1982 KZ550 A3 - Master Cylinder

Well, it's definitely a piece of junk. Maybe I'll try a different model one. Even though it was 14 mm, it never had much bite. I know my caliper and lines were ok, because my original MC was doing great until the cap broke...

Larger master piston diameter means you will have to squeeze harder to get the same braking force at the caliper. But the lever will travel less.

loudhvx wrote: Larger master piston diameter means you will have to squeeze harder to get the same braking force at the caliper. But the lever will travel less.

Well said. And the phenomenon should be stated more often, as some folks seem confused about this.

For example, Kawasaki designed 14 mm m/c for application with single disc, and increased the m/c bore to 5/8" with dual discs.
The squeeze force is coordinated with braking power.
Requiring too hard of a squeeze is undesirable (too insensitive).
And minimal squeezing toward wheel lock-up is also undesirable (over sensitive).

Converting from single disc (with 14 mm m/c) to dual disc by adding a second disc, and retaining the same 14 mm m/c, usually results in a more sensitive (perhaps overly sensitive) front brake. Accidents have been reported following conversion, due to the front wheel having been unintentionally locked up.

Good Fortune!

loudhvx wrote: Larger master piston diameter means you will have to squeeze harder to get the same braking force at the caliper. But the lever will travel less.

True.. that made me think.. i often wrote that off as "feel" of the front breaks

newer mc's for rockets often offer different leverage options to change how hard it is to pull that lever in addition to different piston sizes..

I'm going to look around to see if i can even find a spec on the leerage numver.. ex: sounds like these vintage cyclinders would be 14x(xxx) for the other numver.

BA

so...does the 550 have a 12.7 mm MC or 14 mm? I could of sworn it said 1/2" (12.7mm) on the bottom side when I threw my stocker away... 82 LTD w/ single disc.

Great news. I was dinking around with my 550 just now, and figured, hey, what if the mc is just really dirty and thats why it won't work. Anyway, pulled it all apart. It was gunked up. Cleaned the lines and took apart the caliper and cleaned that all out too. Put it all back together and couldn't get it to pump at pressure at all. Well, if you look at the link of the ebay auction I posted earlier, you'll see there is this goofy adjustment bolt. Well, back in the day, I had it turned way in so I had more breaking power, problem is it wouldn't allow the piston to come back far enough to get a full stroke. But if you back the screw out more, then it hits the right hand side switch housing. Anyway, I took the damn thing off, and wouldn't you know, I have a working mc again! Actually, it probably works a little better than it did when I had it new. I'm no pro at bleeding breaks, but I was once told that after you ride a while you can bleed them so more and so on. Anyway, I got front brakes again!

How did you hook up the switch? Did you just snip the wires from the original plug and crimp on new connectors? My KZ550 has a much different plug but my new mc has the same as the one you ordered.

Welcome to KZRider
Chances of getting a reply on a very old thread are not great
Dave

Street Fighter LTD wrote: Welcome to KZRider
Chances of getting a reply on a very old thread are not great
Dave

Especially considering it has been more than 3 years since the poster of that thread has even logged in. Ed

Harper88 wrote: How did you hook up the switch? Did you just snip the wires from the original plug and crimp on new connectors? My KZ550 has a much different plug but my new mc has the same as the one you ordered.

Either crimp on new terminals or get the front brake wires from a model with a modern switch. I think some of the KZ1000P Police bikes from around 1998 have a small brake harness that will work. I did not check to see what master cylinder the other guy got, but there have been reports of some of the inexpensive aftermarket parts breaking at the handlebar clamp.