Cincinnati Area Rear brake to master cylinder needed

[gk45241]

Looking for a rear brake, cable and master cylinder. the one on my bike I think is junked.
Hard to stop with just a front brake i am already only running 1 caliper on the front. Obviously I am now stuck. Anyone with an assymbley for sale. let me know. or let me know what other replacements might be an option. thanks,
Gary

[The Lorax]

you might look around for a rebuild kit, replace the seals and such, ebay is always a good source for parts, If you know of a decent bone yard near you, they might have what you are looking for. I don't know of one in the Cincinnati area, but there is one just outside Dayton. it's on Post Town road in Trotwood, it's called "Spencer's Motorcycle Salvage" I think...at least I know the Spencer's part is right, sholdn't be too hard to get a listing for and find. If you need, I can give you directions. Also, you didn't say what model bike you have. you might put it in your signature as it often helps in diagnosing issues as there are some subtle differences between models. one other thing, just to be practical, you probably shouldn't be out on the road with bad brakes (you probably already know this but for safety's sake I felt compelled to mention it, I'd hate to see anyone get hurt or worse due to something like brakes) some of the Cincinnati area guys will likely chime in, one of them might have something, there are a few down your way. hope this has been of some help, have anice day and ride safe

[The Lorax]

Oh, almost forgot, welcome to the forum, get a good service manual, read the heck out of it, and check out the tech tips regarding brakes, it might help. have a nice day and ride safe

[fredintoon]

Looking for a rear brake, cable and master cylinder. the one on my bike I think is junked.
Hard to stop with just a front brake i am already only running 1 caliper on the front. Obviously I am now stuck. Anyone with an assymbley for sale. let me know. or let me know what other replacements might be an option. thanks,
Gary

Hi Gary and welcome,
like the Lorax sez, you can most likely get away with rebuild kits rather than having to replace major parts. Your profile don't say, is your bike a Standard or a Special?
An XS1100 Standard shares many minor parts with the XS650 and so MikesXS is a good source for brake kits etc.
(BTW, if you ask for XS11 parts Mike will insist that his stuff only fits XS650s so it's best just to know what you are ordering.)
OTOH the Weird Harold front brakes on the Special are in a world by themselves.
Please tell us more about your bike having only one front brake?

[DGXSER]

Hey Gary,

I see you have a 79, you don't mention if it is standard or special, but either way one front brake is really not the way you want to roll on these heavy bikes. I was a bit confused as you mentioned rear brake CABLE? No cable involved as the rear is hydraulic like the front. Is your brake line leaking at the rear? is it the caliper leaking? Or perhaps the rear MC. Do you have no pedal?

I am here in Cincinnati also, Colerain/ White Oak area. Between me and Steppenwolf over here, Egleaves is in Newtown, and Dbeardslee in Mainville we gotta have you about covered.

You may already know about Skips MC bone yard out on Wooster near Redbank road area. Although this time of year they are almost as bad as the Yammarobbers. They been selling cheap all winter and now everyone "needs" their parts for spring, so prices go up!! I was looking for carbs earlier in winter, he wanted $200 for them then, told me come spring they would be $3-400. Matt may know if his place is better to deal with. Skips knows they are the only game in town and they play that way. Typically, if you know how much the part is new (And I can assure you they do!!) they will sell it to you at half price, but no less no matter the condition.

Let us know abit more of what is wrong, and if you don't mind, what area you are in and I bet we can get your stuff fixed and ready to roll.

[gk45241]

79 special

Bike is a 79 xs1100 special. PO had laid it down. removed caliper on one side of the front.(it was damaged) They capped the split line so the remaining break works off of the hand control. Dbeardslee had helpped me out a little last summer. the rear brake had locked up. we assumed it was the spooge hole. I had opened the line to release the brake. had to be able to move it. Now we have tried to bleed the rear brakes and nothing. cannot build any pressure what so ever. Not currently riding the bike (legal issues) but by end of summer should be good to go so trying to get all of the kinks worked out. Does any of this make sense? why wont the rear bleed out and build pressure?? Thats why I am at the point of just purchasing the rear assymbly from the master cylinder back.

