• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

What is wrong with my brakes??

  • Thread starter Thread starter JimmyR
  • Start date Start date
mighty vac it again. This time pump the thing till the guage is as far up as you can get it. Have the wife stand at the master and pour fluid in so it doesnt run dry. Now crack the valve open as far as you can so the vac sucks an extreme amount of fluid out of the calipers suddenly..do this a few times for each side. IF theres any air in the splitter then the sudden and rapid flow should suck it out.
 
Well I was going to try that Chuck but I managed to destroy my mitivac. I was trying to get the pressure up and it just imploded. Plus it leaks air at the bleeder anyway. When I used it before it always pulled in air at the bleeder and looked like you had bubbles even if you didn't.

Anyway I have a horrible feeling that Colin is right. I just bled my rear brake and it took all of 2 minutes. Piece of cake. The feel is good and firm. I notice with my new front MC that even when I am pushing out bubble-free fluid that there is not the same amount of fluid coming out nor does it rush out like it should. So I suspect that I might not have bubbles in the lines but the piston in the MC is too small. I do have some pressure, and it is enough to turn on the hydraulic brake light. But there is no way I would consider the bike safe to ride like this.
 
In case anyone is interested, my brakes are now fixed. The problem may be of interest to those who are having similar issues. I had bled the brakes perfectly I am pleased to say, but in reassembling them after completely overhauling them I overlooked the way the bolts that join the two halves together were oriented.

The inside part of the caliper which holds the pads has two slightly different sliding parts (no idea what they would be called!) into which the bolts go. Once slid into the cailper there is a rubber boot which goes over the exposed end and then the piston side of the caliper is bolted to these two bits. The two sliding bits have a 2 flattened sides on the very ends into which the bolts go. You can't see the flattened sides when the rubber boots cover them. So I thought I had aligned the flattened sides with the piston side of the calipers when I put everything together, but apparently I hadn't.

Once we aligned them everything worked properly. The calipers joined up better and now I will be able to stop. To be honest the way these brakes work is beyond me - I have tried to work it out but can't! But at least they now do work. I only mention this in case someone out there some day has the same problem. It's one more thing to check.
 
JimmyR said:
In case anyone is interested, my brakes are now fixed. The problem may be of interest to those who are having similar issues. I had bled the brakes perfectly I am pleased to say, but in reassembling them after completely overhauling them I overlooked the way the bolts that join the two halves together were oriented.

The inside part of the caliper which holds the pads has two slightly different sliding parts (no idea what they would be called!) into which the bolts go. Once slid into the cailper there is a rubber boot which goes over the exposed end and then the piston side of the caliper is bolted to these two bits. The two sliding bits have a 2 flattened sides on the very ends into which the bolts go. You can't see the flattened sides when the rubber boots cover them. So I thought I had aligned the flattened sides with the piston side of the calipers when I put everything together, but apparently I hadn't.

Once we aligned them everything worked properly. The calipers joined up better and now I will be able to stop. To be honest the way these brakes work is beyond me - I have tried to work it out but can't! But at least they now do work. I only mention this in case someone out there some day has the same problem. It's one more thing to check.
Click to expand...


Ahh! I hadn't even thought of the problem being at the calipers. Can't say that I have experienced that particular problem, though potential caliper resistance problems due to lack of (or use of wrong) grease on the slide pins has been discussed here before. You need to use an extreme heat resistance type grease like 'Copper Slip' on the slide pins.

Pleased to hear you got it all sorted out and are closer to getting her out on the road, but I wouldn't have thought that would have caused excessive lever travel. How is the lever feel and travel now?

Got any pictures of her? :D
 
Last edited:
Lever feel is good. Not as good as the lever on my other bike which has a 6-pot PF brake, but pretty good. There are pics on my GS1100G rebuild thread. Right now it looks as bad as it ever has because I have the original tank and seat on it ready for rego. It's not good!

What the hell = I'll go take a pic of the front wheel for you...

wheel002copy.jpg
 
Last edited:
Jimmy...next time if the vac sucks air around the bleeder nipple, try putting a few wraps of teflon tape on the threads..seals them so air doesnt get sucked past the threads. More suction power goes to the lines and masters.
 
That's a very good idea - thanks! I just put a new petcock in my "new" tank and used some teflon tape on the bolts just in case.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top