New front M/C

[79XS11F]

If having difficulty, I have in the past moved the pistons in the calipers out to their max position, filled the caliper with fluid, hooked them back up to the brake lines, and then slowly pushed the pistons back to their full seated positions. This forces all the fluid in the caliper up through the lines and up to the MC with the air in front of the fluid. The lines do not hold very much fluid so there is enough fluid in the full caliper to fill those lines. Just don’t pull the piston out past the seal in the calipers. You will likely need a C clamp to move the piston back to its fully seated position. Watch that fluid does not overfill the MC.
Once this is done mount the calipers on the forks as usual and slowly pump the level until the pistons contact the discs and don't let air get back into the MC. Try it.
Rob

[TomRodgers]

Im about to give up on the damn thing and get some sitered brake pads. not for the rotors, but to adheare to my shoes and use them on the pavement

[randy]

Tom, sounds like you have things in the right order:

[cywelchjr]

Im about to give up on the damn thing and get some sitered brake pads. not for the rotors, but to adheare to my shoes and use them on the pavement

I put sintered pads on mine (the rotors not my shoes) and while it took a while for them to fully seat, they seem to work pretty good now, and I have not had them fade at all like the organic ones that were on before. I did find that they squealed if I didn't use that goopey stuff on the backs of them, but they seem to stop really good and I understand they are supposed to last longer (and since the disks are stainless steel sintered pads are supposed to be ok for them).

I did find that it's tough to bleed these brakes, but once you get them done they work pretty good.

[Rasputin]

I went out and bought the correct Banjo bolt for the brake lines. It cost 4 bucks Cnuk. I bolted it on and it fit great. I bled the system and have no leaks and a solid lever. I did have to bleed it quite a while to get all the air bubbles out. I used a clear line and waited for the bubbles to finish. I also had the samll bubbles at the M/C. Once the big air bubbles made it to the calipers, (It was very obvious) the rest of the bleeding went smoothly. It just takes some patience and perseverance to bleed these puppies but it is possible. Have fun and good luck.

On a side note "With patience, perseverance and a jar of vaseline you can F*&K a grizzly bear if ya really want to"

[TomRodgers]

I went out and bought the correct Banjo bolt for the brake lines.

Was this for the double line banjo? mine is long enuf. there was no hidden crush washer. pulled it apart, will try again in the morning. if no luck, will steal part from parts bike and try again. WTF.

Rasputin...glad you got YOURS to work!!!

[Rasputin]

still a drip drip drip.... all new crush washers. but the new ss lines seem to have a different thickness of 'ends' on them. like the hole on banjo bolt is directly in line with the middle crush washer. any ideas?

I had the same thing as you describe here. I bought the new double banjo bolt and everything lines up perfectly. I also used the new crush washers that came with the brake lines. I would not re-use crush washers unless I had no other choice.

[TomRodgers]

It seems that Senor Murphy has made permanent residence in my garage

Tearing into the brake joint again, no extra washers, heat treated them,and still leaking. Took double banjo bolt off Frankenbike. WAY different than one on 'Sunshine. Im guessing PO had wrong one on 'Sunshine. The post from Randy (with joint pic) seems to have the same type banjo that came off of Frankenbike.

So.....I go to put it on, and in my excitement, my GORILLA hands (can you guess where this is going) pushed a little too hard...and SNAP oh well.... Now question is, where do i get one of these...im hoping to get a pic of one that snapped to see if it is correct. the one from MikesXS looks like the one that leaked, and is also different than the one that comes stock on the WHOLE unit. So i need a lower bolt.

[TomRodgers]

THis is the so called double line banjo from MikesXS..


note the double line banjo on the assembly.....big difference...



My leaky one looks like the top photo here...

maybe just buy new joint and be done? only 18 bucks...or will this one not fit?

[DGXSER]

Got a little tied up...dang work getting in the way of XS11...whats up with that!!

Here is a picture Tom asked me to post for him.

[TomRodgers]

ThanXs Don!!!

Bottom bolt came out of 'Sunshine and leaks like a sieve. Top bolt came out of 'Frankenbike, and is the one i snapped off

Any takers as to which one should be used?

[DGXSER]

The stock bolt in Thunderstruck looks like your bottom bolt. I reused it with the stainless steel lines, and the stock crush washers. everything seems to be fine on mine.

[Incubus]

I just did the bakes on Incubus with new braided stainless steel lines this morning. My double banjo looks like the lower on in the picture above. My brakes are freaking awesome now. The first time I jammed them on I almost went over the handlebars. You do have to crank that double banjo pretty hard to seal it. Until you get rid of all the leaks you will not be able to build up the right pressure on the lines. At least I couldn't. Once the leaks stop, so does the bike.

I also used a cheap little speed bleeder I picked up at an auto parts store sometime back when I did the brakes on my truck. Cost $30, I think. It saves a lot of time by sucking the fluid through instead of just pumping it through. Did the front brakes in about an hour, all told.

FWIW, I used the brake line kit from coastguard75 that's on Ebay. The back line is a little long and it does not come with a replacement double banjo, but it bolted up pretty easily. The top front line would be too long for Standard bars, but my bike is not totally stock. My handlebars are off a 70s intage Goldwing (taller than a Standard, better pullback than a Special) and my master is an aftermarket I picked up from partsnmore. The banjo connects to the front of the master, rather than the side like stock, so any issue of the angle on the top front banjo does not come into play.

I also used the stock bracing. I cut strips of neoprene that I wrapped around the thinner than stock braided lines and put the stock bushings around the neoprene to make the lines fit the braces.

Looks and works great.

Patrick

[Rasputin]

Got a little tied up...dang work getting in the way of XS11...whats up with that!!

Here is a picture Tom asked me to post for him.

The top bolt is the one I just bought. The bottom bolt is what was in both my 78's and my 79. I might have made the bottom one work if I used the older used thinner crush washers. I still would not have been comfortable with how much thread was into the body of the splitter tho. The top Bolt is the right one for me.

[TomRodgers]

Well...for what it is worth, after removing the snapped bolt, i decided to spend the 18 bucks on a new joint with new bolts. the way i look at it, the only thing between me and some frigging cagers are my brakes, and what is 18 bucks. not even a good case of beer, so new one should be here next week and i can go from there......