[The Lorax]

it could be that the seals are bad, you might also have an air bubble in the mater cylinder itself. you might try bleeding the master cylinder and then the slave cylinder. If the slave has had the seals replaced, then the master might need them also. just a thought do you have a vacuum bleeder? they can be really handy. if you want, I will try to stop in Spencers sometime this week and see if he's got a rear master cylinder, and what he wants for it. let me know if you need anything, have a nice day and ride safe

[gk45241]

Brakes

master cylinder. slave cylinder. now your getting over my head...lol ASk Doug I am raw when it comes to most of theis stuff I have no power bleeder and a large hammer is becoming the tool I want to use most on these rear brakes.

Gary

[The Lorax]

a vacuum bleeder is a little hand operated vacuum pump that has a resevior and a hose, you attach it to the bleeder screw, pump it up and then open the bleeder screw a little, it sucks out fluid and air. really a neat device, not too expensive if I remember correctly. the slave cylinder as I referred to it is just another name for the brake cylinder that holds the pads. if you need help, we can do that. I have a vacuum bleeder, time is the commodity that I lack in any real amount, but I will find the time if you need assistance, I'm sure we could drag Doug out of his cave also. I'm getting ready to head out to South Bend for a day or two, I may be able to make myself available next weekend for a short while, but at any rate, if you need help, we'll get you fixed up. you might watch ebay for another front caliper, you could get by with one, but two is better, Andreas may have one, anywho, let me and / or doug know what you need. have a nice day and ride safe

[DGXSER]

Hey Gary,

I rebuilt my rear brake and used the master to push the piston out of the caliper. But I let the fluid run low in the master and I can tell you I had one H#$$ of a time getting the thing bled out!! Finally bought a Mity Vac and after playing with it for a while, I held my mouth just right and it all worked.

I get over to Sharonville all the time, in fact, I will be over in West Chester tomorrow evening. For certain I will be there April 3rd evening but not much spare time then, or April 11, afternoon should be available. Could possibly bring mity vac over and see what we can do. Verify if the seals are bad or if it is just air bound.

If it were my bike, I would get a hold of Andreas and see about a front caliper. Other options may come up. Lots of spare parts laying in folks garages around channel 11.

[gk45241]

Brakes

maybe the mighty vac would work. Had discussed that with Doug last summer. but then started getting cold and with some issues that came up wasn't riding at that point anyway. Who is this Andreas? and where would I find him? Like I said anyone who can get the rear brake going at this point is my new hero. Origional pronblem was that the piston on the master cylinder head stuck in the depressed position. Had I eralized this I could have fixed the issue ( I thin) without allowing the air into the slave cylinder to free up the brake. When Doug and I looked at it last fall the master looked ok. Looked is the key word and does not seam to be leaking. However, hard to tell know that I WD the crap out of the piston to et it worked loose. And obviously now it wont build pressure.

Gary

[DGXSER]

Gary, PM me a way to get a hold of you and I will try to swing by tomorrow.

Andreas = Andreasweiss, another member here who has all kinds of parts for these bikes.

[gk45241]

Brakes

Thans Dan for the help today. sorry was a waste of time. Rear caliper piston has become a fixed part of the housing and the next week will be spent soaking prying and trying to force out. NO way to force piston out with master cylinder since it is either A. sucking air or B. just can't get it bled enough to get the piston broke loose. No air compressor so I am stuck. If i can find one to use where do i use the forced air? what kind of attatchment do I need? BUying a new or used set up is looking better and better.

Gary

[dbeardslee]

Gary - I didn't realize you didn't have a compressor. I've got one if you want to bring the caliper by.

[DGXSER]

Gary,

Not a problem at all, and it was not a waste of time at all as we found another step toward solving the issue.

The rear brake caliper is pretty gunked up. We got the rear master to bleed and develop pressure, but as soon as it pushed the caliper piston out, it stuck and then the rear MC just sucked air. My Mity-vac hose is nto a tight seal to the bleeder so that could be a part of it getting air back in. So we pulled the rear caliper off. Got a bunch of thick brown fluid out of it through the banjo. Since we had no air compressor, or grease gun, we could not push it out. That and it was getting dark. So if Gary and Doug can get it out that will work great. Then we can clean that up, and work the Mity-vac magic on the rear MC again, hopefully curing the rear brake.

Then we can get the front brakes addressed. Gary has a "frankenbike" It is a special with standard forks. He only has a right side front brake caliper and hose right now. So he could use a Standard front left caliper and the hose and banjo bolt. He has the rotor.

It was a pleasure to meet Gary and Doug both today! And Gary has a great family to!