Accessing the Rear Brake Master Cylinder

[St1300biker]

When re-installing the muffler, if the end of the muffler pipe was misaligned with the opening of the muffler seal, instead of penetrating the full depth of the seal it may catch the seal and dig in to it preventing the pipe from sliding deep enough in to it. If it digs in hard enough, this can prevent the muffler pipe from penetrating far enough to allow proper alignment of the attaching bolts.

Thanks for your thoughts, Andrew. I'll check when I remove the muffler

Paul

 

[jfheath]

I have had both footrest brackets off at the same time, without issue. Well - the seat subframe tries to drop a little - there are inly two bolts holding it, but depending how much fuel is in the lower tank, there is not a great deal of weight on it, and it is easy to find a way to support it either from above or from below.

When re-installing the muffler, if the end of the muffler pipe was misaligned with the opening of the muffler seal, instead of penetrating the full depth of the seal it may catch the seal and dig in to it preventing the pipe from sliding deep enough in to it. If it digs in hard enough, this can prevent the muffler pipe from penetrating far enough to allow proper alignment of the attaching bolts.

I have never removed the silencers from my ST1300. The reason being exactly what @Andrew Shadow describes. This was a common occurrence with my ST1100 with the need to replace them every 35,000 miles. They just rotted away riding ever day through winter on uk roads. It is extremely difficult (but possible) to put the silencer back into the collector without the end digging into the soft side of an old gasket - which is made largely of a wire wool. Once it has dug in, you are stuffed basically. you will never get the pipe past the wrinkle in the gasket. It needs a new one.

For most jobs, the silencer will rotate out of the way quite easily, and rest on a mat on the ground. It needs support if the bike is on the ramp. The silencer will usually need re-seating in the collector to ensure the mounting holes align. Support it near to the collector and rotate the silencer a little, back and forth, while pressing the pipe back into the collector.

But just in case I need to remove the silencer completely, I always keep spare new gaskets. My success rate at getting the silencer back into the old gasket of the 1100 was very low. I found it easier to install a new gasket if I put it onto the silencer first. A cleaned up inside of the collector pipe and a water based lubricant can help. Grease works but it smokes alarmingly when the engine is first fired up.

 

[St1300biker]

I have had both footrest brackets off at the same time, without issue. Well - the seat subframe tries to drop a little - there are inly two bolts holding it, but depending how much fuel is in the lower tank, there is not a great deal of weight on it, and it is easy to find a way to support it either from above or from below.

Thanks John - that's reassuring.

As regards the muffler seals - yes I did install new ones. When I do the brake system overhaul, i'll see if I still have problems. If so, again replace the right seal - OEM ones not cheap, but then again what's new here. I used aftermarket seals last time

Paul

 

[jfheath]

I dug out a couple of pics for you.

The boatyard technique of supporting a heavy weight on a twig. I think there must be another support on the other side - but the weight it has to support is not significant.

The yellow axle stand behind the wooden strut is supporting the swinging arm - the axle is in place and is resting on the axle stand.

Both footrest bracket 'steps' are removed.



But note the bottle jack to give support to the collector. I had forgotten that I had done that until I saw the photo. It meant that I could leave the silencers as they are - although it is not ideal.



I took the opportunity to clean up the rear suspension - visible side and unseen side. Yorkshire grit and salt.



And cleaned up:



And take apart the brake linkage and clean that up.

 

[Jethro]

And they say the U.S.A has the RUST BELT! How do yout cars fare with the salt? Sure is tough on ours here in the Colonies.

 

[St1300biker]

And they say the U.S.A has the RUST BELT! How do yout cars fare with the salt? Sure is tough on ours here in the Colonies.

In the 1950s/60s, it was common place that cars rusted through in 4-5 years. No longer an issue with the treatments new cars are given.

Paul

 

[dduelin]

I never had trouble removing and reinstalling the mufflers on my 2005. They came off when the rear wheel came off for whatever reason. When I sold it it had the original muffler gaskets, clamps, and bolts. If I did anything different it was riding the bike enough to change tires once or twice a year so the clamp bolts were exercised often and the mufflers were extracted from the exhaust header pipes.

 

[St1300biker]

I dug out a couple of pics for you.

The boatyard technique of supporting a heavy weight on a twig. I think there must be another support on the other side - but the weight it has to support is not significant.

The yellow axle stand behind the wooden strut is supporting the swinging arm - the axle is in place and is resting on the axle stand.

Both footrest bracket 'steps' are removed.



But note the bottle jack to give support to the collector. I had forgotten that I had done that until I saw the photo. It meant that I could leave the silencers as they are - although it is not ideal.



I took the opportunity to clean up the rear suspension - visible side and unseen side. Yorkshire grit and salt.



And cleaned up:



And take apart the brake linkage and clean that up.

Much appreciated John. I note the bottle jack. I do hope my rear master cylinder is not in that condition!

