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How to replace your Master Cylinder Site Glass

13K views 22 replies 8 participants last post by  Caledonian Warrior 
#1 · (Edited)
Help File: Site Glass Replacement (MC)

Ok, even though I had taped up my site glass when I stripped it and polished it, I screwed up and got crap all over it. So it gunked up, clouded over, and actually got all bumpy and wavy -I was kind of worried that it would leak, but they are actually quite thick.

So I ordered a new site glass from this website:

http://www.newrivercyclesalvage.com/sight%20glass.html - New River Cycle Salvage

Costs about 15 bucks including shipping. I got a new one in a week or so, along with 2 new master cylinder cover screws. Which is nice, because those things might be the most easily stripped screws on a bike. Any bike, any brand.

1) vacuum out the brake fluid. Make sure to cover your tank, because brake fluid will eat paint. Leave just enough in the bottom of the cylinder to cover the hole going to the piston. This way you won't have to re-bleed the system.
2) I used a socket that was slightly smaller than the site glass, and pressed it against the glass from the backside. Once the socket is placed against the glass, there really isn't enough room to put a finger behind it to push the glass out -you push it out from the inside. So I took a very large screwdriver, placed it behind the socket that I was holding in place, and twisted it so that it was pushing against the socket, and the back of the master cylinder. It worked pretty easily actually, and the glass slowly popped out in a few seconds.
3) Behind the site glass is an o-ring. I tried to glue the new glass in place with the o-ring still there, but it doesn't work well that way, so I removed it.
4) Using clear silicone RTV, you glue the new site glass in place. This is a pain to be honest. Nobody wants streaks of silicone on their new glass. The nice thing is, if you screw it up, you just take the glass out, and clean it with warm soapy water and start over. Like SIX times until you get it right.
5) I finally found that the easiest way is to run a bead (very thin bead) of silicone around the rim (on the outside) where you are going to push in the new site glass. BTW, this glass is not a tight fit, so it goes in quite easily. It is also much thinner, since it's just a piece of glass.
6) Then you let it sit for 24 hours. I chose to do this yesterday/today, because it's raining today :) Needed something productive to do.

I checked it today after it sat 24 hours, and it's solid as a rock. Put fluid in, no leaks. Pulled on the handle several times, no issues. I haven't ridden it yet, but I don't anticipate any issues.

I attached some before and after pictures, as well as what a site glass looks like when you pull it out (front and back) and their card.

BTW -The picture with the master cylinder covered is the one with the site glass replaced. You can't even see it now.
 

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#5 ·
I realize this has been done by others in the past who really laid-out some firm groundwork to follow, but I really like the way you wrote this how-to it really brings the work into focus. Thanks for taking the time on this!
 
#6 ·
Sometimes it nice to pay homage from where the info came to do your mod :(
The next time you do the mod you'll want to reuse the OEM aluminum retainer ring to finish it off and add more bling
  • The lens for this '07' Warrior 14mm MC was ground to 0.705" OD (special order & tight fit) and i reused and installed the aluminum retainer ring from the OEM sight glass after the new lens cured for a finished look.
 
#9 ·
Sometimes it nice to pay homage from where the info came to do your mod :(
The next time you do the mod you'll want to reuse the OEM aluminum retainer ring to finish it off and add more bling
  • The lens for this '07' Warrior 14mm MC was ground to 0.705" OD (special order & tight fit) and i reused and installed the aluminum retainer ring from the OEM sight glass after the new lens cured for a finished look.
My bad Alan, I didn't mean any disrespect. However, in my defense all I got from those threads was the website (which I posted) and that the sight glass pushes out from the inside. But you're right, I should have reposted theirs.

I don't know that I had the trim ring. I'll have to go look (if I still have that stuff lying around).
 
#7 ·
Nice work there Alan and LeaderDuece both MC's looking sharp with good write-ups :D

I'm not a great fan of reservoirs the size of toasters on my handlebars/controls, so I skimmed mine level with the mirror screw platform, works a treat and looks more sporty, I'd say.



There is a Euro Warrior owner just finished doing the exact same mod to his. Pictures will follow in July :cool:

Gav.
 
#10 ·
Nice work there Alan and LeaderDuece both MC's looking sharp with good write-ups :D

I'm not a great fan of reservoirs the size of toasters on my handlebars/controls, so I skimmed mine level with the mirror screw platform, works a treat and looks more sporty, I'd say.

There is a Euro Warrior owner just finished doing the exact same mod to his. Pictures will follow in July :cool:

Gav.
Gav ... yes ... it was rphazen & your mod that inspired me to do the chop so i picked up a used MC that was taller yet incase i screwed up as shown here > Master Cyl_07_Warrior-Chop

I was more conservative with my chop as i was concerned with the pleated diaphram fitting properly. It was time consuming sinking the c'bore around the total perimeter for the diaphram to fit properly!

HOW DID YOU DO THIS TASK OR ARE YOU W/O YOUR DIAPHRAM :D :D DOES Lou Lou know?
 
#23 · (Edited)
Nice info guys....
Caledonian Warrior is there a writeup for the mod with the toaster/reservoir?
That does look slick and sporty...
Thanks tribal.

