There have been a few Radial MC threads but I haven't seen one with the hand guards mounted, so I thought I'd share.
I bought a Radial MC from a 2008 CBR-600RR.
This is a 11/16" master cylinder, about 17.5mm so it works well with 6 piston ZTL caliper. If you're lucky enough to have ZTL2, you'd want to find a 19mm master cylinder most likely.
I've seen others use MC from GSXR or ZXR but those don't have the slick built-in mounting point for the reservoir bracket, which keeps things tidy.
The MC bolted up and mostly worked right away.
There were 4 issues I had to deal with.
One, the brake switch connector on the Buell is straight and the brake switch connector on the CBR is 90 degree bend. I could move the switch from the stock MC to the new MC, but couldn't plug the connector into it because the brake line was in the way. I got some male and female spade connectors, a couple inches of wire, and some heat shrink and made some line extensions. I may shrink the whole assembly with another outer black heatshrink tube to protect it further. It's pretty secure though.
Two, the new brake line mounting point hits the throttle cable on my aftermarket bars. I had to re-drill the locator hole for the throttle/switch assembly so that I could rotate that assembly clockwise and allow me to mount the brake lever further down. This may or may not affect people with stock bars or with other aftermarket bars.
Three, the lever pivot / hand guard mount from the stock MC bolted right up to the new one, but was a couple inches too far to the left.
I got some cheap aluminum bar stock, 3mm thick and 12mm wide, and made up 3 stays to properly position the hand guard. I just drilled holes and I filed to two transverse ones to narrow them up.
It's pretty sturdy. I painted the radial stay black so that it doesn't all look quite as improvised as it is.
Four, I lost my mirror mount. I bought a cheap ebay 10mm mirror clamp and it fit right snug between the new MC and the kill switch housing.
I'm a lot happier with the lever feel and stopping power now.
There are 2 little annoyances that I may still do something about.
The stock brake line works, and doesn't kink or anything, but the new banjo bolt location puts about a 90 degree torque on it. I'm not sure if it's worth getting a customer Spiegler setup over. I only notice when I take the caliper off.
The other annoyance is that the reservoir contacts the face of my helmet when I'm tucked in doing track days, unless I scoot my butt well back, which I should probably be doing anyway.
I may fix that by fabricating a different bracket, or integrating a bracket into a longer hand guard stay. I may also just fix that by getting a track-day Firebolt and not thrashing my baby.
I bought a Radial MC from a 2008 CBR-600RR.
This is a 11/16" master cylinder, about 17.5mm so it works well with 6 piston ZTL caliper. If you're lucky enough to have ZTL2, you'd want to find a 19mm master cylinder most likely.
I've seen others use MC from GSXR or ZXR but those don't have the slick built-in mounting point for the reservoir bracket, which keeps things tidy.
The MC bolted up and mostly worked right away.
There were 4 issues I had to deal with.
One, the brake switch connector on the Buell is straight and the brake switch connector on the CBR is 90 degree bend. I could move the switch from the stock MC to the new MC, but couldn't plug the connector into it because the brake line was in the way. I got some male and female spade connectors, a couple inches of wire, and some heat shrink and made some line extensions. I may shrink the whole assembly with another outer black heatshrink tube to protect it further. It's pretty secure though.
Two, the new brake line mounting point hits the throttle cable on my aftermarket bars. I had to re-drill the locator hole for the throttle/switch assembly so that I could rotate that assembly clockwise and allow me to mount the brake lever further down. This may or may not affect people with stock bars or with other aftermarket bars.
Three, the lever pivot / hand guard mount from the stock MC bolted right up to the new one, but was a couple inches too far to the left.
I got some cheap aluminum bar stock, 3mm thick and 12mm wide, and made up 3 stays to properly position the hand guard. I just drilled holes and I filed to two transverse ones to narrow them up.
It's pretty sturdy. I painted the radial stay black so that it doesn't all look quite as improvised as it is.
Four, I lost my mirror mount. I bought a cheap ebay 10mm mirror clamp and it fit right snug between the new MC and the kill switch housing.
I'm a lot happier with the lever feel and stopping power now.
There are 2 little annoyances that I may still do something about.
The stock brake line works, and doesn't kink or anything, but the new banjo bolt location puts about a 90 degree torque on it. I'm not sure if it's worth getting a customer Spiegler setup over. I only notice when I take the caliper off.
The other annoyance is that the reservoir contacts the face of my helmet when I'm tucked in doing track days, unless I scoot my butt well back, which I should probably be doing anyway.
I may fix that by fabricating a different bracket, or integrating a bracket into a longer hand guard stay. I may also just fix that by getting a track-day Firebolt and not thrashing my baby.
I'm sure someone will find it useful:up:
