Brakes are sticking on my KZ750e

Ok...ordered two repair kits (figured I'd do both calipers while I'm tearing everything down on the system), a pack of 10 banjo washers (thanks for telling me I needed them too!), and a repair manual from Z1 (figured I pay the extra 2 bucks bc I would save more on shipping). Hopefully they will get the order shipped quickly for me so I can get the brakes fixed by Wednesday afternoon (probably wishful thinking on being able to fix it that quick!) since it will be nice out then!

Thanks for all the tips and advice guys, I may be posting more questions in a few days when I attempt the repair. If not, I will be posting of my success!

~Clutch

clutch wrote:

Ok...ordered two repair kits (figured I'd do both calipers while I'm tearing everything down on the system), a pack of 10 banjo washers (thanks for telling me I needed them too!), and a repair manual from Z1 (figured I pay the extra 2 bucks bc I would save more on shipping). Hopefully they will get the order shipped quickly for me so I can get the brakes fixed by Wednesday afternoon (probably wishful thinking on being able to fix it that quick!) since it will be nice out then!

Thanks for all the tips and advice guys, I may be posting more questions in a few days when I attempt the repair. If not, I will be posting of my success!

~Clutch

Banjo Washers? I also bought a kit today, but didn't know anything about the banjo washers. I tried to find them on the Z1 website and I had no luck. Where did you pick yours up at? Can you usually get them at local shops? I've never even heard of a "banjo washer" before. Pathetic, I know, what can I say, I am new at this.

clutch wrote:

meNmyKZ wrote:

Clutch, I just picked up mine the other day too. Looks same as yours but black. Did you check out the link on my other post. Someone is selling a service manual on CD for $8.99. I haven't gotten mine in the mail yet, so i can't say if its any good. Seemed pretty cheap though.

I think I'm going to go with the Clymers, but definitely let me know how the disk is. I plan on keeping this bike for a long time so if it's good, I'll get one of those too!

Well if the disks turn out to be decent, they are PDF files so I should be able to burn them. I will send ya a copy if ya want... free is cheaper than the $8.99

meNmyKZ wrote:

clutch wrote:

Ok...ordered two repair kits (figured I'd do both calipers while I'm tearing everything down on the system), a pack of 10 banjo washers (thanks for telling me I needed them too!), and a repair manual from Z1 (figured I pay the extra 2 bucks bc I would save more on shipping). Hopefully they will get the order shipped quickly for me so I can get the brakes fixed by Wednesday afternoon (probably wishful thinking on being able to fix it that quick!) since it will be nice out then!

Thanks for all the tips and advice guys, I may be posting more questions in a few days when I attempt the repair. If not, I will be posting of my success!

~Clutch

Banjo Washers? I also bought a kit today, but didn't know anything about the banjo washers. I tried to find them on the Z1 website and I had no luck. Where did you pick yours up at? Can you usually get them at local shops? I've never even heard of a "banjo washer" before. Pathetic, I know, what can I say, I am new at this.

They are in the same section on Z1 as the repair kits. Same page, but higher up. I think they may have called them hose washers or something to that effect:

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1912

clutch wrote:

meNmyKZ wrote:

clutch wrote:

Ok...ordered two repair kits (figured I'd do both calipers while I'm tearing everything down on the system), a pack of 10 banjo washers (thanks for telling me I needed them too!), and a repair manual from Z1 (figured I pay the extra 2 bucks bc I would save more on shipping). Hopefully they will get the order shipped quickly for me so I can get the brakes fixed by Wednesday afternoon (probably wishful thinking on being able to fix it that quick!) since it will be nice out then!

Thanks for all the tips and advice guys, I may be posting more questions in a few days when I attempt the repair. If not, I will be posting of my success!

~Clutch

Banjo Washers? I also bought a kit today, but didn't know anything about the banjo washers. I tried to find them on the Z1 website and I had no luck. Where did you pick yours up at? Can you usually get them at local shops? I've never even heard of a "banjo washer" before. Pathetic, I know, what can I say, I am new at this.

They are in the same section on Z1 as the repair kits. Same page, but higher up. I think they may have called them hose washers or something to that effect:

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1912

Right on, thanks. About to get mine ordered too.

I recently had a similar problem with binding brakes and a "hard" lever on my 78 Z650. I stripped and cleaned the caliper - still had the problem - i stripped cleaned and rebuilt the m/c with a kit fromn z1 enterprises (great resource!) - still had trouble - a friend suggested it could be dirt in the line - i replaced it with a braided line - still had the problem - i replaced the caliper piston and seal, i had all but given up - posted a query here - got the attached answer from arai59 ( i hope he dosent mind me quoting direct) -

Inside the M/C there is a little bypass hole. Sometimes they clog up with crud or old fluid. Tiny about the size of a needle. I always take a metal strand from a wire brush and poke the hole thru. It is hard to see but if it is clogged it will not release the pressure inside the cyclinder. You can check it with the cover off. If you poke thru be sure you don't hit the rubber inside the cyclinder. It's best to do this when the cyclinder is out.

Tried it out straight away - presto - problem identified (thanks to arai59) - cleaned it out with a little bit of wire - perfect brakes - and so they should be new mastercylinder kit, new line, new piston and seals!!

hope this helps.

Oops! I forgot to post that cleaning up the calipers and replacing the dust seals worked perfectly for me. I just need to get a tad bit better at bleeding the air out of the lines, though the brakes still work perfectly (saved me from slamming into a heavy equipment truck that pulled out in front of me the other day....butt head!)!

As far as the removal of master cylinder screws go, I had a ton of probs using a screwdriver, but when I switched to a cordless drill, they came out no problem. After stripping the heads on my wife's GS550 I bought a set of Grabit screw removal tools and they worked perfectly.