Topic: Another sticky front brake thread - solved

[jensk]

I have a 77 CB550K that is on the final stages before going to the test for having licenseplates. I have 2 major issues left. The electrics and the sticky and lame front brake. I have read all the postings about getting air out of the system and I believe that there is no air in the hydralics. My brakelines are braided and not. The line from the master cylinder is braided. The one down to the wheel is ordinary.

How well are these bikes supposed to brake. My front brake is very lame when cold. As is heats up after a few brake ups it gets better. Even when warm i can pull  the grip all the way to the handle and still barely get the front wheel to block. Is this normal or are my pads contaminated or?

The other part of the front brake issue is that the caliber doesn't retract very well. I have dismantlet the caliber and I can have the pad falling out og the house by gravity. I can press the piston into the house with good use of my thumbs - and by this have brakfluid squirt out of the caliber house.

As I see it there is only one possible cause og sticky brakes left - a clogged compensation port. I have tried to put a stiff nylonwire into the two holes in the reservoir. The one marked A i can get the nylon wire about ½" down into the hole. On the hole marked B I can get it 1/10" into the hole. Is the hole B clogged? If clogged i need to know the diameter of the often mentioned guitar string. When i bleed the brakes bubles only cmes out of hole A

[mkramer1121]

Hole B is a very tiny hole, you need to use something like a thin guitar string or smaller to unclog it.  Also, how is your piston in the caliper?  Is it heavily pitted?  Did you replace the caliper o-ring when you rebuilt the front brakes?  If you did, did you clean all of the crude out of the groove before seating the new o-ring?  These can all lead to the piston not retracting properly, as the o-ring does not seal well against the piston causing it not to retract.

[jensk]

I will get some very tiny wire to get through hole B. Is there anything in the that I can damage or is there just mastercylinder bore. My o-ring did look like it was in good shape so i didn'øt replace it. The same with the piston - not seriously pittet.

I have tried the ease pressure of the system by opening the breed screw while a 1 meter tube was attached and tied to the cieling. I had hopes this would give me an idea as to why the brakes is sticky. The reault of the easing of brake pressure was that the brakes was preventing the frontwheel turning freely.

I guess this leads to the conclusion that the fault is not in the master cylinder part. This points back to the caliber part. Maybe i shall put on a new o-ring or?

[Kevin400F]

Gentlemen, take another look at the picture.....hole A, the one closest to the brake hose, is the very tiny hole.  When the piston is retracted (brake not applied), the space under that hole is open across the cylinder bore.  When you poke into Hole B, you hit the piston assembly, so it sounds like what you're seeing as far as the nylon wire insertion distances are perfectly normal.

Kevin in TX

[mkramer1121]

Kevin, your right, I had my holes backwards.  Sorry.  Still seems to be something with the caliper though.  There was a thread just posted in the FAQs done by TT as to how to fix sticky front brakes.  Maybe have a look as hes an expert here and I'm only trying to help based on my experience.

[LoopsAndLogic]

If you don't have pits or you already replaced the front piston seal, you definitely need to re-hone the inside bore of the caliper housing.

I did mine with wet sandpaper and started with 1200 and worked up to 3000. Left it nice and smooth and the piston goes all the way
to the back with ease with no sticking, whats so ever.

It's highly recommended!

Best of luck

[jensk]

How much is sticking?

I can press the piston to the bottom of the bore when I use both thumbs. If I use only one thumb I cannot press it in. Is this to much sticky or is it ok?

How do you determine if a o-ring needs to be changed?

When I had the caliber dismantled I removed all the crud in the o-ring groove.
/jk

[TwoTired]

I have read all the postings about getting air out of the system and I believe that there is no air in the hydralics. My brakelines are braided and not. The line from the master cylinder is braided. The one down to the wheel is ordinary.

Is your rubber line old or new?  Old rubber hoses swell under pressure and limit the maximum pad pinch at the rotor.

How well are these bikes supposed to brake. My front brake is very lame when cold. As is heats up after a few brake ups it gets better. Even when warm i can pull  the grip all the way to the handle and still barely get the front wheel to block. Is this normal or are my pads contaminated or?

