I decided to go ahead and pull the caliper and master cylinder off as I want to clean them both out well. Speaking of cleaning: spray can brake parts cleaner damage these parts?
When you remove the lever you will see There is a boot around the M/C piston that once removed will reveal the circlip holding the piston assembly in place. If you’re clever you can remove and replace the piston and seals without even removing the M/C from the bike. Easy peasy.
I decided to go ahead and pull the caliper and master cylinder off as I want to clean them both out well. Speaking of cleaning: spray can brake parts cleaner damage these parts?
I would recommend isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle.
It is called "Brake parts cleaner" for a reason. LOL
A caliper re-build is just as simple as the master, and you can check the pistons for corrosion and pitting causing them to stick, if they are out.
I have a complete ZTL caliper if you need one.
I dont know if I'd want it getting on painted surfaces... especially if he uses the good stuff (CRC) like that mike lowary guy.
I use the el cheapo store brand stuff.... it has the cleaning power of dishwashing liquid, with enough force coming out of the can to splash back into my eyes.
In the mountain bike world, we use isopropyl alchohol to clean brake fluid off surfaces to prevent damage to the finish. Some MTB disc brake systems use DOT 4/5.1... and some use mineral oil.
Last edited by 34nineteen; 04-19-2021 at 04:30 PM.
If you are going that route, you may want to bring the part # with you and just not mention that its for a Buell unless they ask. If you ask the counter guy for a Buell part, you may get the usual glazed eye look of disappointment (or you may get the rare excited look from an enthusiast). They may not have Buell catalogs, especially if they were never a Buell dealer back in the day... so they may not be able to look it up for you anyhow. YMMV.
tl;dr bring the part # with you.
I went to the St Paul HD website and rounded up all of the needed part numbers. I sent an email to our local HD dealer parts department with all the info. I haven't heard back from them yet. I stopped there to get oil & filter for it a couple weeks ago. The parts guy knew what bike I was talking about. Hale's HD in Mansfield is an old dealer that sold quite a few Buells back in the day. They started out selling Rupp (which was also made in Mansfield). It was a trip to Hale's in 1999 that started me thinking I needed a Buell.
Hales would need to order everything. They’re running about 16 days for delivery at the moment so I ordered from St Paul. Hopefully they have it in stock
St Pauls is usually good about keeping Buell parts in stock.