Brakes - Front Replacement

Man...Am I SOL? I need to replace the entire front brake system on a 1977 KZ650 C-1. This means the master cylinder, the hoses, calipers, shoes etc. Any suggestions for a single source to find all that good stuff? I've tried z1enterprises, bike bandit, etc. Not gone to ebay yet. Thanks to any and all that can steer me in the right direction! :S

SPIKE915 wrote:

Man...Am I SOL? I need to replace the entire front brake system on a 1977 KZ650 C-1. This means the master cylinder, the hoses, calipers, shoes etc. Any suggestions for a single source to find all that good stuff? I've tried z1enterprises, bike bandit, etc. Not gone to ebay yet. Thanks to any and all that can steer me in the right direction! :S

Hello SPIKE915 and "WELCOME to KZR!"
We're glad you're here!

eBay or a salvage yard would likely be good sources for the entire front brake system. But would be especially wary of any seller hawking front brake shoes. :huh:

Am wondering whether the entire front brake system is missing altogether, or if some components of an existing system might be repairable.

Good Luck!

ebay i see tons of front brake assy on there

FYI

[Click on image to enlarge view]

[Click on image to enlarge view]

Bikebandit lists the master cylinder, both brake calipers and 3 hoses for only $1342. Of course any additional parts such as bolts, washers, brake lever ect are not included. You're best off to buy a whole motorcycle for parts for a couple hundred bucks.

Thanks to all for the great advice. I want to replace the entire front brake system. After all, we're talking about a 31 year old bike here. Great shape otherwise with 8500 miles on it. Master Cylinder and 1 of the calipers are absolutely shot. The master cylinder on my bike is not an original Kawasaki issue. May not even be a Kawasaki part as it does not match any of the images or diagrams that I have seen for 1977 KZ650s. The components I saw on bike bandit were for KZ750s not KZ650s. I'll check again. Does anyone know if front brake components from other Kawasakis will fit my machine?

someone may have swapped out the master cyl off a 750 or later model bike, but you still should be able to take it apart and order the right size cups, most are marked, if not you can measure the bore, the caliper should be stock I would think, and parts are aval for those.
along with replacement hoses

I rebuilt the master cylinder and it failed to pump. I had a mechanic do the same...and it failed to pump. So, I've tired of that riddle. I've been poking around on ebay and I see a few master cylinders. I may try to rebuild the calipers, but I dunno. I have pistons so I should just buy the seal and boot kits. I've replaced pads and sliders on auto calipers. Never toyed with them on a motorcycle. Not sure if I can locate new or rebuilt calipers for this model.

Nice looker you gotB)
You will save a lot of money buying used off ebay but you risk ending up with parts just as bad as your current setup but if you keep a careful eye you can score good stuff. There is also a guy who sells after market master cylinders on EBay in the $70 range that others on this board have recommended. You can get the brake lines new and pretty cheap even SS lines.
You can also check Kawasaki.com and go to parts info. Find your part and click the the yellow question mark and that will tell you all other models that use that same part. FYI, my GPZ550 has the same master cylinder as like eight other models.

hey spike , not sure if this will be a help at all but check this english site for brake parts , www.wemoto.com . good luck mate

Also I've mentioned this in the past. I've rebuilt front master cylinders too and they don't pump. It's not rocket science here, it's a simple piston pump pumping fluid. I finally figured out fluid has to be first drawn into the cylinder and lines before any pressure will build up. So you can use a Mity-vac or equiv, or just do like me, the cheap way, simply suck on a clear hose attached to the bleed valve to draw fluid down the lines. I fought this on a goldwing last summer, pumping the front brake lever for 1 hr trying to get pressure with no luck.