New member- North Yorksire

[bruceybigguns]

Now then,

I have picked up my first café racer project this weekend. The guy who I bought it off was expecting some 60 year old to pick it up not a 28 year old, I told him how much cooler these bikes are than some r6 / fireblade which every Tom, Dick or Harry has 
I have attached a picture of the bike. I am confident in the fact that I have a good helping hand in my girlfriends dad who is I am sure will be willing to show me where I am going wrong when I am struggling.



Just thought I would start this blog as a place to find help when needed and hopefully learn a thing or two in the process and it may be of interest to someone some day!

First two things wrong with the bike are:

1.  The battery is not charging and I am #$%* at wiring- good start I know. Anyone got a wiring loom diagram they would share?
2.  The front break calliper (Brembo off a Ducati) rubs on the spokes and has split and is pissing break fluid, can these be repaired or do I just replace?


The wheel when in position sits clear of the calliper but when ridden rubs and that is obviously when the damage is caused. It looks as if a spacer has been added when I removed the front wheel.
My question is- do you think that the wheel is more than likely moving due to A. needing new bearings .B. needing the spacer looking at again .C. the wheel needing re-spoking etc or .D. All of the above or .E. Something else that is going to really piss me off!?

And finally- if there is a hair line fracture in a break calliper can this be welded over and re-used and kept an eye on to ensure no further leakage or would you bin it and start again?


If anyone knows of any meetings/clubs/shows/scrap yards etc in North Yorkshire area I would be grateful to hear about them- thanks in advance!

Looking forward to seeing this come along over the coming months. Going to be a long slog but no pain no gain and all that.

Cheers,
Bruce.

[SteveD CB500K0]

Hi Bruce.

1. An awesome first post. You have an avatar and have posted pictures. Must be your age - it takes some of our *older* members months (years?) to get that far!

2. I just love customised 500/4s

3. Brembos? Talk about over-braked. I'll bet if they were set up properly you'd bend the frame if you tried a real stoppie...

4. Post some close-ups of the brakes. It's possible that whoever fitted them has made a fundamental misjudgement. The bike came with a single piston pivoted caliper and fixed disc when new - modern Brembos are designed for floating discs.

Good luck.

Steve

[SteveD CB500K0]

PS: OK, its a 550...

[bruceybigguns]

You got it second time around 

[bruceybigguns]

Front of brake calliper

[bruceybigguns]

Rear of calliper where the spokes have ran against and caused the brake fluid to leek through.

Can anyone tell me if this can be repaired??

Cheers,
Bruce.

[Bryanj]

I would say not if you want to live and move all your limbs of your own volition mate.

I think you need to start from scratch and space the calipers/discs/wheel so everything clears BUT even then, as Steve said, the brembo's expect floating discs which the Honda don't got

[bruceybigguns]

Can anyone tell if this is a floating disk?

[SteveD CB500K0]

Looks like it to me.

The disc floats on those tophat bobbins. Waggle the disc with your fingers - it should move a couple of millimetres.

If the caliper is fixed and it fouls the spokes, I suggest a better/different wheel is required.

[bruceybigguns]

Steve,

It does have a bit of play in it so happy days I got a floater! 

Is there any particular wheel you would suggest I should look at and should I just buy a pair?

Cheers,
Bruce

[SteveD CB500K0]

Going back to your original post, the caliper is scrap so you are going to have to get a replacement. I certainly wouldn't go anywhere near trying to repair it!

As the caliper is aluminium and the spokes are steel, they are acting like a cheesegrater. You need to find a wheel that allows the spokes to clear the fitted caliper. Maybe only a cast wheel would do, although most "adventure" bikes with spoked wheels have these types of brakes.

And you have a 19" front wheel (or you should do) so that restricts your choices.

If the bike had an MOT (at any stage), presumably the caliper wasn't fouling on the spokes then?

My bet would be a decent wheelbuilder - ask what they would recommend.

[totty]

Find out why it only rubs when ridden before doing anything else.
There might be a simple issue such as short axle spacers, worn bearings or the wheel needing truing. Alternatively the conversion may never have worked, it might need the caliper and disk spacing out or have some other alignment, clearance or flexing issue.
If the required clearance just can't be achieved with this combination of parts then as suggested you need a different wheel or a different brake setup. Although personally if I couldn't find a straight forward fix I'd go back to standard to avoid the hassle.