Re: Urban warrior CB750 build (New parts came in!)
That's some awesome stuff you bought there, I've been thinking of buying through that site myself. They have all of the bits needed at one site, and you can't beat that. Gotta save a bundle on shipping, hey? Gonna go for the cover bolt seals, and lots of other stuff from that site. But when I added up a set of everything they sell for my bike it added up to over twelve hundred bucks, so let me just ask this horrible question: Did all of those caliper rebuild parts cost more than buying a decent pair of second hand Nissin four-pots with a can of brake cleaner and some alloy plate with a couple of drill bits and taps? Just askin'.
My own twin pot calipers off my '82 750F came seized up, crusty, etc. But once freed, which is to say once I'd wrecked one piston in a spare rear caliper from my parts bike learning how to remove them? Everything cleaned up nicely with, of all things, "brake cleaner".
I'm sure that it's worth it, getting all of the nice new parts. Your brake system probably works great now that you've done all of that. Assuming it's all put together. I just look at how much it will cost to rebuild all of my brakes and I have to ask myself if there's a way to either do it better for the same outlay, or do it almost as well for a little less wampum. Great stuff, awesome that there is still somebody out there dealing in replacement parts for these bikes. Of course it's got to be a good racket and all but having owned a bike which I could no longer get bits for at one time I am always grateful to know there's somebody out there who's got what is needed and willing to part with it for only one arm and one leg. And yet, this time I'm not doing anything like a restoration, so whatever will work is the new order of the day.
Do please let us all know how the brakes turn out, hey? If you find yourself looking for a set of the slotted brake discs I've got a couple of pairs in good condition that I don't intend to use. Before you go out and spend on a NOS set that is! Ha ha.
There are services for drilling and honing flat old discs, but man are they expensive! Once again, I had to ask myself: Do I want to pay a hundred bucks a disc to resurface and drill my old GL1000 brake discs (wire wheels from which are going on my F by the way) or does it make sense to fit up some floating discs off a CBR or a Ducati or something? Melchiro on the CB1100F.net board has done what have to be the coolest floating brake conversions on comstar wheels that i have ever seen in my life! And it doesn't look, or cost for that matter, like rocket science. Until I hear word that the man has gone to his maker while bravely doing what he loves on his gorgeous track bike, I'm going to follow in Manly Melchiro's path. Because I have to ask myself whether a brand new brake system off a thirty year old bike is anywhere near as good as a ten year old brake system off a ten year old bike...
Anyway, nice bits, thanks for sharing. I'd pay large for one of those fridge magnets too by the way. What with how hard it is to find a cool vintage CB fridge magnet, and believe me I've spent a lot of time looking for just that, well that magnet alone makes it worth even more than the price of all the OEM parts you just bought.
-Sigh.
