brake hose cleaning

[re5martin]

iam in the process of trying to dislodge dryed up brake fluid from the front brake system 1st does any one haveany tips on how toclean out the hoses . 2nd how does the fluid resivoir come away from the aluminum housing and 3rd when rebuilding is it nesesary for the fluid holes in the bango to excatly line up with the holes in the bolt?.thanks martin.

[Al Corelli]

The bolt holes do not have to line up.

The reservoir has two screws inside on the bottom.

I have tried a couple of ways to clean the front hoses.....

Do you really want to trust those old brake hoses?

Jess should have replacements.

[goandy]

Also, when you're cleaning and resealing the master cylinder, there are two little holes in the housing directly beneath the reservoir which pass through to the cylinder bore. One has a reasonable hole around 1mm that you can see, but the other hole is really tiny and that needs to be cleaned as well as they more often than not clog up. I used the finest jet drill I had to poke it through.

I'd also go with new hoses if your current ones are blocked and perished.... ask Jess or a local hydraulic hose/brake mob. If you're really desperate to use the old hoses you could try blowing them through with compressed air or soaking them in hot water to try and loosen any crud...

How about your calipers- are they seized too? My brakes were entirely clogged and seized when I got my bike- it had been sitting for 5 years apparently.

[gerryggg]

Factory recommendation for all brake hoses is to replace every 4 years. That may be a bit extreme, but since the newest RE is at least 35+ years old, they're probably due. Having a brake line pop while trying to stop is no fun. Luckily the only time it's happened to me is while unloading a bike from a truck. Messy, but not disastrous.

[wayne]

Martin, since you've got it all apart, don't neglect a Master cylinder rebuild kit and a hone of the cylinder. Could save you headaches later.

Also, if I do a complete rebuild of the brake system, I change to silicon. Far less dramatic doing brake flushes or even simple topping of fluid when I know silicon won't harm my paint.

[re5martin]

thanks for the replies , the bike iam working on is my NOS blue re5m so iam trying to retain the origanal hoses as they have never seen action just the brake fluid has dried up because i failed to periodicaly change it . my resivoir on this bike does not have the screws vissable just a blank plate with two little holes while on my other bikes the screws are clearly vissable does this plate need to be removed first?. martin.

[goandy]

On my bike there is a metal disc directly beneath the reservoir, so the screws pass through the plastic rerservoir, through the metal disc then into the master cylinder. Sounds like yours may be a bit different. I've also noticed that both the reservoirs on my bikes are slightly different heights.

[tom93gts]

I cleaned dried crud out of my hoses by stripping the copper core out of a coax TV cable and running it through the lines. I probably should be replacing my hoses though, they are looking a little rough.

[re5martin]

hi again, got all the hoses cleanded out and tested using an old master cylinder so everything there ok. now the master cylinder is a different story , it would seem it is a after market or certanily different from the norm unit .This bike origanated from france so wether it had to be altered for that market i dont know and cant see why . the unit fitted does not have any suzuki markings or jap manufactories marks and the resivoir is a whiteish colour rather than the clear of origanal and there is no cut out for the brake light switch ,so at the moment i am a little perplexed as to why a bike that is supposed to be as it came out of the crate should end up with a aftermarket master cylinder .head scratching . martin.

[wayne]

Martin I've just flicked through the back of the M/A parts book "for your market" where individual regional differences are shown. It appears that the front brake master cylinder and reservoir were common across all markets.

[ap951]

Also, if I do a complete rebuild of the brake system, I change to silicon. Far less dramatic doing brake flushes or even simple topping of fluid when I know silicon won't harm my paint.

[/quote]

+1 on that. Silicon Dot 5 is completely un-compatible with regular brake fluid & it will swell seals if the two are mixed however if you are doing a complete rebuild you can convert the system to silicon. Interesting thing, my 98 Harley came from the factory with silicon brake fluid. When I rebuilt the brakes on my RE5 I went to the Harley store to buy silicon brake fluid. I noticed the new Harleys on the showroom floor used non-silicon brake fluid. I asked the sales manager why Harley went back to the old stuff and he could not answer my question. A quick Google search turned up that Dot 5 silicon brake fluid does not work with the new ABS system that Harley uses on some if its bikes

[re5martin]

thanks for that Wayne ,I can only presume that at some stage in its sationary life the brake assembly has become damaged or has been borrowed to repair another bike and replaced with this after market object the bike was stood at the dealers for some years so to have had bits uplifted to get other bikes repaired my not be a unreasonably asumption. in rumaging throuh my spares i have a master cylinder with a good reservoir so hopefully with a good cleanup and repaint and repair kit i will have a decent assembly , thing i will go down the silicone fluid route at least then any leaks n drips wont cause any damage . thanks guys martin.

[HGH 770N]

Martin. My "UK" 1974 "M" Bike Reservoir casting is clearly marked on the underside of the casting with the Suzuki "S" and "made in japan" , It has NO front break light switch fitment, This was not a requirement for the UK market at this time,maybe the same for the French market as well.
Regards
Rog