GL front brakes

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As you probably know the early disc brakes worked well for their time but like early HD's the lever always felt hard and needed a good squeeze to be effective. I looked into getting a new if somewhat expensive front master cylinder but after getting some advice from glwrench out in Green Bay I did a little digging through my parts boxes. Should have remembered the 82 master has a 5/8 bore like the suggested new expensive one. LOL I have upgraded the GL1500 master for the addition of a sidecar brake by boring it out to accept an 82 rebuild kit. The only issue there is the feed hole has to be moved as the 82 piston is a different length than the 1500. Haven't put it on yet but it is destined to go on a 78 project I have in the background and should help a lot. Already put the 84 hydraulic clutch in it.
 
Interesting work, looking forward to hearing how it works. I have been using the master from a Honda VF1000, price was right on ebay at about 35 bucks.
 
The trick to better brakes is that if the brake lever pull is hard but brakes are weak go with a smaller diameter master cylinder. If the handle is too soft (and is bled correctly and old rubber hoses are good) go with a slightly larger diameter master cylinder. I often swap out front masters when adding a sidecar brake to the system.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=105585#p105585:3h15oelj said:
sunnbobb » Fri Dec 20, 2013 1:52 pm[/url]":3h15oelj]
Yes for sure. The vfr series of master cylinders are all 14mm, which makes them perfect for conversion.
I deleted the linked brakes on my 83 and ended up using a VFR master cylinder on the front. A guy in Australia was parting one out and it was cheaper than buying a rebuild kit for the one on my wing. It works great but it does not have a mirror mount.
 
The mirror mount is on the half shell (clamp) so just use one that matches up with the master cylinder.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=105687#p105687:11vc4fhd said:
Ansimp » Sat Dec 21, 2013 7:00 am[/url]":11vc4fhd]
The mirror mount is on the half shell (clamp) so just use one that matches up with the master cylinder.
I will check that out. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=105697#p105697:1qo4p6k6 said:
Andyb » Sat Dec 21, 2013 8:18 am[/url]":1qo4p6k6]
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=105687#p105687:1qo4p6k6 said:
Ansimp » Sat Dec 21, 2013 7:00 am[/url]":1qo4p6k6]
The mirror mount is on the half shell (clamp) so just use one that matches up with the master cylinder.
I will check that out. Thanks for the suggestion.
Unfortunately, that is not correct. The mirror mount is not on the clamp.
 
Here are some photos of the Pig with mirror mounts and Red without
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I also managed to buy some mounts on eBay item 321230573399 which I haven't used and don't know if they could be used with the stock MCs as the Rats Nest is still in LA. :(
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=105865#p105865:2moz8xad said:
Ansimp » Sun Dec 22, 2013 7:38 pm[/url]":2moz8xad]
You can get ones that are off other applications
Excellent point. Do honda model clamps generally crossover between models?
 
I would think they would be interchangable if the bikes are both running 7/8 bars. I like the idea of the mirror clamp a lot. Here is a picture of the VFR 14mm brake and clutch masters, and a picture of the brake mounted using a bar end mirror set up.

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