Are these new pads or old?  New pads take a while to fully seat and make full contact with the rotor.
If you have old pads that have EVER been contaminated with brake fluid, fork oil, or caliper housing grease, you will need new ones, or live with the weak brakes as they "lubricate" themselves.
With my 550s, the ones with old rubber lines, I cannot lock the front tire.  The ones with SS braided lines, I can chirp the front tire with about 1/4 inch to go between the lever and grip.  I can lock old hard tires.  But, new soft rubber tires just sqwall and scare me.
Remember that Honda introduced the front disc brake with these old bikes.  I believe they adjusted their sensitivity so that the riders of the older brakes won't grap a handfull in the corners and slide off the road on the side of the bike.  You will NOT be able to one finger the SOHC4 brake lever.
The only other explanation for your lever/pressure issue is remaining air in the system.  Bleed then as best up can and position the bike with the master relief port as near to the sky as you can manage.  Allow to sit overnight.  Next day open the top cap and watch that tiny hole as you slowly move the brake lever. Do you see any bubbles? 

The other part of the front brake issue is that the caliber doesn't retract very well. I have dismantlet the caliber and I can have the pad falling out og the house by gravity. I can press the piston into the house with good use of my thumbs - and by this have brakfluid squirt out of the caliber house.

The test I use, is that with no seal in the caliper, the piston moves in and out of the caliper bore with gravity.  So, should the brake pad.
Old seals may lose resiliency and fail to retract the pad.  And, it their are lots of deep pits in the piston, this will prevent the puck seal from doing its job, as well.

As I see it there is only one possible cause og sticky brakes left - a clogged compensation port. I have tried to put a stiff nylonwire into the two holes in the reservoir. The one marked A i can get the nylon wire about 1/2" down into the hole. On the hole marked B I can get it 1/10" into the hole. Is the hole B clogged? If clogged i need to know the diameter of the often mentioned guitar string. When i bleed the brakes bubles only cmes out of hole A

If you can get bubbles out of the pressure relief hole in the master, it is not holding holding hydraulic pressure in the line.  You can test for this by cracking open a hydraulic line.  If this allows the piston to retract, then there is a master cyl problem.  If not, the problem lies elsewhere.

I have seen rubber lines deteriorate internally and behave as one way valves.  They would pass pressure/fluid to the caliper but not allow relief.  Only way to find that was to crack the fittings at each end.

Cheers,

[jensk]

TT -Thank you for a very thorough reply.
Which one is the pressure reflief hole in the reservoir A or B?

I guess i can conclude the following.
It doesn't seems like i can pump the brake so i guess the master cylinder piston is ok.
The ability to pull the lever all he way to the handle is most likely a result of a very old rubber brake line - I will change it to a braided tomorrow.
I wil also buy new o-ring seal so i can be certain that it isn't the old o-ring seal preventing retraction of the pads from the disk.

Piston is a bit pittet but until other things have been testet i will accept the piston as ok.

I conclude that the braking force i have is normal since I can get it to allmost block the front wheel when i pull the hardest I can = til lever allmost touches the handle.

[Bob Wessner]

Piston is a bit pittet but until other things have been testet i will accept the piston as ok.

It all depends on where and how much pitting there is. If it occurs where the piston seal contacts the piston during piston movement, that could cause leakage.

[jensk]

I have had no leaking around the piston even when i drove around doing repeating breaking maximum power , accelerating to 80kmh - braking maximum - accelerating to 80kmh for half an hour using only the front brake. After this test i dismantled the brake and inspected behind the movable pad to se if the o-ring seal was tight. No leaking occuring so i conclude that the piston - o-ring seal is holding the brakefluid where it should be - in the caliber cavity.

Can the o-ring seal hold tight but have difficulty retracting the piston/pad?

[paulages]

just my two cents: everything that TT said (except that i can 1 finger brake, but i have two disks and SS lines) is great advice as usual. in my experience, the seal seldom needs to be replaced. what is CRITICAL however, is that every last bit of crud is cleaned out of the groove it sits in though. and i don't believe you've bled all of the air out of your lines. i've been there with these brakes: you aren't getting any more air at the bleeder or back through the M/C, but it's still squishy. try bleeding your way down the lines at every fitting. air can get trapped at the brake switch junction.

[jensk]

I can understand a spongy feeling in the lever as a sign of air in the system somewhere but can air in the system cause sticky brakes?

[TwoTired]

Can the o-ring seal hold tight but have difficulty retracting the piston/pad?

Yes.

Show us a picture of your piston pitting where it is at its worst.

The property of the seal returning to its original shape is what retracts the piston.
If the seal is filling many large pit voids, it's shape is distorted and it's internal stress forces are uneven.  Void filling reduces the ability of the seal to return to square cross section.    If the seal has hardened with age, the piston slides over it, rather than distorting the seal in parallelogram fashion, losing piston retraction ability.