Gav ... yes ... it was rphazen & your mod that inspired me to do the chop so i picked up a used MC that was taller yet incase i screwed up as shown here > Master Cyl_07_Warrior-Chop
I was more conservative with my chop as i was concerned with the pleated diaphram fitting properly. It was time consuming sinking the c'bore around the total perimeter for the diaphram to fit properly!
HOW DID YOU DO THIS TASK OR ARE YOU W/O YOUR DIAPHRAM :D :D DOES Lou Lou know?
I didn't take the glass out for this job Alan, as I only painted the MC unit satin black. the rest of the switch gear and levers were powdercoated. I had been through the 'polishing alloy bug' years ago and loathed the work which was involved.
Looking back (4 years) when I did the MC chop, I should never have went so deep with the milling. As you know, the whole unit is tapered and the two threads stop short. I had to trim the rubber slightly around the glass and drill and tap into the screw holes. It seals good, but I don't fill the fluid up to the usual height. Even a gallon of fluid up there won't help anyone if there is a leak in the system :eek: :eek: As long as you keep an eye on the fluid level, there shouldn't be a problem. I'll get some pictures to you when I change my hoses to st/st :cool:

Gav.
 
#11 ·
Thanks Alan...

I read up on wire EDM required to cut the height of the cylinder.. I wish I had access to that machining process. I do agree that the "toaster" is big if you want that low profile look on the handlebars.

Great information again...
 
#12 ·
Thanks LD for the write up and alanh for the older posts. I have shaved an older mc down, can I reuse the sight glass? Haven't got it done yet, but...I haven't seen where anyone has reused the sight glass..I removed mine so polishing or chroming woth hurt it. I also have the long sides shaved down for the diaphragm, but not the short sides, how perfect does it have to be.
 
#13 ·
I just went out and figured out that -as Alan noted (of course!) the sight glass actually has a trim ring which is separate from the rest. To get it to separate from the glass, I went ahead and drilled out the glass and got the remaining ring of glass to spin freely inside the trim ring. Once that happened, I was able to separate the ring of glass (really plastic/lexan) from the trim ring. Then I used a small polishing wheel on a Dremel and polished it up in about a minute. To get it to fit, you can get it started, but I don't think you could push it in by hand. If I had the MC removed from the bars I probably could use a rubber mallet to set it in place. But since the MC was mounted, I simply took a big-a$$ screwdriver, wedged it between the bars and the MC, and slowly levered the ring into place. Fit like a glove, tight, no way it's coming out without my permission.

I have a picture of the rim, but I'm waiting for my phone to upload it to the computer (it does it automatically. Love that Razr Maxx)

So Parkinglot, I can't see any reason why you couldn't re-use it, this thing fits tight. And remember, there's an o-ring behind it, so if you replaced that with a fresh o-ring, you should be set.

I wish I had the tools to cut mine down. But I'm happy with this. You still can't even tell it has a glass in it.

There's a good lesson for me here though -even though I might cherry pick one or two bits of information -and thus not really see the need to repost- I'm not the only one viewing this, and those old posts might provide other bits of information for people reading this newer post.

I personally believe that AlanH may have done every single mod known to man ;)

JK, but dang dude, is there anything you don't know? ;)
 
#14 ·
I read and reread a lot of those posts before I decided to buy an extra mc to get cut down (I did almost all my mods with extra parts and still have stock) alanh has done every mod on the warrior (he's helping me out with a mod right now because he ROCKS) can't wait to get this shaved mc done, might get to polishing tomorrow..:)
 
#17 ·
When i removed the sight glass (with the proper tools) the aluminum retaining ring stayed in place and the window came out damaged which forced me to look for an alternate solution else i would have reused the parts as have others.

It's a 50/50 crapshoot on this mod and it's best not to take out the window imo!
____________________

Both of you guys give me much more credit then i deserve and both of you are luckier than me.
 
#19 ·
There are tools for that? Wow!

Well, I was planning on replacing all the time, so it worked out well for me. If you were planning on re-using it, then yeah, it might be an issue.
not to have the last word here but if the aluminum retainer ring was frozen within the cavity you wouldn't be tutting your horn now, you'd still be searching for a proper tool ;)
 
#21 ·
I did the socket and scredriver removal tool. Worked great, bent the thing on the inside of the site glass a little bit, but I got it straightened out. I had intended to get it shaved down and then chromed, that's why I removed the window, but I may just polish it now. My step father runs a tool and die shop, I gave it to him and he shaved it down on some kind of precision band saw or something. I have to do some grinding to get the diaphram to fit, but looks like a project for tomorrow. Still not working, which gives me loads of time, but no money comimg in is starting to suck.. :) I may try to press it back in with a socket and a c clamp..should be cool..the bar end mirrors and the mirror nubs shaved off the clutch perch and the master cylinder make it all nice, except for the huge master cylinder sticking up..
 
#22 ·
That whole package is going to look sweet. I'm pretty sure the c-clamp idea would work well. It's not so hard to press in that you're worried about collapsing the MC. I think I would use a small block of wood or a flat piece of metal or something. You would have to get the socket just right, and if it slipped, you might bend it or scratch something. Heck, if you had a big enough c-clamp you could just use the clamp by itself -after taping everything.
 
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