Honda cb500 front master cylinder upgrade

[Aspire2]

My Bro has a cb500 which we have been slowly upgrading over the past year and its come to the brakes, we have put braided lines on, new disc but was wondering is there a simple Master cylinder upgrade?

(Goal is to race it next year so we have been upgrading it for that reason)

Our bike is a 2000 CB500.

I have heard a Deuville 650 master cylinder fits?.

Any info would be much appreciated.

[Kickstart]

Hi

What do you want from the upgrade?

Basic thing with a master cylinder is how much fluid it pumps for the lever travel. Larger bore = more fluid = less lever travel but less feel. Smaller bore = less fluid = more lever travel but more feel.

Not quite that simple as the lever ratio is important as well. And that changes slightly as the lever is pulled, and with some master cylinders the lever is rubbing across the piston in the master cylinder as you pull the lever.

All the best

K
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Aspire2]

Hi Kickstart thanks for the reply

What I want is a bit more power, I feel as if I could sacrifice a bit of feel for the large bore/more power .I have done everything bar the Master cylinder, don't get me wrong it brakes just fine for the road but for £35 I think why not do the upgrade if its possible.

[stinkwheel]

The brake is pretty good as far as single discs go.

It's also pretty good as far as 2-pot sliding callipers go.

The master cylinder is certainly not the limiting factor, the overall design is but it's not THAT limiting.

I've just overhauled the one on the Mrs CB500 (and shimmed out the wheel hub mounts so it doesn't pulse any more!).

A 2000 CB500 is fitted with a brembo master cylinder and a brembo calliper as standard. BUT it's still a 2-pot sliding calliper on a solid disc and it's pretty much as good as that setup gets. To be frank, give it a good pull and you'll screech the front tyre at three figure speeds.

You can get a master cylinder overhaul kit. If you buy a genuine honda one from David silvers, it will come with genuine brembo parts.

They always used to use standard brakes and discs to race on. Fit some top quality pads. Brembo do sintered ones, may as well match the whole setup.

The discs are prone to warping if your slider pins aren't free to move so keep an eye on them.

You can buy floating discs but these are in all likleyhood, even more prone to warping.

Are you using all four fingers on the lever? You should be.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Kickstart]

[Snod Blatter]

Have you considered a radial master cylinder? With the pivot slightly further away you get a bit more leverage, and therefore more stopping power. I have a normal Nissin one on my TRX and it's lush.

Of course it depends on what size your original master cylinder is. You'll need to go up a couple of millimetres if you go radial but the smallest I've seen is 11/16 which come fitted to most modern Kawasakis.
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1994 CB250, 1984 CBX250RS-E, 1989 K100RS, 1995 TRX850, 2016 Z250SL

[Aspire2]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I think I just want to tinker for the fun of it tbh!!

Its got organic pads in at the mo, ill throw some sintered ones on next and leave it at that.

In regards to stinkwheel I two finger brake on it (a habit as I have a speed four which has very good brakes) and to be honest it stops well enough so ill add a few more fingers in the future

On a side note the cb500 has the best rear brake I have ever tried.

[stinkwheel]

Anyone who is serious about getting the most out of their brakes uses four fingers on the lever.
https://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h395/johncw1/Rossi%20under%20brakes.jpg
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.