That rubber part is not only a seal.  It's a dual function part where only one function is blatantly apparent.
Certainly any debris in the seal's nesting groove will also interfere with its function.

One thing I omitted in my previous post, is that of setting .006 inch stationary pad clearance to the disk.  Too large a gap increases the brake lever travel to where you can run out.  Too little a gap and the pad can drag and overheat.

Cheers,

[jensk]

This is the three sides of my piston with pits. None of the scars are more than a fraction of a mm deep.
The o-ring seems very herdened so I guess it has to be changed to get a god retraction of the piston.

[TwoTired]

The piston doesn't look that bad.  But, I haven't seen one with that long groove pit either.  Can you determine if that groove is near an edge of the caliper seal during operation? 

Speculation: Maybe you need to grind off some of the pad in order to position the seal away from that long pit?

Cheers,

[jensk]

There is a small pit - the one on the middle picture approx 1 cm down, a little to the right of the middle on the pict - that is directly on the o-ring. This pit is also one of the deepest pits ½ - 3/4 mm. Even with this pit the seal doesn't leak so i assume that it doesn't have a negative effect on the brake. The long horisontal pit on the picture to the left is also directly where the o-ring meets the piston.

I did grind of some of the pad. I did it because i thought that the pad was contaminated with some grease since I couldn't get more brake effect out of pulling the lever. As I undrstand that part now the "lame" braking effect is how it is with these brakes aka buildin ABS 

Today I will go hunting for a braided brakeline and for a new seal. Is a seal like this normal for bikes at this age (77).

I have cleaned the seal and the housing and I can get the piston in the caliber without much force when the seal is seated in the caliber. I can get the piston out by compressed air at very low pressure - comes out as soon as air is going inside the brakeline.

[liaudio]

On the CB's, when all else fails, a dragging front brake is caused by a malfunctioning master cylinder.  a new rebuild kit will run about $40.  The caliper is also a cause for concern, but the older CB's are notorious for needing a rebuild on the front master cylinder. 

[bryanj]

I know i will probably be a lone voice but i would junk that piston and replace Remember that you only have one neck.
Have you cleaned the caliper bracket pivot pin?

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Can the o-ring seal hold tight but have difficulty retracting the piston/pad?

Yes.

Show us a picture of your piston pitting where it is at its worst.

The property of the seal returning to its original shape is what retracts the piston.
If the seal is filling many large pit voids, it's shape is distorted and it's internal stress forces are uneven.  Void filling reduces the ability of the seal to return to square cross section.    If the seal has hardened with age, the piston slides over it, rather than distorting the seal in parallelogram fashion, losing piston retraction ability.

That rubber part is not only a seal.  It's a dual function part where only one function is blatantly apparent.
Certainly any debris in the seal's nesting groove will also interfere with its function.

One thing I omitted in my previous post, is that of setting .006 inch stationary pad clearance to the disk.  Too large a gap increases the brake lever travel to where you can run out.  Too little a gap and the pad can drag and overheat.

Cheers,

TT,

So the seal's reflex back to its original dimensions and maybe some micro-vibration of the disk and pads is responsible for piston retraction, eh?  If so, then the seal material would need to supple enough to have "shape memory" yet be "grabby" enough to be distorted by the piston's forward movement and to haul the piston backwards when the hydraulic pressure is released.  In addition to holding hydrolic fluid & pressure, the seal acts as a spring with very short travel.

Guess that would also explain why the seal has a square cross section and not round.

[jensk]

Thank you for all the replies.
I have ordered new seal, piston and a new braided brakeline today - don't want to fool around with my health.

I don't think it is the mc that has the fault. I have two master cylinders - one with a rubber sleve and one without
They are marked 2A2 and 1T2. I have been told that the one marked 2A2 is the original that came with my 77 CB550K3. The other one marked 1T2 is from a 78 CB550F i have been told.


I have dismantled the 2A2 mc and rinsed it. It ssems to function ok and is holding pressure without leaking brakefluid.


The 1T2 (with a rubber sleve) is leaking a little bit but I don't know hos to dismantle it. Is there a circlip underneath the rubber sleve or and how do I get to the circlip without destroying the rubber sleve?

[TwoTired]

Both those masters should have the rubber dust boot.  Replacements are included in the rebuild kit, which you need if it is leaking.

