my bike, restoration update, front brake part 2

The front brake has proved to be quite time consuming and I would categorise the refurb of it as one of the more major jobs on the bike.

Strip down; most jobs are relatively simple nuts and bolt removal with the exception of the caliper pistons. The manual tells you to drain all fluids and pop the pistons out with air, my home made solution was using a bicycle pump (track pump), a home made adaptor to fit in to the banjo hole and a bicycle puncture patch as a gasket so I could get as much air in to the brake as possible. Not shown in the picture but you need to leave the bleed nipple in the caliper or air will escape.

note: leave the bleed nipple in to plug that hole!

Once all the parts, bolts and seals were removed all parts were scrubbed in a parts washer to de-grease and the surfaces scrubbed ready for paint.

Using VHT caliper paint I then gave everything 3 coats and left to dry for a good 6hrs. Following the instructions I then oven backed at 200 degrees for 1 hour to properly cure and this final process makes the paint chemical resistant.

This presented another problem, it completely ruined the sight glass window in the reservoir. fortunately replacements are available on ebay so a new one was promptly ordered. The replacement is a press fit which isn't as alarming as it sounds. The reservoir only has to deal with fluid expansion and is under no real pressure as brake systems only have pressure between the lever piston and the caliper piston.

My Bike, brake parts and picture updates

This week I manged to get a few things for the front brake rebuild including a caliper and master cylinder rebuild kits. I also found a microfiche for the FWD which I thought would be a nice thing for the archive but I would also like to scan it/ read it, so if anybody has any suggestions here please leave in the comments bellow.

I also took a few photos to show where the bike is a the moment!

My Bike, Restoration update front brake part 1

When looking at the front brake assembly of my MBX80 it quickly became apparent the spare parts may not be as easy to come by as the double front brake set up of the UK specific FWDD model.

The front brake of the FWDD has a different master cylinder as it has to push a different ratio of fluid compared to the single disc model. The brake calipers are single piston sliding calipers (LH and RH) opposed to a single twin piston caliper. Obviously there are three hoses opposed to one and also a splitter unit.

Here are the parts diagrams from CMS

So the first task was to find replacement brake hoses, which if you want to use steel braided brake lines is actually easy as everybody seems to list the FWDD and will sell you a set. However as this bike is meant to be factory spec build I needed to find replacement rubber OEM style hoses.
Looking online on CMS and also speaking to David Silver Spares at the Stafford Classic Bike Show only one hose is now available as a spare part so I needed to find an aftermarket supplier.

Google unearthed Brake Quip rubber hoses via Proflex hoses so I sent a speculative e-mail to see if this is something they did, the reply came back and they said they could make them no problem and would just need the original hoses as patterns. I posted my hoses and they made a replica set for me and also supplied all the bolts and copper washers. The price is comparable to the braided hose kit, so if you want a set for your restoration give them a shout and say I sent you!

Old hoses on the left, new on the right