Brakes?????

[Pep42]

Went to go for a ride on "new to me" '79 xs1100e when I noticed i had little to no front brakes. I checked the fluid level and it all seemed fine. Bled the brakes with no fix. Does anyone have any advice or tips??

[DGXSER]

Cleaning of the calipers and especially the master cylinder. Any bike that sits for a period will need the brake system cleaned and new fluid installed. For me, the brakes are to important not to know what is in there and what condition they are in. So I tear them open, clean it all up, including spraying brake cleaner through the lines to ensure it all comes out clean, and then reassemble.

[natemoen]

These things are under breaked to begin with, clean them!

[CatatonicBug]

Be sure to pull the pistons out of the calipers and remove the rubber seals. Clean the groove UNDER the rubber seals, to get the crud out. Also be sure to clean the spooge hole in the master cylinders. It's a teeny tiny hole that returns fluid to the resevoir when you let off the brakes, and can get plugged easily. One tip - use the master cylinder to pump the piston out of the caliper BEFORE disconnecting the brake lines. It's SOOO much easier that way!

[petejw]

theres also an adjustment at the lever,
if the adj is out the brake lever will
want to touch the hand grip.

[Pep42]

Brakes

The piston was not releasing all the way so I sprayed some brake cleaner inside the body. The piston released and is working fine; however it will not pump fluid out of the master cylinder. I am soaking the entire cylinder as we speak. I am hoping the gunk is freed up tomorrow. Any other tips.

[Crusty Snippets]

Brakes

It sounds like you have some maintenance to do.
My brakes actually improved after a couple of weeks riding. But these are not powerful brakes if that is what you are used to. However they are acceptable for the job IMO. The mass of 562 pounds does not help.
The difference when riding my other newer bikes is startling, the weight, the brakes, but a hydraulic clutch is so featherlight in comparison.

Crusty

[yamahansolo]

Hello I had a similar problem with mine. I had removed the istons because the were gunked up. When I bled it I sqeezed the lever all the way in. This will make the little boot on the inside flip over and your brakes will be nonexsistant. Bleed them again this time put a 2x4 in between the lever and the bar and squeeze it it that distance. Also I noticed you wrote 79e. The e is a. 78 the f is the 79 however my 2 79's were made in 78. You can tell which you have by the vin.

Good luck with the brakes

[Pep42]

Brakes

It is a '79f. My bad. How do you remove the piston from the master cylinder? Sorry, im a rookie at all of this.

[Pep42]

How do I get the boot flipped over the right way?

[bikerphil]

It is a '79f. My bad. How do you remove the piston from the master cylinder? Sorry, im a rookie at all of this.

You'll need a long nose snap ring pliars, the snap ring sits down in a tunnel.

[tri650]

How do you remove the plastic tub holding the fluid? Mine is really dirty and you can't even see through the plastic to see the fluid level. Can this be cleaned up?

[CatatonicBug]

How do you remove the plastic tub holding the fluid? Mine is really dirty and you can't even see through the plastic to see the fluid level. Can this be cleaned up?

You can't. It's part of the unit. They never sold just the plastic tubs, or the seals that go between the two pieces either. You can get new master cylinders from MikesXS, and the solid metal ones (like the stock ones used on the LH) would be my preference. The white plastic does get kinda opaque, but a light shining through it should give you an indication of the fluid level.

[bikerphil]

That reservoir will come off, but be careful if it's in rough shape. Take the screws out of the bottom first. It is held in by a large O-ring, and by rocking and prying it up, it will come off. I've had mine apart many years ago.

Bug, what do you mean it won't come apart, everything comes apart.

[crazy steve]

You can 'kinda' restore those plastic reserviors, but it's a bit of a PITA. The main thing is getting off the 'dead' plastic; I've seen guys sand them, even sandblast them to get down to good plastic. Then coat/dip them in a clear coating that can take some exposure to brake fluid. A clear resin coat is what I've seen used, and the finished product, while not 'like new', looked a lot better.

And like Phil said, they come off, but not easily. The Specials and late Standards are held on by the fill cap screws; the early standards have a metal plate in the bottom. Twisting while pulling up has done the trick for me...