I'm sure other CB's with a single 38mm caliper would benefit from this too.
After doing a back to back spirited ride on my friends modern sportbike, I went from not liking the lever feel to hating it. My set up is, EBC pads, broken in BT45 90/90-18 on a 1.85 rim, 27-28 psi, 150lb rider.
I did four 40-0 mph tests with only the front no rear. I worked my way up to pulling as hard as I could on the lever. I only two finger brake. My friends bike would have had the rear tire off the ground with half of that force. After doing a lot of research I came across some other posts of people doing this, Crazypj posted about doing a 11mm master swap and I found this link .
http://www.vintagebrake.com/mastercylinder.htmThis is what I did.
I purchased a used 11mm front master cylinder for an 09' KLX250 for $20 shipped on Ebay, The KLX has a mirror mount and brake switch. Other dual propose bikes will have the same. You can use any 11mm designed for a 7/8 bar but I wanted the option of running a factory mirror in the future and I did not want to waste any volume pushing the stock inline brake switch. IF you don't need a mirror or switch mount you can get 11mm masters cheap as most dirt bikes run them. There is also a 1/2 (12.7mm) master used on many bikes. There will be either a raised 11 or 1/2 somewhere on it
After getting the new MC on I found that the lever a little cto close to the bar. There was not enough lever travel so I used the CB lever. I had to drill the hole a little larger and shim the gap with a small washer. I had to grind it down some too where it stopped on the piston. I went a little too much and had to add some epoxy to get it perfect where I want it. I still need to work out a stop for the switch but I still have the rear brake switch for safety until then.
After getting the MC on, I found that although it felt better, the lever was now hitting my knuckles pretty good and it was stopping about the same for the amount of lever pressure. I pinched the old rubber line at various places with needle nose vice grips starting from the master down and checked the lever. The stock line was bulging way to much with the smaller MC. I ordered a new custom one piece line from
http://slingshot-cycles.com. He has the best prices around and custom lengths are not a problem. My bike is lowered 1" in the front, I ordered a 25" rubber line. A 24" would have worked too. I went back and forth on the line, rubber or braided. I like the look of rubber, it's not a track bike and if rubber is good enough on new bikes then it's enough for mine. With the new rubber line on it is much improved, enough for me to share this with others. As for feel, There is a little more travel in the lever. I can get the lever to barely touch my knuckle with a full two finger pull, this is not riding though, just in the garage, riding the lever is perfect. I couldn't be happier. I have only ridden it once since getting this finished but I did do two very hard stops both from about 35-40 to 0 Not full force as I was on a spirited ride in traffic but pretty close. There is no way the bike would have stopped like this before even with a full two finger pull. I don't know if it is enough clamp to get the rear off the ground with this but I will do some 40-0 mph tests and repost.
Modified Honda lever.
I had a polished stock MC that I loved the look of but this still looks good and works much better.