The dust boot is difficult to extract without tearing.  The best technique I've found is to use a round pointed tool to release the rubber from the center shaft.  Once the rubber is standing proud of the shaft, pull the boot directly out.  There is a metal ring that holds the base of that rubber.   Small right angle picks can be quite handy.

Then the fun begins, because the piston is held in by am internal snap ring.  You need a long nose snap ring pliers to remove that.  Such a tool can be difficult to find.  The rest of the dismantle is pretty straight forward after the snap ring is removed.

Cheers,

[snoop]

I am currently doing my brakes right now,  the manual shows the snapring going on top of the rubber.  When I pulled it apart, the snap ring was below the rubber.  Does it matter which order?

[liaudio]

there is a circlip which holds the dust boot on.  under that is the snapring which holds the entire assembly in the cylinder.

[jensk]

I have gotten the new seal, the new piston and new pads. Couldn't get a new brakeline so that must wait till after easter. I wiped the disk with acetone to get rid of possible old grease on it.

There was a small white nylon ring with the piston-side pad. Should that be installed with the pad?

After installing the new parts i tried the brake and it was disturbingly lame. I guess it is due to brun in of the new pads. At the beginning I could rock the front wheel with the brake lever pulled.

I have been driving around with the lever pulled and i can still drive in 1.st gear with the lever pulled all the way to the handle.

Absolutly sure there is no air in the system. Mc still not leaking and no other leaks can be seen on the system.

My next step would be to change the lower brakeline to a braided type and se if it helps. I'm running out of ideas if that doesn't help.

[TwoTired]

There was a small white nylon ring with the piston-side pad. Should that be installed with the pad?

Yes

I have been driving around with the lever pulled and i can still drive in 1.st gear with the lever pulled all the way to the handle.

Absolutly sure there is no air in the system. Mc still not leaking and no other leaks can be seen on the system.

There are a limited number of causes to the symptom you describe.
It is very hard to believe you don't still have air inside the hydraulic system as that is number two on the list.
Number one would be leaks.
Number three would be non-rigid hydraulic lines.
Number four would be low friction disc pads.
Number five is a compressible liquid in the system.  What are you using for brake fluid?  Is it purple?

Have you read the front brake caliper rebuild article in the FAQ?

The pads are porous.  If they have been contaminated, heating the pad will bring grease, oil, etc. to the surface to reduce friction.
They also take much longer to seat and make full contact with the rotor when lubricated.

The nylon washer serves two functions.
1) It helps keep the caliper side pad wear even.
2) It softens initial engagement so the brake has less initial grab.  (this makes them feel more like drum brakes.)

I can't help but think you are overlooking something.  Maybe it is time to seek professional help?

Best of luck,

[jensk]

I am about to reach the same conclusion as you are - I need profesional help on this. I think I have read the brake faq, the original Hondsa workshop manual, the Haynes and the Clymer book.

I have mounted a 1 meter piece of tubing on the bleed screw - tied the other end to the ceiling and have had the reservoir and the bleed screw opened for 48 hours to get air out of the system. Brakefluid leveled weel between the tubve and the reservoir.

My brakefluid is from a new bought bottle (seal unbroken) Dot3 fluid. The fluid is clear yellow'ish.

I did discover several cracks in the lower rubber brakeline so today I was at several dealers to get a new braided lower brakeline. None of them could make one needed because the lower joint to the copper brake pipe was of a type not used/accessible anymore in Denmark.

They offered to cut the copper pipe and mount a new joint on the brakepipe that would fix current brakeline fittings. I will bring the caliber and brakeline tuesday and let them do this conversion and at the same time get a braided lower brakeline.

On of them told me that the lame braking also could be a result of have a disc that have been warmed to much for to long. He suggested to get a new disc but i don't know if he is just getting me to buy things i don't need. How do i determine if the disc is worm out by to much heat for to long. The disc is not worn to this according ot the manual.

[kslrr]

Unless your disk shows definite signs of excessive wear or has deep groves, you do not need a new one.  Just have it dressed up a bit to roughen the surface.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

The disk may be stamped with its minimum thickness.  Make sure it has plenty of meat left by making sure it's thicker then the minimum specification.

[TwoTired]

I am about to reach the same conclusion as you are - I need professional help on this. I think I have read the brake faq, the original Hondsa workshop manual, the Haynes and the Clymer book.

I can imagine you are getting pretty frustrated with this. My condolences. I can only recommend perseverance.

I did discover several cracks in the lower rubber brakeline so today I was at several dealers to get a new braided lower brakeline. None of them could make one needed because the lower joint to the copper brake pipe was of a type not used/accessible anymore in Denmark.

