First test cancelled - now a broken bike! :(

[Mudskipper]

***SHORT VERSION***

My CBR125 front brake is knackered. It's stuck in a garage at the mo awaiting a master cylinder repair kit. I'm going to be hammered for labour costs. I also subsequently need a new disc which I'll have to find/fit myself as I'm skint.

***BEWARE - WHINGE AHEAD***

Well what a dpressing day yesterday was.

Took the day off sick as I am struggling to shift a virus, so got a doctors appointment to hear him tell me he can do nowt, and to come back if I'm still ill in 2 weeks time (I expected as much, tbh).

Anyway decided to try & cheer myself up by riding the long route home. All is going ok, till I get on the bypass juat over a mile from home. Bike starts slowing down. What's going on? Drop the gears to try & get acceleration. Still slowing. 50mph, 40, 35. It's like the enigne is fighting against the rest of the bike! End up having to stop on the side of the dual carriageway next to the grassy verge, lorries flying by within inches of me.

What I now know happened, was my front brake caliper started seizing. So braking steadily as I was trying to accelerate. Disc got hotter, expanded, eventually locked brake up solid. Had to drag the bike off the road with the brake locked on, not fun.

Luckily, I took out basic breakdown cover with my insurance (Bennetts). So a quick call to them and RAC are on their way. Half an hour (and a lovely rain shower) later, RAC van tips up. The bloke was great, owned a GT750 himself so we chatted about bikes and he explained what had happened to the brake. Said he could free it here, but they're not allowed to touch brakes at the roadside. Fair enough I guess.

Trouble is, they now had to call a seperate recovery truck. Which took another hour and a half. So bennetts - good initial service, but shoddy planning. I told them straight away that it was the brakes, so surely they could have sent the recovery straight away if they knew they wouldn't be able to repair at the roadside?!?

Anyway, Josie is loaded onto the truck and I decide to get her dropped at the nearest bike garage to me, a triumph dealer.

Bloke at the desk there is nice enough, but the moody mechanic takes one look at me and my bike and obviously decides I'm just pondlife.

They agree to look at it, and to my horror declare that not only is the caliper seized, but that the heat damage to the front disc mean it has to be replaced. (I can see £'s floating away at this point).

He also points out that my rear disc is slightly warped (which I kind of knew anyway) but also lays into my chain!! Telling me it's 'mullered'. Now I noticed while spending my 2 hours at the roadside that the chain was slack and needed adjusting (there's loads of room to adjust, it's only been on for a couple of months) and that although it's well lubed, it's overdue a bit of a clean.

But him poking at my chain and telling me it's a death trap, well I'm probably unreasonable and know that he's an expert, but it was just his attitude. Like just because it wasn't one of their shiney speed triples in the showroom, he'd as soon see my bike slung in a skip. 'You're gonna spend a lot of money on this luv'. Not with you i'm fcuking not, mate.

So I expalined their was no way I could afford everything, and asked them to do what they could with the caliper to enable me to ride it the 5 minutes home, and I'd have to deal with the rest as & when.

Already highly gutted at this point, went & bought ten fags which made me even more depressed (had quit for nearly a week). They said it'd take an hour so doing labour costs sums in my head was by now making my bank balance cry.

So two hours at the roadside, another two sat in the showroom with all the lovely new bikes mocking me.

I eventually ask if it'll take much longer, seems they can't bleed the brakes? Air leaking or something? Anyway they need to order a 35 quid master cylinder repair kit, which won't be in till Tuesday.

So Josie is all alone up there, I'm looking at at least a 300-350 plus repair bill, which won't even see the bike roadworthy.

Devastated.

Feeling VERY sorry for myself, have gone from wanting to break her for spares, to wanting to fix what needs doing and selling instantly, being bikeless but recovering some of my costs. Hell I even contemplated selling her & buying a heap of a car, it's that bad!!

Someone tell me some good news in all of this!!

