Brake machining possible?

Hello, ancient fzr problem here again…

The front brakes are giving me grief. It feels like the little plungers in the calipers are letting fluid and pressure bypass equalling not strong braking pressure. Can’t find any leaks so it’s internal. I already replaced the lever/ resovoir assembly thing and it didn’t fix the problem. I took it to a couple of guys in Banchiao for bleeding, adjustment or to see if there was something I missed but they have come to the same conclusion as I.

They also say that new fzr calipers will cost me an arm and a leg, that is, if they are possible to even buy. Now, I don’t put much stock in the woeful shaking of local mechanics heads, as a lot of them couldn’t be trusted to do much more than the most basic maintenance, but I remember other remedies for bad brakes.

I remember an old honda I had back in Canada with this problem. I took it to my friend’s brake shop, we took the brakes out, took them apart, honed the shiny hydralic surfaces so they were really clean and new looking, replaced the seals with nice pliable rubber, put the whole thing back together and back on the car, and it worked very well.

Is it not possible to get a brake service like this in Taiwan? I really don’t want to special order super expensive parts from Japan or wherever just for this. It’s an old bike, and even though I have taken very good care of it and it runs like a top and looks good, it’s just not worth spending 10 grand or more on it right now. I was thinking of selling it, actually, but can’t in good conscience sell a machine that is unsafe or not as good as I would hope to buy. Call it automotive karma or something like that.

Part of the problem is that I have an old scooter that I drive a lot for convenience sake and I only really use the fzr sporadically. it ends up being parked too much and that is one of the worst things you can do for a bike or any vehicle. Things get rusty and dry out.

Other alternatives:

Is it possible to maybe outfit another manufacturers braking system (rotors, calipers, etc) in place of the original? Would a single disk system work? NRS’s have single disks. I’ve seen some with Brembo or other “name brands”. Would this be prohibitively expensive as well? I really have no idea.

Would it be ok if i tied a large rock to a rope and tied the rope to the frame or something and just dropped it when I wanted to stop?

Should I hire an entourage of off duty police officers to flank me when I want to go anywhere so I just never have to stop?

Goodnight

Can’t really help with the mechanical details but it should be possible to get new FZR calipers here, and not at a huge price either. All parts were still available for the Breeze at the time I sold it a couple of years ago, and that’s an older model than the FZR I think.

I don’t think the FZ150s/FZR150s were ever sold in Japan, anyway (though the engine was based on a Japanese 250cc one), and I’m pretty sure the parts were made here.

It would help if you would explain what your actual problem is…

Mushy lever? Brakes drag, overheat and squeal…? What’s the problem?

No resistance in lever, almost no braking power. I Guess you could call it spongy feeling. Before I replaced the lever and resoivoir it would stop fine, but the lever would stay stuck. brakes would drag a bit but not for long.

Feels exactly like bad calipers to me.

A couple of mechanics told me I can’t get the parts anymore. I’ve been told a couple of times that the parts came from Japan. What’s up with that? I guess I’ll take it to Mr Chen.

I used to be able to put it on it’s front wheel if I needed to.

Sounds to me like the pistons in the calipers are sticking. The brake parts on the FZ/FZR models are indeed from Japan and are of very good quality IMO. You may find that the seals and pistons are simply full of road dirt and accumulated brake dust. That can cause them to stick and that can prevent the fluid from returning the master cylinder. That in turn causes the spongy feeling and may prevent a proper bleeding of the brakes.
Take the calipers one at a time off the forks but don’t remove the hoses. Remove the pads, shims etc. Gently squeeze the lever to push the pistons out a little so as to expose a few mm of the pistons for cleaning. Not too much or you may have them pop right out. If the dust covers are intact then take a toothbrush and some brake fluid and gently clean the pistons, seals and dust covers. Everything needs to be perfectly clean. If the dust covers are torn then start looking for new calipers.
Gently push the pistons back as far as you can. It should be slow going and pushing one in will push the other out. Check that the rising fluid doesn’t spill out of the reservoir and ruin your paint. Gently wedging the pistons apart helps, just use some wood or plastic and take your time. Now wash with soapy water, reassemble the pads and hardware, and go do the other caliper.
Now bleed the brakes and you should be doing stoppies again.

You can fit the FZ front brake to the FZR. The calipers are identical, just the FZ has a single larger disk instead of the FZR’s two. The FZ single disk is plenty of brake power for the bike. Problem is that the fork is also different since the FZ having a larger disk means the caliper mounts are in a different location.

IIRC the FZR calipers are the same as those fitted to older FZR400 models, and the FZ item is the same as that on the SRX400/600. Just in case you have access to breaker’s yard parts or can scrounge them up on ebay.