Was the "part not available" comment made by the same person who recommended replacing your disc?
Yes, the "conic reverser" you need is not easy to find.  My Honda dealer doesn't have them.  But, my local M/C repair shop has them, and they are still available!  I can pop one in the mail for you if you can stand the delivery wait.

One of them told me that the lame braking also could be a result of have a disc that have been warmed to much for to long. He suggested to get a new disc but i don't know if he is just getting me to buy things i don't need.

I recommend you glaze your eyes and allow your mind to wander when this person speaks to you again.  He may have an illness that involves absorption of bovine waste.  Beware, you don't catch that disease by listening too intently.
If this is your "professional help", I withdraw my previous comment on the need.

It sounds like you lower line is a definite problem that needs correction.
But, on the subject of brake bleeding...
Try to imagine a fluid vessel with rising bubbles in it.  If the vessel is irregular, the bubbles may be blocked from rising to the surface.  Look at your brake system in the same way.  Imagine a bubble in the caliper as it rises toward the master cylinder.  Are there any ledges or coils of hose where it can linger?  These trap air to prevent proper bleeding of the system.  Reposition components, handlebars or the entire bike so that internal bubbles have an unobstructed ramp to the master cylinder bleed hole.  With the stock SOHC4 single caliper brake and master, I can bleed the brakes overnight without using the caliper bleed nipple at all.  All the air escapes through the master cylinder bleed hole when the machine is positioned properly.

Best of luck!

[paulages]

Try to imagine a fluid vessel with rising bubbles in it.  If the vessel is irregular, the bubbles may be blocked from rising to the surface.  Look at your brake system in the same way.  Imagine a bubble in the caliper as it rises toward the master cylinder.  Are there any ledges or coils of hose where it can linger?  These trap air to prevent proper bleeding of the system.  Reposition components, handlebars or the entire bike so that internal bubbles have an unobstructed ramp to the master cylinder bleed hole.  With the stock SOHC4 single caliper brake and master, I can bleed the brakes overnight without using the caliper bleed nipple at all.  All the air escapes through the master cylinder bleed hole when the machine is positioned properly.

jensk- this is why i was suggesting not only bench bleeding the master cylinder, but actually bleeding the junction as well. i've seen air get trapped there, with a line just like yours sounds. one time, was quite dramatic- upon bleeding at the splitter (this one was a '77 750F with the dual-line splitter at the lower triple tree), a loud hiss of air was released, and the brakes became immediately harder. these systems can be quite difficult to completely bleed.

on top of this, i suggest the following: lightly jiggle the lever (not all the way in), while tapping around on the line the entire way up to try and dislodge any trapped bubbles. if you get it to a point of safe riding at all, ride around jiggling the lever in the same way. the road vibrations will help work them up, and this motion with the lever is all needed to allow them into the reservoir.

i have two disks and calipers on my '76 550F, with the stock master cylinder (but do have SS braided lines). at first, a dual-capacity master cylinder was on my short list, but doing these things ended up leaving me with great braking, and a pretty stiff lever even with the stock master cylinder. all of this has  led me to believe that trapped air is at the heart of almost all of these systems' sponginess.

[jensk]

Thank you for all the good responses.
I will let my thoughts wander elsewhere next time I talk to this dealer.

Regarding bleeding I obviously haven't found the right angle of the steer and bike for all the air to escape the system. In my many attempts to bleed all air out of the system i mounted the 1 meter tube as described. Then waited till the next day. Pulled the lever many times to get some motion into the system to get the bubles moving. I could se the fluid moving up and down in the tube accordingly. I could also se very tiny bubles escaping the system through the tube but no air comming out of the compensation port in the reservoir. I repeated the procedure the next day. Unfortunately with no better braking as a result.

When using all my force I can pull the lever all the way to the handle and when driving I have very lame brakes. When i write lame it describes the situation where i with the lever pulled all the way you can still rock the bike a centimeter or to when i pushing hard. On top of this the brakes is sticky.

I shall remember to include that I have new EBC black type pads and I can allmost guarantee that they are not contaminated as I was very careful not putting grease or any other lubricant on when mounting them. The disc was wiped with acetone to clean it of lubricants.

The disc is 4mm thicker than the minimum size. I have tried to rub the surface of the disc with 60 sanding paper but the disc surface almost looks like before. The metal in the disc seems very hard and the sanding leaves allmost no traces on the surface. Maybe I should try using my sanding tool (don't know the english word for this kind of appliance - electric vibrating and revolving tool normally used to sand surfaces like wood etc).

