locked brake caliper - spooge hole cleaning

[dontlikeoc]

My Special has locked front brake calipers. I am thinking of first checking out the brake master cylinder "spooge hole" - as mentioned in the tech tips. Could somebody who has done it please advise?

1) What did you use as a cleaning wire? I thought about a sewing needle but have a feeling that it is probably not thin enough to go through.

2) When the orifice is cleaned and open, how can you tell? Is it supposed to make a psssh sound? Do the calipers release immediately?

3) Was it more often the case than not that, in addition to the spooge hole cleaning, you needed to rebuild the calipers anyway?

I am coming to learn in a hard way that the shared knowledge at this forum far surpasses the generic knowlege of a motorcycle shop...more often than not.

[tarzan]

Al the ones Ive worked on where the calipers stuck,the piston in the caliper itself was stuck.The oring and groove get all grunged up after a while.I have even found rust in some.
The spooge hole can be cleaned with a small needle.I usually disassemble the
master and clean everything.It's a pain to take them apart on the bars though.

[dontlikeoc]

Thanks, Tarzan. I probably should be looking for a caliper rebuild kit now. I cannot find caliper rebuild kit anywhere. Where do you get them? Or, do you just buy and replace OEM O-rings?

[bikerphil]

Most of the time, the caliper O ring is fine and just needs cleaning. Use brake fluid only to clean rubber caliper parts, or they can swell up. Don't forget to clean the groove behind the O ring thoroughly. IIRC, Georgefix store on eBay carries M/C and caliper rebuild kits for a good price. I've used a .010 guitar string to clean the M/C spooge hole.

[fredintoon]

My Special has locked front brake calipers. I am thinking of first checking out the brake master cylinder "spooge hole" - as mentioned in the tech tips. Could somebody who has done it please advise?

1) What did you use as a cleaning wire? I thought about a sewing needle but have a feeling that it is probably not thin enough to go through.

2) When the orifice is cleaned and open, how can you tell? Is it supposed to make a psssh sound? Do the calipers release immediately?

3) Was it more often the case than not that, in addition to the spooge hole cleaning, you needed to rebuild the calipers anyway?

Hi dont',
cracking the banjo bolt at the m/c will release any line pressure.
If the calipers release yes, it's the spooge hole. If they don't, the calipers are seized.
Anyhow, unless you have rebuilt those brakes yourself they may never have been apart since the bike left the factory and there's 3 decades-worth of crud in there.
I'd say the safest bet is a complete teardown & rebuild.
All the info is findable in the tech sections & search function.
Stay away from using a sewing needle to poke out the spooge hole. Sewing needles are tapered and a too fat one can jam in the hole and snap off.
Betcha the brake hoses are long past their due date too.
Put in s/st lines, they really do improve braking systems.

[redbone]

pull out one strand of a wire brush for spooge hole, it's a perfect fit, then like fred said, disassemble caliper and clean thoroly. bet you'll find all kind of gelled crud in there. add all new brake fluid when done. you can find the o-rings from georgefix, but you won't find a new piston(s) anywhere.
good luck

[cywelchjr]

Hi dont',
cracking the banjo bolt at the m/c will release any line pressure.
If the calipers release yes, it's the spooge hole. If they don't, the calipers are seized.
Anyhow, unless you have rebuilt those brakes yourself they may never have been apart since the bike left the factory and there's 3 decades-worth of crud in there.
I'd say the safest bet is a complete teardown & rebuild.
All the info is findable in the tech sections & search function.
Stay away from using a sewing needle to poke out the spooge hole. Sewing needles are tapered and a too fat one can jam in the hole and snap off.
Betcha the brake hoses are long past their due date too.
Put in s/st lines, they really do improve braking systems.

Yeah, I was reading the manual the other day (I know, unamerican and unmale of me) and it said that all seals were supposed to be replaced every 2 years and all flexible brake lines were to be replaced every 4 years. I figure mine appear to be the originals and by the book they should have been replaced 7 times by now, and the seals 14 times. I'm guessing that they have never been replaced (amazing that they work quite well actually). I figure on doing ss lines before summer and when I do them I'm going to replace all the rubber parts at the same time (seems it would be a good time to do them).

[Ken Talbot]

pull out one strand of a wire brush for spooge hole, it's a perfect fit,

This article from the tech section is an oldie, but a goodie...

[DGXSER]

That is an excellent tech tip Ken.

IMHO, since winter is upon us, I would take both front and rear systems completely apart and clean and clean and clean some more. The brakes are THE biggest safety gear you have on the bike. No need to chance it by not knowing they are clean and operable.

I have pulled the calipers apart and the MC both front and back on both of my bikes and cleaned them up and reassembled and so far, neither has leaked a drop of fluid. And yes, that groove in the caliper IS the key to stopping them from locking up!

[dontlikeoc]

DGXSER,

When would you worry about overhauling the master cylinders? They are 30 yrs old and, especially the front one on mine looks very sun damaged.

There is no after market master cylinders, is there?

[DGXSER]

I would break down, clean and put the MCs back together the same time your into the calipers. I do them by system, front then rear.

There are options to replace the front MC, I have not tried though. There are good rebuild kits out there, but both of mine have worked fine with just cleaning them out good.

If you feel better replacing them, do a search and you will find options. I am sure others that have replaced theirs will give you some options also.

[dontlikeoc]

DGXSER,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think I would feel safer replacing the front master cylinder as it is completely solid white from sun fade.

[Ken Talbot]

Remember - the part that has gone white in the sun is only the non-pressurized reservoir, it is not the critical part of the master cylinder that actually does the work. Scrub it gently with a brass or soft steel brush, using a bit of brake fluid as a lubricant. You may be surprised how good it may turn out.

[dontlikeoc]

Ken,

Thank you for enlightening me. I guess that I was thinking too much about my old experience of a GL1200 master cylinder leaking from a looking window.

[oldyam80sg]

I cleaned the spooge hole by taking off the master cylinder and cleaning the old brake fluid from the cylinder and then grabbing the bottom half and physically twisting the top half.It will turn and then you can see the hole more easily.