Cb550 front brake

[hairygit]

Rubber brake hoses SHOULD be changed every 3 years for safety reasons, a lot of people wait until they start to crack with age or fail the M.O.T. for it, They are cheap to replace, and make an incredible difference to the braking, which is never a bad thing on a bike!

[deltarider]

Rubber brake hoses SHOULD be changed every 3 years for safety reasons, a lot of people wait until they start to crack with age or fail the M.O.T. for it, They are cheap to replace, and make an incredible difference to the braking, which is never a bad thing on a bike!

Believe it or not, mine are on since 1976 and show no cracks.

[hairygit]

Rubber brake hoses SHOULD be changed every 3 years for safety reasons, a lot of people wait until they start to crack with age or fail the M.O.T. for it, They are cheap to replace, and make an incredible difference to the braking, which is never a bad thing on a bike!

Believe it or not, mine are on since 1976 and show no cracks.

I believe you, if they are protected from direct sunlight, they don't suffer as much from cracking caused by U.V. degradation, but if you fitted new hoses you would certainly notice a difference!

[Rob.b (Rob Birkett - RIP)]

Hi. Going back to your original question,  my response would be
Yes it's not uncommon for the lever to come back almost to the bars. I agree that new brake lines are a excellent idea as are the rest of the responses so far; but don't expect the feel of a modern set up.

Having said that I would be interested to find out from other forum users how far a well set up single caliper lever will actually move toward the bars, because it's not impossible that I've just got used to mine.

Rob

[totty]

I've never measured the gap, but I know you can leave two fingers on the grip without squashing them. (Before remembering which bike you're on and starting to use all 4 again due to the effort required)

Small adjustments to the caliper arm can also have an impact on how far the lever moves.

[matthewmosse]

Mine varied from bike to bike, but if I could get the brake leaver within 5mm of the grips I regarded that as fix it time, on the sidecar which was the highest milage 500/4 bike, I always was happy to have 2 fingers still on the grips whilst breaking, bar when I needed all 4 on the brake leaver for an emergency stop. On all my 500 and 550/4s the brake lines have always been braided stainless from master to caliper, the only exception being the twin disked k3 that retained a splitter on the yokes and one of the 500s had the yoke mounted brake switch assembly - not much if any difference made to braking whether this was retained or not, just more cost in having extra joints in the line.
Even with a sidecar to add weight the single disk was capable of locking the front wheel at 30mph with a decent haul on the leaver, but in the wet or at higher speeds the brakes needed a bit more warning to stop you. I found just lighly trailing the front brake on by light application of 1 finger on the brake leaver kept the front brake nice and sharp in the wet. There was plenty of room behind the leaver for my other 3 fingers.

[Glynnrg]

Just found a very very small weep at the master cylinder piston looks like a rebuild kit is needed

[hairygit]

Well, if you've got to dismantle the hydraulics anyway, now would be a good time to fit new hoses as well, then the whole system has been sorted. Glad you found the issue!