XJ4Ever Stainless Steel Brakes and Bearing Rebuild

[3Phase]

Job Done!

At 7:30 PM PDT with 76784.3 miles on the odometer all of the brake, bearing and paint work is finished! Here it is just back from a quick spin around the block.

Everything worked the first time as installed and no additional work or adjustment is necessary at this time and after I pack the bags it's time for a short 1,000 mile test ride.


The new parts include:

Chacal's stainless steel brake hoses and brake pipe from XJ4Ever.com.
HVC cycle's stainless steel brake pistons.
K&L brake caliper kits.
Yamaha bearings and seals, front and rear brake master cylinder kits.
Brake banjos from chevotalandcruiser on eBay.
NAPA copper brake banjo washers.


For the painted parts:

Flecto Varathane
Flood Penetrol
NAPA Crossfire CH254 alkyd hardener
Rustoleum Satin Black



















Whew! What a ride!
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[motoman]

Good to hear it again stops as well as it goes again. That's always a good thing. See you finially got a vented shield on there. With them cracked, that helps with the buffeting from tail end of 18wheelers, equalizing air pressures from front-side a bit. Don't do alot for actual air-flow to rider, but helps keep your frontside clothing from lookin' like the MichlienMan. Be safe out there on your 1K jaunt!

[3Phase]

Thanks, Brant!

After I broke the last windshield that I bought when I first bought Columbo and wasn't sure if I was going to keep the bike (it had not yet earned a name at that particular time) or sell it on eBay one flake of paint at a time (that still seems like a great idea sometimes!) I decided to splurge on a new windshield with vents. I like the vents but they're kind of annoying to clean.


I got a bunch of blank stares last night that basically let me know that everything would be clean and the trash would be gone along with my stuff when I got home so I decided I should curb my enthusiasm just a little and leave after I straightened up the garage.

Oh well, I hate riding at night anyway.


I'm getting a lot of hits on the pictures posted on Flickr from some weird search terms. The most disturbing was for balls....

.

[motoman]

Thanks, Brant!

After I broke the last windshield that I bought when I first bought Columbo and wasn't sure if I was going to keep the bike (it had not yet earned a name at that particular time) or sell it on eBay one flake of paint at a time (that still seems like a great idea sometimes!) I decided to splurge on a new windshield with vents. I like the vents but they're kind of annoying to clean.


I got a bunch of blank stares last night that basically let me know that everything would be clean and the trash would be gone along with my stuff when I got home so I decided I should curb my enthusiasm just a little and leave after I straightened up the garage.

Oh well, I hate riding at night anyway.


I'm getting a lot of hits on the pictures posted on Flickr from some weird search terms. The most disturbing was for balls....

.

Hey....don't forget to leave SOMETHING out for cat entertainment....maybe a spare Corbin seat or something of similar quality would keep them entertained.....

[3Phase]

Test Ride

September 8th, 2013.

The sign just outside of Hope, Arizona, says, "Your Beyond Hope."




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September 9th, 2013 -- Bogged Down In Bouse!

A monsoon hit Bouse, Arizona, and partially submerged a couple of cars and my XS. It rained even more for the rest of the night and the water came up to the axles on my XS but I was too busy digging out the bike to take pictures.

Everything was fine once I got it out of the mud so I was was able to ride home to Simi Valley, California.

991.9 miles total for the test ride.




.
So that's where the ice chest went!




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This picture was taken after the first wave of the monsoon. It rained even more for the rest of the night and the water eventually came up to the axles on my XS but I was too busy digging out the bike to take pictures.

Everything was fine once I got out of the mud so I rode home.




.
Miles:
Starting = 76784.3
Ending = 77776.2
Total = 991.9

It's pretty close to my 1,000 mile estimate for the short test ride.





It was a fun trip but I'm baked!

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[CRXSi90]

Well now, almost as fun as hitting 1000 miles on the dot is almost ending on 77,777.7 miles!

Crazy weather there. I live under a rock, but I didn't know it got that nasty down there!

Congrats on the successful trip. Are you concerned about water getting into your wheel bearings?

