[FrankenWing]

I did a search and came up empty. After taking my new to me 1983 wing out for a ride today I fear that it needs a Front brake Master Cylinder re-build.

The brakes are what I call "Old School ABS" Squeeze and stomp as hard as you want to and the bike slows down... Kind of. LOL

Any tips on where to find a re-build kit? Sorry if this has been discussed before I am a new Wing owner and new to the forum. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Bamaeagle]

I get most of my parts from...www.cyclemaxohio.com

Great people to deal with and they ship fast also.

They have an OEM section and you just look up your year of wing and find the parts you need. Not sure if they have a master cylinder kit though....as there really is not much too it. Might just need a good cleaning and flushing with new fluids.

I did mine and added steel braided brake lines (boy what a diffrence) to both front and rear.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

starting in '83 honda put linked brakes on the wings so the lever only works one ( the right rotor i think ) brake and the pedal works the other front brake and the rear and to me the brakes always seem spongie

 

[FrankenWing]

starting in '83 honda put linked brakes on the wings so the lever only works one ( the right rotor i think ) brake and the pedal works the other front brake and the rear and to me the brakes always seem spongie

Please tell me this is NOT right. A linked system should be rear also applies one front BUT the Front operates BOTH front. I will need to have a look.

If it is as you say I will be making some mods and losing the linked system all together. I might anyway. I have no use for linked brakes.

 

[Cantankerous]

Rear pedal actuates the right front caliper and the rear. Front brake handle applies the left front caliper.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

i don't like the linked brake system but there is no way to undo it on a 1200 or 1500 wing. you having an '83 can get everything you need from an '80 - '82 wing

 

[FrankenWing]

Rear pedal actuates the right front caliper and the rear. Front brake handle applies the left front caliper.

If this is true then I will be re-routing things. My front brake lever WILL operate BOTH front brakes.

i don't like the linked brake system but there is no way to undo it on a 1200 or 1500 wing. you having an '83 can get everything you need from an '80 - '82 wing

Why not simply re-route your brake lines and make them go directly to where they should go?

 

[budoka]

Not overly sure about the linked brakes on the 1100 in '83, but I can say that the system on my '84 worked extremely well...once you got used to it. Many of us grew up 'old school' and dual discs up front were hard to modulate and the rear binder locked the wheel by looking at the pedal too hard. I don't remember if there was any kind of a proprtioning valve in the linked sustem on the 1200, but there is on the 1800's and I think the 1500's did too. Hard to rethink and train yourself to stomp that pedal but it works the way it's intended. Now you can always invest a lot of time and money in custom building a brake system that you like, but you're only likely helping out Brembo.
The new systems are linked and combined so the lever activates the front and rear as does the pedal, but with the multi piston system, they split the duties much more evenly and with more whoa power.

 

[FrankenWing]

Not sure how or why you would think it will take a lot of time or money to simply route the brake lines to work as they should work. When I apply the rear brake I want zero brake force being applied to the front.

It is a 1983 Wing! At this point I am not even sure it has linked brakes. I am only basing this from what etdrbuzzard posted. If it does have linked brakes I will change that. It is as simple as new brake lines which I intended to replace anyway.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

the front master cylinder may not be large enough for both front disc you may need one from an '80 - '82 wing. honda uses what is basiclly a " t " to split the lines going to the front brakes. you can go the same route or use a longer line from the master cyl and banjo bolt for the rear you'll need to disconnect the line going to the front brake and cap it

 

[budoka]

Let me be clear, I wasn't trying to scare you or anything such. If you were planning on replacing the lines anyway, yes you had an idea of the cost for that kind of upgrade. Like detdr says, you may need a larger cylinder as well, plus whatever you uncover in the process. if it was me, I'd likely do a real major custom brake set-up (why I mentioned the brand I did) and end up with some very serious brakes indeed. The '83 1100 did come with the first linked Goldwing brake system, as well as the 1st TRAC anti-dive I believe.

 

[Towbiz]

I have a GL1500 with a sidecar. The sidecar brake is linked to the front master cylinder. The brake lever feels very "mushy". I realize that the mastercylinder is doing more than it was designed to with an additional 32 MM caliper and 5'- 6' of brake line.The line to the sidecar is a braided SS. Any ideas to help. I welcome all opinions and guesses. Thanks

 

[Dookoo]

Whoa. Before you do anything, have you bled the brakes? Fresh brake fluid and no air in the lines does wonders for very few $. That would be first on my list and then go from there.

 

[Towbiz]

Multiple times, with a vacume bleeder. Thanks

 

[FrankenWing]

New is good

I have it sorted... One of these is in the mail as I type this. http://www.randakks.com/Master Price Catalog.htm#3

The Master Cylinder on the bike as the rest of the bike was not well maintained (No fluid flush every two years) and is corroded to the point it would need to be replaced or rebuilt.

The new master cylinder will be perfect for BOTH front brakes (as it should be) and I will simply block the ridiculous linked system at the rear.

I picked up timing belts, oil filter, radiator cap, spark plugs and am now off to source a one into two splitter and brake lines for the front.

FRANKENWING IS COMING TO LIFE!!!

 

[tschutter]

Many Thanks for Thread - Brakes

So my brakes were 'mushy' in the front. I started by bleeding the fronts. When I got to the right, I opened the bleeder - you already know what happened, no fluid. So I got online wondering where I should buy parts to rebuild the caliper, but after reading this post, I said "NO WAY", but trucked off for another ride around the block. Sure enough, I can't lock up the back brake - and the right rotor got warm like it was supposed to. I'm beginning to be a believer! Thanks so much - no problem with da brakes. And I'll start using them correctly.
I love it when the problem is with the operator - not the bike. I can fix that.

 

[ember1205]

Rear pedal actuates the right front caliper and the rear. Front brake handle applies the left front caliper.

Are you SURE this is accurate? My understanding is that the rear brake pedal applied the rear brake and the opposite side front caliper (but possibly not at the full rate as being applied to the rear). The front lever would actuate BOTH front brakes and partial rear brake.

 

[tschutter]

My testing was that the front brake lever controlled the left front caliper (I think only but I didn't check my rear brake for heat). The rear brake applied the rear caliper and the front right caliper.

 

[ember1205]

Rear pedal actuates the right front caliper and the rear. Front brake handle applies the left front caliper.

Are you SURE this is accurate? My understanding is that the rear brake pedal applied the rear brake and the opposite side front caliper (but possibly not at the full rate as being applied to the rear). The front lever would actuate BOTH front brakes and partial rear brake.

I did the brakes on my wing over the weekend since I had the wheels off to put on new tires anyhow...

Cantankerous is dead-on with his description and I wanted to essentially rescind my questioning him so that others know that his information is 100% correct.

I got confused between the wing and my VFR, both of which have linked brakes. The system on the VFR works differently than the one on the wing and I mixed the two of them up.

 

[Bob Myers]

I have the same problem as Towbiz has outlined above, GL1500 and a sidecar. Sidecar is tandem with front brake and the master just don't produce enough juice with one squeeze to properly apply both the sidecar and right front caliper.
It has tiny stainless line, and i just replaced the front with a stainless line from HEL. Absolutely no improvement.
Looks like I'll be looking for a master cylinder with larger piston, or at least one that was designed to operate 2 front calipers.
Any one know what the bore is on the 1500 front master?