Paul

 

[St1300biker]

I never had trouble removing and reinstalling the mufflers on my 2005. They came off when the rear wheel came off for whatever reason. When I sold it it had the original muffler gaskets, clamps, and bolts. If I did anything different it was riding the bike enough to change tires once or twice a year so the clamp bolts were exercised often and the mufflers were extracted from the exhaust header pipes.

As I say, I never had an issue with the left muffler, only the right.

Paul

 

[Igofar]

I have had both footrest brackets off at the same time, without issue. Well - the seat subframe tries to drop a little - there are inly two bolts holding it, but depending how much fuel is in the lower tank, there is not a great deal of weight on it, and it is easy to find a way to support it either from above or from below.





I have never removed the silencers from my ST1300. The reason being exactly what @Andrew Shadow describes. This was a common occurrence with my ST1100 with the need to replace them every 35,000 miles. They just rotted away riding ever day through winter on uk roads. It is extremely difficult (but possible) to put the silencer back into the collector without the end digging into the soft side of an old gasket - which is made largely of a wire wool. Once it has dug in, you are stuffed basically. you will never get the pipe past the wrinkle in the gasket. It needs a new one.

For most jobs, the silencer will rotate out of the way quite easily, and rest on a mat on the ground. It needs support if the bike is on the ramp. The silencer will usually need re-seating in the collector to ensure the mounting holes align. Support it near to the collector and rotate the silencer a little, back and forth, while pressing the pipe back into the collector.

But just in case I need to remove the silencer completely, I always keep spare new gaskets. My success rate at getting the silencer back into the old gasket of the 1100 was very low. I found it easier to install a new gasket if I put it onto the silencer first. A cleaned up inside of the collector pipe and a water based lubricant can help. Grease works but it smokes alarmingly when the engine is first fired up.

An easy way to get the silencers to go back on is to use a large Plumb Bob, simply slip the pointed end into the header pipe and gently push. The taper smooths out and spreads the gasket just enough that the silencer slips back in with ease.

 

[Igofar]

John, I love your bottle jack

 

[jfheath]

Found it in my dad's garage after he died 20 years ago. He probably found it in his dad's garage when he died.

 

[St1300biker]

An easy way to get the silencers to go back on is to use a large Plumb Bob

Boy that must be some large Bob, the likes of which I've never seen!

A picture paints a 1000 words!

Paul

 

[dduelin]

Found it in my dad's garage after he died 20 years ago. He probably found it in his dad's garage when he died.

Yes, probably he did just that.

That's technically a screw jack as bottle jacks are hydraulic. Mine are all youngsters purchased in the last 40 years or so, two of those were blue light specials which date the purchase.

 

[Igofar]

Boy that must be some large Bob, the likes of which I've never seen!

A picture paints a 1000 words!

Paul

 

[jfheath]

Strewth. You wouldn't want to get any sway on that. It would knock down the wall that you are trying to get perpendicular.

 

[St1300biker]

Strewth. You wouldn't want to get any sway on that. It would knock down the wall that you are trying to get perpendicular.

Haha

 

[St1300biker]

Wow I've never seen a plumb bob that big. Sure must be used in some major construction work!!

 

[St1300biker]

When re-installing the muffler, if the end of the muffler pipe was misaligned with the opening of the muffler seal, instead of penetrating the full depth of the seal it may catch the seal and dig in to it preventing the pipe from sliding deep enough in to it. If it digs in hard enough, this can prevent the muffler pipe from penetrating far enough to allow proper alignment of the attaching bolts.

Andrew, having thought about your point overnight, is there another option? - slip the gasket on the silencer and then both into the collector box. I may have tried this and found it more difficult - I can't remember.

Paul

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Andrew, having thought about your point overnight, is there another option? - slip the gasket on the silencer and then both into the collector box. I may have tried this and found it more difficult - I can't remember.

Paul

I tried that once and it didn't work for me. The seal just started to bunch up as I tried to push the muffler in because there was nothing to support it.
If reusing the old seals, I have found that the best way to avoid a problem is to be sure to that the mufflers are properly lined up so that they will enter and penetrate the seals in a straight line. I have never had a problem with them catching and digging in to the seals doing so. Having said that, I have also never replaced the seals on my ST1300. Every time that I have had a muffler off the seals seemed to be in really good shape so I just keep reusing them. Since they have been in there a while the muffler enters them easily. I can see where a new seal would be more difficult as it has not taken a set from having the pipe in it.

I have replaced the seals on other bikes that I have owned however. I did have a hard time getting the mufflers started without damaging the seals no matter how careful I was on one bike that I had. What I ended up doing was I made sure that the muffler clamps were loose and I expanded the part of the header that squeezes around the muffler pipe as much as I could without distorting it. I put the new seal in to the header pipe and then I took a piece of a round wooden broom stick handle and ran it around the inside of the seal to expand it against the inside of the header pipe as tightly as possible. This opened it up enough to make it easier to start the muffler pipe and keep it going in to the seal as long as I kept the muffler pipe straight in line with the header pipe. Once installed, the header pipe compresses around the seal as the bolts are tightened as it is intended to do so there is no ill effect.