[motoman]

Well, we're getting whats left of it for the past two days, and tomorrow don't look much better. Much needed though, so don't mind and I don't have a ride planned for another week anyways. That should of made a good test run with a few extreme moments thrown in!

[3Phase]

Well now, almost as fun as hitting 1000 miles on the dot is almost ending on 77,777.7 miles!

That was cool!

Crazy weather there. I live under a rock, but I didn't know it got that nasty down there!

Congrats on the successful trip. Are you concerned about water getting into your wheel bearings?

Thank you! When the monsoons hit the desert it can get pretty wild but the bike ran, handled, and braked perfectly even when I got to play with the big trucks.

I had a blast night-riding through a bunch of wind, sideways rain, thunder and lighting. It was warm though and the rain felt great so I didn't need to dig out my rain gear. Most of the time when it wasn't clear up to the axles the clouds just kept everything cool even though the humidity was pretty bad. I got to visit with everyone I planned to see along with a few people I hadn't expected to see at all, much less in Arizona!

For now I'm not worried about water or mud in the bearings. The muck made it up to but not above the wheel bearings and as a special bonus: Yamaha upgraded the spec on the wheel bearings and the new bearings have real full inner and outer seals. So the new bearings themselves are double-sealed in addition to the new axle seals and hopefully the guy that spec'd those original nasty 'Z' rated bearings (open inner with a single unsealed outer metal flange) got sent home or something.

Well, we're getting whats left of it for the past two days, and tomorrow don't look much better. Much needed though, so don't mind and I don't have a ride planned for another week anyways. That should of made a good test run with a few extreme moments thrown in!

If you're getting hit with the same set of storms from that last monsoon be careful. The water hasn't risen this high in Bouse for over a decade and it's flooded twice in a couple of weeks now. The monsoons this year seem to have a lot more water in them. A lot more.


It was time to do all of this work and I guarantee you it was a good test run. XSively good. The new wheel bearings are perfect; speedometer is rock steady; the new gaiters kept the muck off the fork tubes and out of the fork seals; the front forks and rear shocks work like they're supposed to work again and the new triple tree bearings got rid of that weird 'click' thing the front end was starting to do whenever I hit the brakes.

The new brakes are fantastic. The master cylinder kits along with Chacal's SS brake hoses were just the ticket! I need to get some new front pads on there PDQ to go with these new and improved brakes.


.

[motoman]

That was cool!



Thank you! When the monsoons hit the desert it can get pretty wild but the bike ran, handled, and braked perfectly even when I got to play with the big trucks.

I had a blast night-riding through a bunch of wind, sideways rain, thunder and lighting. It was warm though and the rain felt great so I didn't need to dig out my rain gear. Most of the time when it wasn't clear up to the axles the clouds just kept everything cool even though the humidity was pretty bad. I got to visit with everyone I planned to see along with a few people I hadn't expected to see at all, much less in Arizona!

For now I'm not worried about water or mud in the bearings. The muck made it up to but not above the wheel bearings and as a special bonus: Yamaha upgraded the spec on the wheel bearings and the new bearings have real full inner and outer seals. So the new bearings themselves are double-sealed in addition to the new axle seals and hopefully the guy that spec'd those original nasty 'Z' rated bearings (open inner with a single unsealed outer metal flange) got sent home or something.



If you're getting hit with the same set of storms from that last monsoon be careful. The water hasn't risen this high in Bouse for over a decade and it's flooded twice in a couple of weeks now. The monsoons this year seem to have a lot more water in them. A lot more.


It was time to do all of this work and I guarantee you it was a good test run. XSively good. The new wheel bearings are perfect; speedometer is rock steady; the new gaiters kept the muck off the fork tubes and out of the fork seals; the front forks and rear shocks work like they're supposed to work again and the new triple tree bearings got rid of that weird 'click' thing the front end was starting to do whenever I hit the brakes.

The new brakes are fantastic. The master cylinder kits along with Chacal's SS brake hoses were just the ticket! I need to get some new front pads on there PDQ to go with these new and improved brakes.


