Hello everyone, I'm glad I found this site! I already downloaded the free service manuals which saved me some bucks. Anyways, I had (actually I'm still trying to get rid of it) a 1999 Suzuki GS500E and it's been a great bike and never let me down, but I needed more power! I just bought a 1995 model with 29K that has it's fairing crashed off of it for $1450 and I think I got a good deal but it has a couple little issues.

The rear brake is mushy and wont hold. If I pump the pedal once, it'll work the second time I push down on it but it'll release after 10 seconds or so. The previous owner said he replaced the master cylinder but it made no difference. I haven't tried bleeding the brake yet but what else could it be? I don't see any fluid leaking. Caliper maybe?

I also would like to disable the linked braking system and just go to a standard setup, is this easy to do?

I'm trying to decide if I should try to piece the fairings back together with fiberglass and paint with truck bed liner, or just go the naked streetfighter route. Either way, the CBR is so much more comfortable and powerfull than my little GS, I can't wait to start racking up the miles.

 

I had a problem with mine after changing the pads on the back, OK when cold but stuffed after a bit of a ride.
The back pads where dragging and causing the fluid to boil, rear calliper had to be dissembled and cleaned out.

 

Congrats for your new bike! I fixed my 1000F fairings with plastic welding and fiberglass (check my thread https://cbrforum.com/m_282492/tm.htm ), so if you decide to fix yours I can probably give you some advice. Could you post some photos of those broken fairings?

 

I don't have my bike here right now so I can't post any pictures, but the fairings are pretty bad and I don't even know if they're all there. The fairings look like they just shattered into a bunch of pieces, I'm sure I'll have to fill in some areas where the fairing is missing with fiberglass and/or aluminum sheet.

I was thinking about using fiberglass and epoxy on both sides to hold it all together and then sanding it relativly smooth and painting it with truck bed liner. I've seen a GSXR painted with the bed liner and it looked pretty cool and it hides the imperfections well.

I also just saw some photos of someone on this forum who put a VFR swingarm on his CBR and left the front naked. It looked pretty good, so I might just clean up the front end and leave it naked if the fairings don't go back together well.

 

What about the linked brakes though? Can I just remove the brake line connecting the front and rear brakes and plug the calipers where the line used to go? will that screw something up?

 

ya that was mine, i love the street fighter look and bought my bike knowing thats the route i was going so i just sold my busted bodywork instead of trying to fix it.

 

yeah, both grwilson6's naked bike and Kaasari's blackbird faired bike look great! I was looking on ebay for CBR1000F fairings and Blackbirt fairings and they're hard to find but expensive when you do find them so I'm probally just going to go the naked route. I did find a Blackbird front upper fairing for $80 shipped so I may get that and have it be just partially faired, kind of like a Bandit S. That would give me some wind protection for the long rides I plan on doing.

 

Thats a good deal for a 95' 1000F,ducati_nolan - they are great bikes,not without their specific faults,like any other bike really - but
they are durable,solidly built and comftable,and looked after with regular servicing can clock up a lot of miles before any major engine
work is needed.

Regarding your brake problem,i have a 1995 too,that had EXACTLY the same rear brake problem you describe.It's the proportional
control valve that controls the linked brakes thats the problem,trouble is they are a sealed unit and cannot be fixed as far as i am aware,
only renewed at a cost of big money.Trouble is on '93 onwards CBR1000's with the dual brakes,there is only one of these valves doing
the work for both brakes,where as the blackbird for example - has 2 of them.

The only way i could sort mine was to de-link the brakes,which involved getting a locking plate made up the left hand side caliper bracket
to stop it moving on its pivot and lock it in place like a conventional bracket would hold a caliper,then do away with all the original brake hoses
and secondry master cylinder (the one which the left side pivoting caliper touches when applying the front brake lever),proprtional control valve,
and get measured up for some braided hoses.I had two made up for the front,plus two linking pipes to join the two brake pipe holes on both
front calipers.For the rear i just ran 2 hoses like the old set up straight to the 2 brake pipe holes on the calipersIt's a fiddly old job,but once done is fantastic - i now have a rear brake far sharper,and with more bite than when the old linked
brakes were actually working!

Check the post Project CBR1000F Finally Complete and you will see pictures of the plate made up to lock the front pivot caliper bracket.

https://cbrforum.com/m_280347/tm.htm

 

Okay thanks for the brake info. I don't have the bike here with me right now so I'll need to look at it to fully understand how it works, but I think I understand most of what you're saying and I saw the photo of your caliper locking plate. Looks simple enough, what did you use 1/8" alluminum?

So how exactly dose the LBS work (when it works) I thought that when you press on the rear brake pedal, it also activated one of the front calipers but when you used the front brake lever it only activated the front. You seem to be saying that the front lever activates the rear too? Oh well, at least I have a local place that builds custom hydraulic and brake lines, so onc I get it all sorted out it should be easy enough to have some lines made up.