use those as they cost me nearly $100 and I am having to reign in the spending (it's totally outta control!!).

And if you read the tutorial on Bass Cliff's site, he has re-used pistons in a worse state.



Oh dear what should I do?

[londonboards]

Gatekeeper - yes you are right. In those last few posts I took copies of the wrong size photos. Sorry about that.

My other GS1100G (My Dad's Bike) came from Burlington, Ontario. We bought it new there in 1985 from the Suzuki dealer on the South Service Road just off the QEW. Now being restored!

Greetings

Great post and all but.....

do make the pictures a wee bit smaller, say 800X600

this will still give you good sized pictures but will not have them so wide that one has to scroll sideways on the page to see the entire pic...

just a thought...

.

[Charlie G]

Following along still. I agree on the great photos. Nice to have these guys here to coment on your work. That's the one thing that makes working on these bikes possible for me.

cg

[Nessism]

Those pistons are junk. Time for new ones.

Oh, and good news about the float height. You are doing nice work.

[steveb922]

That piston is corroded in the area which passes across the piston seal. There is a possibility that it will damage the seal and allow brake fluid to escape from the system. I would replace it. You might want to consider stainless steel parts.

[londonboards]

Eil - Yes I have no idea what has caused all that. My guess is that it is brake fluid that has congealed along with corroded calipers.

But the good news is that underneath it all I still have serviceable parts.

Greetings

[londonboards]

Hampshire - Thanks for that. Indeed I am releasing little critters from all over this bike!

What do you think about this brake piston:









Greetings

Richard

[londonboards]

Nessism - From the picture above, I was taking a reading from the right hand side of caliper. So in this case it shows a considerable gap, which I closed up by bending the tab.

I agree the photo suggests that I am happy with the measurement (if it was taken to the left of the caliper) which shows it would be spot on.

I should have posted this picture:



Thank you for pointing that out. It's nice to know that someone is taking that much interest and is willing to help me out.

Greetings

[eil]

Those calipers... wow! What kind of a PO uses corn meal instead of brake fluid?

[hampshirehog]

Richard, the RSPCA will be after you - turfing all those animals living in your brakes out of their home......

Are the pistons salvageable? You can tidy up the ends - as long as you don't take off too much material. It's gouges and pits on the walls that turn them into fishing weights.

[Nessism]

Missed this before...

You are measuring to the wrong spot on the float. You need to measure to the bottom of the step, not the top.

Doing a great job overall. Love the photos.

[londonboards]

Why Don't My Brakes Work?

I thought I should have a little investigation to see why the bike was not stopping:









And look at the carnage a PO had inflicted on these poor pistons:





So a good clean up, new rubbers and lube and away we go.



Greetings

[londonboards]

Exhaust Bolts

I wanted to see what was going on with this selection of exhaust bolts the PO has installed.

See: My GS1100G Road Runner Project - Exhaust Bolts

This is what I took out:



See the grey sealing cement which came out. Some one was trying to plug the holes. No wonder it sounds like it's blowing!



Compare this to the set I took out of my other GS1100:



You can see the problem is that the bolts are only biting on the last few threads. They should be seated further down the bolt holes. Why is this .....



..... extra large flange spacers don't allow the bolts to seat properly.



These and the bolts are going to have to be replaced at some stage.

[londonboards]

New Cam Gasket and D Plugs

So after doing the valve clearances and to try and stop the oil leak, I get a new cam gasket and D plugs.

See: My GS1100 G Road Runner Blog - Cam Gasket





Check all the surfaces.





and put it all back together will some gasket compound around the oil leak area. That did the trick.