One of the cool things I want to do is build this bike with no foot controls. The shifter-less torque converter makes it an option, so — why not? As a bonus, mounting a master cylinder and lever to the handlebars is a breeze compared to adapting a brake pedal for foot actuation.
After years of dealing with worn, barely serviceable salvage parts, on this bike I am going with new components where economically feasible. To that end, I picked up an alloy handlebar in a nice gray anodized finish (“titanium“) and a matched pair of generic master cylinders for the front and rear brakes. The 1/2″ (12.7 mm) bore is spot-on for the Honda Inboard caliper on the front.
For the rear brake, I bought a Volar replacement EX500 rear disc off Ebay for $35. Since this project is all about using up spare parts, I looked at the calipers on my shelf:
- Three-piston Grimeca off an Aprilia Atlantic 500 Sprint
- Two-piston XV250 V-star front caliper
- Rear caliper from a Suzuki Vinson 500 four-wheeler
The first two are designed for left-side mounting and have asymmetric piston diameters, so they can’t be swapped over to the right. That leaves the Vinson caliper as only thing I have on-hand that might work. On the plus side, it’s in new, unused condition. It would be a very straightforward install, but it only has a single 34mm piston: that’s a mismatch for the 12.7mm master cylinder up front. I could potentially end up with a spastic, lockup-happy rear brake. However, I may go ahead with this set-up and see how it works. After all, a caliper swap wouldn’t be very hard to do after the bike is up and running.
