Fort Worth Motorcycle Riders

How common is it for front brake master cylinders to go bad? How difficult is the job of rebuilding one?

What's it doing?

Front brake persists in its spongie feel after bleeding.

Tooner wrote:Front brake persists in its spongie feel after bleeding.

Did you bleed the top bleeder?

Not common, not impossible. With the cap off, does the fluid dance and move around, or just slowly drop when you pump the brakes? If it dances and goes crazy, you've got a seal leak in the master. If it doesnto, you dont.

fixxervi6 wrote:

Tooner wrote:Front brake persists in its spongie feel after bleeding.

Did you bleed the top bleeder?

yes, I did bleed the top bleeder, (the one on the master cylinder). And No, the fluid is calm in the reservoir when I was doing all the bleeding. Thanks for the help, In a way I enjoy working on bikes, but this is a bit frustrating.

I rebuilt my rear master cylinder. Wasn't hard at all. Bought a full refurb kit that included everything I needed to replace.

You may need to power bleed it. I had a problem on my Honda where I had to bleed the master cylinder before every ride. Once CycleWerkz power bled the system that issue went away.

Thanks for the help, I took the bike to dfw honda yesterday (the third dealer) and if they cant fix it I may contact Honda or just move on to the next bike....no one knows better than you guys how important good, consistent brakes are when your on two wheels.

This might be the right time to upgrade to a (non-OEM) Brembo master cylinder. You'll wonder how you ever lived without one.

Striple wrote:This might be the right time to upgrade to a (non-OEM) Brembo master cylinder. You'll wonder how you ever lived without one.

I am thinking along those lines.... When I pick up the bike from DFW Honda I am going to put it through a good test ride and If it isn't absolutely fixed I won't take it. It may be time for me to talk with Honda or upgrade to a different bike all together.

Striple wrote:This might be the right time to upgrade to a (non-OEM) Brembo master cylinder. You'll wonder how you ever lived without one.

Done! About 3 weeks ago I started removing all the ABS components. Now 25lbs lighter all that remains of the ABS is the yellow dash light that I covered with black tape and no more bipolar on again off again on... abs but the brakes were still spongy imo. After bleeding the brakes to death I ordered a a Brembo master cylinder and tonight its good to go! One step closer to COTA!!! Thanks to all for the help/advise.....

I'm a bit late to the party but I just made a video of this exact topic:

https://youtu.be/sd9FFHDlRoE

RC30Rider wrote:I'm a bit late to the party but I just made a video of this exact topic:

Great video! Hey RC30Rider, there are few of us Arlington peeps, we should get a cup of coffee or something one of these days or maybe a south side bike night? I'm in South Arlington Bowen and I20.

Thanks Tooner.
A local bike night would be fun. Any suggestions on location?

shilka99 wrote:Thanks Tooner.
A local bike night would be fun. Any suggestions on location?

I don't get out much so I don't know about good vrs not so good locations, but I'm up for anything from a Starbucks cup of Coffee to any sports bar for a beer, or Wing stop??? Almost any night from 7:30-8:30 I'm free. Wickerman lives close also, he may be up for a bike night.

So how did your new Brembo master cylinder turn out? You said you were going to band it on the trailer to the track, how did that work? And you explained in the Video but I still don't completely grasp how it helps but I threw a zip tie on mine and it did seem to add some tightness. For the first time since I bought it I am confident with the CBR's brakes.

You still have the abs on your RSV4 right? The Combined ABS system on my 2009 CBR1000rr was a major pain in the arse until I just took it all off! All 25lbs of it! When it worked it was great, but weekly if not daily it would default to standard braking in the middle of stopping without warning, leaving me for a second without brakes and then a huge nose dive and a lever that would often stop just short of the clip on. When the brakes left me on approach to Buzzard Neck last fall I decided to pick up an older 600 (R6) for the track.

Wing stop is good, Little and I-20 is nice and close. Or Fuzzys. I'm free until friday night if you want to do it this week, every night next week.

I'm heading down to Harris Hill this weekend to test out a new CBR1000SP for a customer. I'll take my RSV4 down and do a session just to test the new brakes. And I just got a new shipment from Sena so I'll use my new 10C camera to report the findings and post a video.

Yes my bike still has ABS. I love it. I never notice it until it works, but I know each time its saving my ass. One time it kicked in at COTA when the track was wet in the round robin on the saturday morning. That would have been the most embarrassing crash of all time...
I dont blame you for pulling the ABS off your bike, sounds like it was a disaster waiting to happen. And 25lbs is huge. The lines and pump on my bike is a fraction of that. I parted out a customers RSV4 and the pump on that thing barely registered a few pounds.

shilka99 wrote: round robin on the saturday morning. That would have been the most embarrassing crash of all time...

So, what are you trying to say?

shilka99 wrote:Wing stop is good, Little and I-20 is nice and close. Or Fuzzys.

.

Fuzzys sounds great, Little and I20. I could do 7:30 tomorrow night (Wed.) or after 5pm on Thursday.

I hate that moment when some part of your sounds the OMG alarm! Wheather it's the eyes, ears, or your ass trying to get sideways. But ya that would have been a humble moment to go down at COTA. At least I would still be in with the novice's in level one.

It's kind of short notice if you would rather get the word out to perhaps get a better showing at Fuzzies?

fixxervi6 wrote:

shilka99 wrote: round robin on the saturday morning. That would have been the most embarrassing crash of all time...

So, what are you trying to say?

I'm saying its alright for a student to crash in the round robin, provided he/she can do so with no visible damage to bike or gear.

Its absolutely not acceptable for an instructor to crash in a round robin. Anyone who did that would be laughed out of a job!

Tooner wrote:

shilka99 wrote:Wing stop is good, Little and I-20 is nice and close. Or Fuzzys.

.

Fuzzys sounds great, Little and I20. I could do 7:30 tomorrow night (Wed.) or after 5pm on Thursday.

I hate that moment when some part of your sounds the OMG alarm! Wheather it's the eyes, ears, or your ass trying to get sideways. But ya that would have been a humble moment to go down at COTA. At least I would still be in with the novice's in level one.

It's kind of short notice if you would rather get the word out to perhaps get a better showing at Fuzzies?

7:30 wednesday sounds great. will you be riding or driving? my bikes are all track only so of course I have to drive.
Should we make a non-club event post to see if anyone else wants to come? What are the rules about that these days?

Good idea about the non club event post. I don't know what the rules are about this kind of event. I will likely be on my Blue R6 and in work cloths(scrubs).

Yeah a posting in the non club event is fine