Hybrid Revisited

[mrfreeze5]

And we have the first parts trickling in. And now I got exactly what I wanted for Christmas. A Brembo radial clutch master cylinder with CRG billet adjustable lever off a 07 Aprilia RSV. The lever needs a little cleaning, but otherwise, its so pretty!





Come on UPS guy!

[mrfreeze5]

Brembo mmmmmmm






I need to get a new lever for this ASAP so I can mount this bad boy! And the clutch MC will be on soon!

[sweekster]

Nice. Two finger clutch wheelies and two finger stoppies. Perfect balance I'd say.

[mrfreeze5]

Nice. Two finger clutch wheelies and two finger stoppies. Perfect balance I'd say.

Exactly how I like it.

[mrfreeze5]

I finally got around to installing my radial brake MC. Im not sure if I like it. Its a very soft pull, and can be done with one finger. I have to be mindful not to grab too much as it will bite hard. Twice today I felt the front end try to fold from a tad too much brake coming to a stop. It will definately take some getting used to but it does allow for more finesse. I replaced a Nissin 14mm conventional MC with a 16mm radial, so it makes sense it would feel different. One thing I really like is that the banjo bolt is on the bottom of the MC and not sticking way out, so this would be great for guys with guage swaps or nose swaps whose banjo bolt is hitting. My brake lines were kind of interfering with my headlight, now theyre nicely out of the way. Cant wait to get rid of my stupid clutch cable that is REALLY in the way. It keeps pushing my headlight down when I turn. Modking says my slave mount is almost done, so I should have the hydro clutch installed soon!

Yes, I know, I need shorter throttle cables. Ill get to it.

[cad600]

Some of the softness then grab affect you are getting when you pull the lever has to do with using a radial mount mc with non-radial calipers. The radial mc can generate substantially high forces. Another reason my be that the calipers need to be cleaned. I don't notice that feeling with my set up at all.

The one thing I hate about the swap on mine is that the radial mc sticks out farther and hits the front bird cage. This cuts down on my turn radius to one side.

[mrfreeze5]

Some of the softness then grab affect you are getting when you pull the lever has to do with using a radial mount mc with non-radial calipers. The radial mc can generate substantially high forces. Another reason my be that the calipers need to be cleaned. I don't notice that feeling with my set up at all.

The one thing I hate about the swap on mine is that the radial mc sticks out farther and hits the front bird cage. This cuts down on my turn radius to one side.

Its not exactly softness then grab, its just soft the whole way. It takes very little effort to pull a little too hard and then the brakes grab abruptly. It allows for more fine control of the braking because I have a relatively long soft pull, but there is less feel to it. My older MC had a firmer feel and seemed to give better feedback, but I think once I get the hang of this MC and how it feels, it will be different. Im not saying it feels bad, its just different. The radial calipers are still 4 piston calipers and I dont think the pistons are that much bigger than these, but I know for a fact that the piston is larger than my old MC, so that right there is going to make it feel different, plus the added leverage of the radial setup just adds to the effect. The calipers should still be nice and clean. The bike has about 1000 miles on it since everything was rebuilt, including the calipers. And when I changed out the MCs the fluid looked OK if a tad darker than original. I figured with the banjo bolt on the bottom it would allow more clearance for the birdcage and gauges, I didnt think about the MC body itself sticking out too far. Luckily I dont have that problem.

Today i ordered a shorty lever for the brake, so hopefully that will keep me from throwing that pinkie on there and giving it that extra squeeze. I think the key to this MC is going to be controling how much force I put on it at all times, it wont be very forgiving if I overdo it. I found that by using only 1 finger or 2 to brake, its much more manageable, and thats all the force I need. So long as i dont go grab a handful of brake and am comfortable with it for panic stops I should be good to go, but I am going to find a emty street or open lot and practice braking to get a feel for it. Taking it out for its first test ride in traffic today was interesting to say the least.

[cad600]

Did you bleed the MC when you put the lines on. I have not experienced this problem. Also, if you are running "HH" pads, it is cold enough out that they may not be getting up to tempature which is causing the problem.

If you look at the design of the calipers, the radial mount system has some advantages in it's distribution of pressure and it's resistance to rotation over the standard mount calipers. If it wasn't a problem, the manufactures would just put radial MC's on every bike instead of offering 2 types.

[mrfreeze5]

Did you bleed the MC when you put the lines on. I have not experienced this problem. Also, if you are running "HH" pads, it is cold enough out that they may not be getting up to tempature which is causing the problem.

If you look at the design of the calipers, the radial mount system has some advantages in it's distribution of pressure and it's resistance to rotation over the standard mount calipers. If it wasn't a problem, the manufactures would just put radial MC's on every bike instead of offering 2 types.

Yes, i did bleed the MC. in fact, it was the easiest bleed process Ive ever been through thanks to the design of the MC. I am running HH pads, and the feel was better as I rode more, but I am not sure if that was me getting used to it or if it was the parts themselves. And after my first ride I did bleed it again thinking that might be the issue but it didnt make a difference.

[cad600]

Strange. Maybe I'm just use to my set up and never paid any attention to how it was before.

[mrfreeze5]

Ill tell you what she told me. If I use the pinkie too, it's just too much. One finger, two at the most is all it needs to get the job done. I just have to get in the habit of grabbing the lever differently. I am going to try bleeding again, but this will be the 4th time. At least now the feel matches my rear brake, it feels the same way, soft, steady, then STOP.

I even tried rebleeding the front because I swore it had to have air in it the way the lever felt squishy, but no change at all.

[mrfreeze5]

Seventh time is a charm! I bled the brakes AGAIN, and this time, the first pump from the MC bubbled and then it was all good. The only thing different about bleeding this time than all the others is that I used a different type of tubing on the bleeder. Oh well, it feels better now, still different, but better. I also tried bleeding my rear brakes again since they always felt squishy, even pulled the caliper and made sure the bleeders were the highest part in the system. The brakes work, but theyre not much use, so no real change there. But at least the front is better. I am supposed to be takinga friend of mine for a ride tmrw and didnt want to do it with the way the brakes felt before. Im not sure why it picked this bleed to decide work right, maybe riding it around worked the air to the top, thats all I can figure.

[mrfreeze5]

Today I finally figured out why I have been losing oil. I couldnt find a leak anywhere and didnt think I was burning it. Turns out, the seal around the splined shift shaft is leaking pretty good, but it was just collecting road dirt and such from the chain and just gooed up inside the sprocket cover. Now that its gone, I am able to see the leak. But the way I discovered this leak was thanks to my piece of shit steel braided Ducati clutch line. The damn thing is leaking where the fitting is crimped onto the hose. LAME!! So now I need another new freaking clutch line, coupled with the fun of draining, refilling, and rebleeding the whole system again.

now If I could just figure out why my rear tire doesnt want to keep traction...

[shredex]

now If I could just figure out why my rear tire doesnt want to keep traction...

???is it slipping on you???

[mrfreeze5]

The back tire keeps breaking loose in a turn under throttle, especially when rolling on the throttle exiting a turn. It feels like the bike does a little shimmy when the tire breaks loose and grabs traction again.