GL front brakes

[sparrowhawkdesign]

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.

 

[joedrum]

cool mods

 

[sunnbobb]

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.

 

[sparrowhawkdesign]

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.

 

[sunnbobb]

Yes for sure. The vfr series of master cylinders are all 14mm, which makes them perfect for conversion.

 

[Andyb]

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.

 

[sunnbobb]

Good point on the mirror mount.

 

[Ansimp]

The mirror mount is on the half shell (clamp) so just use one that matches up with the master cylinder.

 

[Andyb]

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.

 

[Andyb]

Andyb » Sat Dec 21, 2013 8:18 am[/url]":1qo4p6k6]

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.

 

[joedrum]

on hooch I have a 1500 clutch master to operate the 1200 clutch it has no mirro mount either ... nagging little problems always creep in ..it seems

 

[Ansimp]

You can get ones that are off other applications

 

[joedrum]

yes it was kind of unexpected deal ...one of many bad moves ..LOL

 

[Ansimp]

Here are some photos of the Pig with mirror mounts and Red without

Mounts

• Ansimp
• Dec 22, 2013

Front brake with mirror mount half-shell on the Pig

,

Mounts

• Ansimp
• Dec 22, 2013

Clutch master with mirror mount half-shell on the Pig used for GPS and GoPro

,

No mounts

• Ansimp
• Dec 22, 2013

Red without mirror mounts

,

No mounts

• Ansimp
• Dec 22, 2013

Red without mirror mounts

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.

 

[Andyb]

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?

 

[Ansimp]

I believe so as the ones on the Pig are genuine.

 

[sunnbobb]

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.