Miracles do happen: the brakes work!

[GSF34058]

Well, my heading has given the game away, so no need to read any further if you don’t want to.

In my introduction (Hello from Guildford) I wrote about the poor brakes on my 1,000SZ. I was not just imagining it. I know that the brake system is the same as on the GS650G that I used to own, and that the 650 is lighter than the 1,000, but even so I expected them to work better than they did.

Although the bike has just passed its MOT test the brakes were not much cop. The printed out topic I have from the Katana Central forum dated 25/5/2004, started by Deedes, is about bleeding the brakes and the trick of holding the brakes on overnight by putting a rubber band on the brake lever, so I have been having problems since at least then. Over the years in an effort to get good brakes I have bled the system a number of times, tried DOT 5 silicone fluid and DOT 4 (after a thorough flush through) replaced the master cylinder seals and caliper piston seals, taped the brake lever back overnight, and fitted braided brake hoses. None of this made much of an improvement.

So I thought I would try the organic EBC brake pads. I got a set from my local bike place on Wednesday, and fitted them that evening. The first thing I noticed that the pads I took out were exactly the same as my new ones, so I prepared myself for disappointment. But with nothing to lose I fitted the new ones. I have no idea what happened, but something to do with pushing the pistons back into the calipers, to help remove the almost unworn old pads, then putting the new ones in has resulted in a really firm brake lever. It now only moves a tiny amount before becoming firm. Did I displace an air bubble that has been trapped somewhere for years? Did it seat a master cylinder seal properly? I really don’t have a clue! I’m really happy with the result, and I’m absolutely not going to touch anything in order to find out what happened. I went for a short test ride just to check that things were better. What a difference! Now instead of worrying about not stopping I’m worried about doing stoppies! And as a bonus the brakes were still just as good yesterday.

The only thing that I can think of is that the calipers were not floating correctly, perhaps caused by the mounting pins being done up too tight. The mounting pins were way too tight: my fault because I did not have a torque wrench when I last did them up. I did notice that the offside inner pad still had some of the original machining marks on the friction surface, (I did say that they were hardly worn) so I wonder if this was the problem all along.

Yesterday I went for a 60 mile ride to visit my sister and to take the bike back to the same dealership that my brother bought the bike from when he used to work there in 1982. As I drew up outside the dealership there was a scurry of staff emerging from inside, including the chap who had arranged the purchase in 1982, and who has ridden the bike in the past. Photos were taken and reminiscences exchanged. All in all a cracking day out.

As an aside they had the new Katana in the showroom. They have commissioned a one-off Barry Sheen paint job on it. I have to say I liked the look of it a lot. Shame that it’s way out of my price range: or perhaps it’s just as well that it is. I think it is a huge improvement on the standard colours, and as soon as I have worked out how to post photos on this forum I will put up a couple of photos of it.

David

p.s. An edit to say the bike shop has put a photo up on their faceache page, for those of you that use social media (I don't, but I had to take a look!)
https://en-gb.facebook.com/haslemere.mo ... =3&theater

And photos of the Barry Sheen paint job on the new one
https://en-gb.facebook.com/haslemere.mo ... =3&theater

[Kryten]

Fuck me that’s dreadful, the Barry Sheene bike.

................

Er, I quite like that.....




<Wanders off to fridge for another beer...>

[GSF34058]

I knew the Barry Sheen paint job would not be to everyone's taste. I'm not very fond of the looks of the new silver Katana because it does not look anything like the original that it's trying to replicate. But as a modern bike the Barry Sheen colours look good to me. Just in the same way as I like any bike in the Rizla and Repsol paint schemes. They stand out from the crowd. I'm a bit stuck in the past with bikes and know nothing about new models. To be honest they all look like new versions of the UJM to me, so that anything that stands out from the crowd I find interesting.

David.

[PaulD]

Well I must be very weird then because I think the Busa is stunning

[Lexdba]

Well I must be very weird then because I think the Busa is stunning

You truly are mad