TOPIC:

I just rebuilt the front caliper (single) on my '82 KZ550A with new seals and lube and installed steel lines. I don't get purchase until the lever is 1/3 - 1/2 pulled. The problem seems to be the there is a fair amount of play of the caliper on it's shafts. I'm not sure if it was like this before but I don't think so, the calipers on my ninja are tight. Is this supposed to be a tight fit in the 550, and any ideas?
Thanks!

The calipers are supposed to "float", so your KZ is probably OK. Actually, probably will work better now than ever. The Ninjas may need to be lubed, but the newer brakes may be different. All three on my GPZ were solid, lubed the pins and after a couple of days, the calipers moved ALOT, which my mechanic said is very good.

Bleeding is a pain, and maybe time to pay some attention to the master cylinder. Couldn't hurt on a 14 year old bike to get that rebuilt too.

Thanks rox, that gives me good piece of mind and saves me from tearing it down again chasing after a ghost. I'll try a couple more rounds of bleeding but I think I'm probably OK, with the built in "float" I guess I'll never get the hard feel that I have on the Ninja.
Steve

Oh yea, and good point on the master cylinder, I'll add it to my list - it's actually 24 years old! I bought it new when I was in college and just took it back over from my brother who had it for the past 15 years, so it's an old friend

With brake components that old and use of DOT 3 brake fluid in them that was most probably rarely, if ever, changed, it's just good economics to rebuild your system with new components seals, pistons, etc.

Might as well rebuild your M/C too now that you've rebuilt the caliper.