.

Overall, sounds like YOU and the scoot are at least somewhat back in sync. Watch and don't let it get you down(litteraly) again. Good to have you back in the fold Scott!

[3Phase]

Overall, sounds like YOU and the scoot are at least somewhat back in sync. Watch and don't let it get you down(litteraly) again. Good to have you back in the fold Scott!

Yeah, it was fun getting back in synch with the bike but I still don't trust myself to ride with a group. Riding alone with a 75 limit on the 10 with light clouds cutting the heat and virtually no traffic on the way to and from Phoenix did let me check my work on Columbo by stretching out the throttle cable and settling into a comfortable cruise pulling well over a ton with zero buffeting, twitching, glitching, wriggling nor waggling.

Digging out the bike, fording flowing formerly dry stream beds and pulling a few trials-style low-speed tricks with a half ton of me and my motorcycle with that lovely tall '850 FD ratio instead of a light and low-geared 2-smoke over the piles of debris on the way out of town after riding the storm out was interesting too but now I have to disassemble and clean the entire bike all over again.

And I just found a hole worn through the nose of the seat cover with a tear starting to spread out from it by the right-hand side where the seat meets the fuel tank so the seat cover'll have to be replaced next -- "Just one more thing!"

.

[Rasputin]

Hey 3Phase. I am just wondering if those brake lines from Chacal were up to your expectations? You are the first that I know of that has installed them and I wonder if they fit correctly and without issue.
Congrats on your ride and keep on riding safe.

[Rasputin]

Hey 3Phase. I am just wondering if those brake lines from Chacal were up to your expectations? You are the first that I know of that has installed them and I wonder if they fit correctly and without issue.
Congrats on your ride and keep on riding safe.

I have to clarify for everyone that DenyP has installed these lines previously and that I was in error when I said that 3Phase was the first I knew of installing these lines. I do apologize for my error.

[3Phase]

Rasputin,

The front and rear brake hoses fit and work great!


There is a PDF on Chacal's XJ4Ever site with detailed pictures and installation instructions so of course I didn't find it and I put the front brake hoses on backwards. Apparently the banjos with the red tape are supposed to connect to the front master cylinder and the left/right calipers, not the front union!

I should be getting three sets of new brake pads and a new rubber boot for the front master cylinder/banjo on Thursday so I''ll switch the red-taped/non-taped ends of the front brake hoses around after I get the new parts.

.

[Rasputin]

Rasputin,

The front and rear brake hoses fit and work great!


There is a PDF on Chacal's XJ4Ever site with detailed pictures and installation instructions so of course I didn't find it and I put the front brake hoses on backwards. Apparently the banjos with the red tape are supposed to connect to the front master cylinder and the left/right calipers, not the front union!

I should be getting three sets of new brake pads and a new rubber boot for the front master cylinder/banjo on Thursday so I''ll switch the red-taped/non-taped ends of the front brake hoses around after I get the new parts.

.

If all the lines are in a relaxed state and fitting well the way you have them, I would simply pull off the red tape and call it good. IIRC they do not swap ends very well and while the Len's site may say the red ends to the device end, I may have to disagree. He and I chatted about the red tape thing and I was not that happy with the way he did it, as, I was confused. I do not know what he ended up doing to locate the red tape ends but I would prefer every red tape end to go towards the M/C. To me the marked end will always go in the direction of flow from M/C to calipers. Just my preference but please do let us know what you find if you try to swap ends. More importantly let Chacal know. Thanks for trying them on and reporting back.

[3Phase]

I put on the new brake pads and turned the brake hoses around 180 degrees. The brake hoses seem to fit better this time with the red tape attached to the master cylinder and the brake calipers. I sent a follow-up to Chacal so he knows it was right and I was wrong.

The faux-leather saddle bags are back in storage and I put the hard bags on with new stainless steel hardware. After I clean up and finish packing I'm going to try to start another cross-country trip on Monday or Tuesday; probably over 5,000 miles by the time I get back to California.

I hope this trip goes as well as the test ride!

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