Mudskipper
____________________
CBR125|||GSXR400|||CBR400|||CBR400|||CB250RS|||GSXR750|||CB250RS
"You're clumsy, you eat too much and you behave like a 12 year old boy. But you know what? Every once in a while, you find a thumb."

[G]

Not sure about good new, but I suspect a service manual and some spanners would be money well invested .

Too late now, but a second hand master cylinder would make sense and would take only take a couple of minutes to fit.

What bike is it?

[Mudskipper]

Cheers for reply. It's a CBR125, which doesn't have a service/haynes manual available yet.

I have done some work on it myself, and am happy to get my hands dirty, but I took it to a garage as my skills are limited and I didn't want to mess up where brakes are concerned!

Do you think that a general maintenance handbook would be any good, or does the makeup of brakes vary a lot on bikes?

Cheers

Mudskipper
edit:

Just seen that I can get a second hand master cylinder & caliper for 60 quid. Could I go and tell them I've changed my mind, want to push my stricken bike home and cancel the order, paying just for the labour they've already done? What is the ettiquette/law regarding changing my mind?
____________________
CBR125|||GSXR400|||CBR400|||CBR400|||CB250RS|||GSXR750|||CB250RS
"You're clumsy, you eat too much and you behave like a 12 year old boy. But you know what? Every once in a while, you find a thumb."

[G]

[st3v3]

If you need a hand for owt, I'm not too far i don't think, if i'm free.
getting my bike insured today hopefully

Don't mind getting me hands dirty and i know what it's like to go through that, my piston rings went going down bootham on a Saturday afternoon a couple of years ago, traffic being so close was daunting
____________________
Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[The Tot]

I believe you have every right to change your mind, however shops tend to have clauses when it comes to ordering parts, i.e they can't be refunded, or can be refunded at a 15% restocking fee or something like that. You'd best check. Also, get your bike to an independent mechanic that's reputable in your area, they tend to be more honest and are willing to tell you the honest truth, no bullshit. If it aint broke, dont fix it, but they'll be able to suggest when a part needs replacing.
____________________
The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Mudskipper]

Cheers G, I've now got my Dad to come with a trailer to get my bike back. Having to pay for the ordered part but am not that bothered right now!

Ordered a second hand master cylinder & caliper, and will find a disc when I can, will just have to be off the road for now.

Cheers for your offer Steve, I may call on you if I get into difficulties once I start the repairs!

Time to order the motorcycle maintenence manual that was recommended on here, methinks...

Mudskipper
____________________
CBR125|||GSXR400|||CBR400|||CBR400|||CB250RS|||GSXR750|||CB250RS
"You're clumsy, you eat too much and you behave like a 12 year old boy. But you know what? Every once in a while, you find a thumb."

[Marci]

[Mudskipper]

[vector74]

Skips I use a car jack under engine area and a plank of wood to take wheels off.. works ok but you need to be careful. Once I have it jacked up I add a few bricks in there as extra support. If you are looking parts get them on ebay from people breaking bikes. I needed a back disc... got one for 20 sheets and it was like brand new. I always find wemoto.com good for small bits and pieces.

[st3v3]

[Mudskipper]

Cheers for all the advice, I have now got on order a full brake system (master cylinder and caliper) and front & rear discs (all second hand).

Grand total of 140 quid so far, just need to find the time to do the work!! I only have every other weekend free

I did get some other bits done on it today (non-brake related) so it's not all bad. Just a shame not to be able to jump on it to pop to the shop, don't realise how much you miss something till it's gone!!

Mudskipper
____________________
CBR125|||GSXR400|||CBR400|||CBR400|||CB250RS|||GSXR750|||CB250RS
"You're clumsy, you eat too much and you behave like a 12 year old boy. But you know what? Every once in a while, you find a thumb."

[spike_Alike]

Ouch, really sorry to hear about that. Nothing worse than facing a repair bill you can't afford, I remember when I got hit by a van facing a £250 job. Not nice.