HappyHunter
XS650 Member
Howdy All!!
A year and a half ago I picked up a mess of an old 1982 Heritage Special with no PA title. I received my PA title this past Saturday and am anxious to get this on the road.
The front brakes did not work when I rode it home about 40 miles when I bought it. (yes that was probably pretty stupid....) So here's what I found out so far. I had the caliper apart last summer and it seems fine, no rust, piston moves in the cylinder and seems OK. The master cylinder seems OK, builds enough pressure to shoot a good squirt of fluid out the bleeder valve. I bled the brakes and I do get some braking action but not at all satisfying or even comforting deceleration. Seems I have lever pressure but no stopping action.
What to do? I am thinking about replacing the pads, thinking maybe they just don't have enough friction against the rotor? I am also thinking about replacing the hoses, they may be expanding rather than forcing the pressure against the caliper piston. Do these seem like good ideas? What else? Does my evaluation of the master cylinder and caliper seem correct?
What is the proper thickness of the rotor? It's dark outside right now so I can't measure what mine is now. I will check tomorrow.
Thanks,
Steve
A year and a half ago I picked up a mess of an old 1982 Heritage Special with no PA title. I received my PA title this past Saturday and am anxious to get this on the road.
The front brakes did not work when I rode it home about 40 miles when I bought it. (yes that was probably pretty stupid....) So here's what I found out so far. I had the caliper apart last summer and it seems fine, no rust, piston moves in the cylinder and seems OK. The master cylinder seems OK, builds enough pressure to shoot a good squirt of fluid out the bleeder valve. I bled the brakes and I do get some braking action but not at all satisfying or even comforting deceleration. Seems I have lever pressure but no stopping action.
What to do? I am thinking about replacing the pads, thinking maybe they just don't have enough friction against the rotor? I am also thinking about replacing the hoses, they may be expanding rather than forcing the pressure against the caliper piston. Do these seem like good ideas? What else? Does my evaluation of the master cylinder and caliper seem correct?
What is the proper thickness of the rotor? It's dark outside right now so I can't measure what mine is now. I will check tomorrow.
Thanks,
Steve