put new handlebars on my XS11 SG and.. NO BRAKES??? super-tight clutch????

[fredintoon]

Anna notherthing

Hi again Shep,
if your bike don't have stainless steel braided brake lines, NOW is the time to install them.
It's the single most effective way to improve an XS11's brake performance.
With a Special, as there are no upgrades available to replace those Weird Harold calipers, it's about the only way.

[cywelchjr]

+1 on the braided lines. When I had my bars off to change out the forks (or something, I don't remember what now) I got my MC upside down and had to rebleed the brakes to get them to work again, so I know that get the MC upside down can certainly cause a problem with the brakes. Bleeding them can be fun too, as the pesky bubbles are at the top and don't want to get down to the bleeders, some sort of power bleeding system will help out greatly for that.

However, I used a $6 kit from the auto parts store that has the fittings and a little bottle that makes it easier manually because the outlet of the line is at the bottom of the bottle and is submerged which helps keep air from getting back in. I had to empty to little bottle several times during the process though (I always bleed until what's coming out looks like new and generally do a full bleed at LEAST once a year (or any time I change pads, whichever comes first)).

[jshepard935]

Hi Steve,
Shep's posts imply, though he don't actually say, that his lever goes all the way back to the grip but the calipers don't move.
That's almost certainly air in the system.
OTOH, if the bike is a new acquisition and there's no record of when the brakes were last dismantled and cleaned, I agree with you, Shep can't go wrong in doing that.

this is correct because.. as I forgot to mention.. I was only able to replace the front/right brake pads.. my left caliper's little bolt (that holds the pads in place) is STUCK, yet neither of the brakes work.. i know i'm supposed to change both sets of pads at the same time, but the old pads were fairly new, and I only changed them because I got WD-40 in them when i was trying to polish some rust off of the forks..

[crazy steve]

.. I was only able to replace the front/right brake pads.. my left caliper's little bolt (that holds the pads in place) is STUCK, yet neither of the brakes work.. i know i'm supposed to change both sets of pads at the same time, but the old pads were fairly new, and I only changed them because I got WD-40 in them when i was trying to polish some rust off of the forks..

I'd be very leery of only changing one side. If the friction coeffecient between the pads is different, you could have very weird results when applying the front brakes...

[natemoen]

I'd be very leery of only changing one side. If the friction coeffecient between the pads is different, you could have very weird results when applying the front brakes...

Wouldnt it sort of act like a bike with a disc only on one side?

[cywelchjr]

Wouldnt it sort of act like a bike with a disc only on one side?

Yeah, it's not like a car where it would pull to one side because your only stopping one wheel. It's two sides of the same wheel so the only result would be to reduce stopping power, which with these brakes could be a problem.

You don't see bikes with only one caliper having any problem, I don't see there being any problem with how the bike handles during braking with unmatched pads (which are actually that way anyways since no two are really quite the same).