I removed the twin front disk brake system and the rear single disk brake system. The rear brake pedal assembly had a kludge repair to fix the wobbling brake lever. And, the rust was so bad on the rear master cylinder linkage that I couldn’t remove the rear brake pedal and had to remove the master cylinder and rear brake pedal together.
You can see how I did this work here:
I shot some short videos of how all the brake system components are connected together.
VIDEO: 1983 BMW R100RS Front Brake Assembly
VIDEO: 1983 BMW R100RS Rear Master Cylinder Assembly
VIDEO: 1983 BMW R100RS Rear Brake Caliper Assembly
Here is what the bike looks like now. I will remove the disk rotors after I remove the wheels and tires.
Brake System Removed (Disks Come Off When Wheels Are Removed)
Hello Brook, looks like you’ve got another RS on your schedule. Just a couple of thoughts regarding the master-cylinder. A couple of years ago I acquired a 83 RT from Texas with about 19k. I had to rr the carbs, replace the battery and fit new tires before doing a test ride. First time out I found the front brakes dragging. I disassembled the mc and found a lot of corrosion under the reservoir blocking the the return orifices. Using a .009 guitar string I was able to clean the orifice. A complete rebuild kit for the seals including piston was about $175.00. I was able to reuse those parts after cleaning the bore with a nylon
bore brush. The calipers were in good shape as were the pistons.
Good luck on your new project.
Mac Morgan
Hi Mac,
Well, your timing is perfect. Yesterday I removed the controls and handlebars and removed the front master cylinder assembly. It was full of rust and crud. I’ll take it apart and inspect the bore, but I’m prepared for a new MC and the piston assembly on this bike as I would not be surprised to find the MC bore rusty and pitted.
Best.
Brook.
Loving motorcycles is a never ending addiction. One of my favorite bikes is my 20yr. old Honda VFR800. Like the aforementioned RT with dragging front brakes, the VFR had a dragging rear brake but to complicate things, the complete system is linked. I just finished pulling the entire system down, cleaned and replaced seals and bled it. Luckily Honda writes a great shop manual.
Keep up the interesting projects and I’ll keep commenting if I think it may help. As Erv Kanemoto once said “I’m only taller then all the other mechanics out there because I’m standing on all the broken parts and tools I’ve gone through over the years!”
Mac
Mac,
True Dat, what Erv said. 🙂
I have a saying in my shop attributed to Confucius”
“By Three Methods We Gain Wisdom,
First, by reflection, which is the noblest
Second, by imitation, which is the easiest
and Third, by experience, which is the bitterest”
I have a PhD in the third method. 🙂
Best.
Brook
There is no circlip holding the piston in so the method to remove the piston is to use a blunt nail in the outlet (narrow end) and hammer out the piston. Could not find this information anywhere. My piston was jammed and took a lot of hammering to get out. Keep up the good work.
Hi Bodo,
I’ll post some material about removing the rear master cylinder piston and on how I rebuilt the three brake calipers soon. I used a 3/32 inch drill bit to drive mine out and that worked.
Best.
Brook.