Since everything is new except the mc and the lower brakeline is new my next step is to get a braided lower brakeline. I will take the caliber and brake pipe to the other dealer on tuesday to get him to mount a new type of joint in the brakepipe. Then mount a braided lower line and se if this helps.

The situation is a bit frustrating since i have everything else ready for pasing the registrations test to get license plates. I had the last electrics fixed the day before yesterday.

It would be great to have this solved before she's getting 30 which is 3-4 weeks from now - her first registration being may 1977.

[TwoTired]

If you are going to do the overnight gravity bleed, I suggest you close off the bleed nipple.  Any negative pressure inside the caliper can suck air in past the nipple threads. And, if there are bubbles up by the masters bleed hole, the movement of the fluid can simply push them away from the hole rather than out the hole.  You need some pressure in the fluid vessel to force out the air.

The front disk is stainless steel and very hard indeed.  Tooling this material usually requires carbide.  Scuffing the disk is a good idea to rapidly seat new pads.  I believe I used a knife sharpening stone, the last time I scuffed the front rotor.  They are available in different grits.

It is an interesting point about the pad material.  Do you know what the pad composition is?  Some pad compositions trade off friction qualities with embedded heat transfer materials.  Such pads require more pressure to produce friction.  These pads are produced for lots of heavy high speed use so speed fade and heat fade are minimized.  Some don't particularly work well UNTIL they get very hot.  Racing or heavy duty pads may be like this.
I'm not familiar with the pads you've purchased. 
But, the pedal pressure went up noticeably in my truck when I changed the brake material from organic materials to sintered iron.
Was their a reason you didn't use Honda's street use pads?

Cheers,

[paulages]

don't know what material your sandpaper is made of, but alluminum oxide is one of the toughest abrasives known to man, a "9" on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, diamond being a 10. here in the states, aluminum oxide is quite common, and should scuff stainless steel quite easily.

i've never used EBC pads, always opting for hondas.

[jensk]

Used my hand grinding stone to give the disc a good grind. Grinded it in a radial pattern. Meassured the disc again a 10 different points. It is 7.5 mm and is stamped with min thickness = 6 mm. Conclusion disc ok.

Assembled brake with the old rubber lower brake line to se if the disc grinding had helped a bit on the lameness of the brake. Bled the system through the reservoir as instructed by TT. Tappet light on the caliber with a piece of wood to get the bubles to rise in the brakeline to the reservoir. After 30 minutes i had a fairly firm brake feeling at the lever. The brake wasn't sticking - great maybe i was getting somewhere.

Took her for a short ride to test if lameness was gone. I felt a ok brake effect when i pulled the lever. Couldn't pull it all the way to the handle.  Still I can't brake effect enough to block the front wheel. As i have never used a soch/4 before I do not know if this is enough/as these front brake are?

Unfortunately after the brake test - about 10 times braking maximum on front wheel only from 60 - 80 kph - i had a sticking front brake. Disc was so warm that the raindrops evaporated from the disc the moment they hit it.

I am still a bit puzzled about what makes the brake stick after the test and not before except if it is the repeatedly pulling the lever maximum during the test makes the lower rubber brakeline collapse inside.

I guess that the next step still is to get a braided lower brakeline and a new joint on the brakepipe.

[jensk]

Now the sticky frontbrake is not sticky anymore - great - GREAT.
 
Aparently it was the combination of an old rubber brakeline and that one of the bolts holding the brakeanchor to the frontleg where the thread was wery gone.

I got a helicoil in to fix the thread, mounted the braided brakeline and now eveything works as supposed to. I can even block the front wheel  pulling the level all the way. And the brakepads are retracting well so the wheel is turning freely

Best of all the brake is very firm. I suppose that it is the result of the new braided brakeline.
Thank you to all of you who helped me on tis issue. This is a fantastic forum.
/jens

[Kamal]

IMHO,  I think anyone who rides these bikes should do themselves a favor and purchase a $30 used front master cyl. off a newer sportbike, and put this on your bikes.

I have done this with the dual disc setups I have run on my 750 and 550s, and the brakes feel almost like i am on a new bike.  One finger pressure needed, all the stopping power you can ask for.

Here, again, is the link to article I wrote years ago about this modification:

http://www.mototherapy.net/dualdiscsohc

Good Luck!