I highly doubt regular aluminium bar would work. Those are probably alloys. I do have access to a lathe and possibly the material. Though I'm not sure what grade the stainless steel bar would be or if that would make a big difference?

I really wouldn't bugger about turning up any pistons, by the time you've done it, the time, effort and cost of the materials will outweigh just buying the bits.

Last year I went to David Silver and got a full set of Honda seals and boots, genuine bleed nipple and two aftermarket pistons, and it set me back £64.50 including post. You could probably find a caliper for £30 or so on eBay, but unless you know and trust the seller, there's no guarantee it won't need overhauling anyway. However, given the state of those pistons, I hate to think what the caliper body looks like!

Okay putting everything in perspective, £64, that's 10% of what I paid for the bike, and I'm a student so funds are a bit tight. So I'm looking for the most cost effective option. As for the cost of turning new pistons, the stainless steel rod is priced at $13 and the seal kit at $20. That is if I'm unable to get the rod for free. So by that I would say turning down new pistons would be much cheaper. The rest of the caliper seems to be in healthy condition, just that the previous owner never bothered to change the rear brake pads.

Is it just me or does this sound like Xivlia all over again???

V4beermonster wrote:Is it just me or does this sound like Xivlia all over again???

Yeah but at least this one seems to be listening.

V4beermonster wrote:Is it just me or does this sound like Xivlia all over again???

Although to be fair I can't imagine xivlia using a socket set let alone a lathe!

Was just looking at my options...

My NC30's brakes had been neglected by previous owners. I ended up replacing all the discs, pads, brake lines and rebuilt the rear caliper. I picked up a set of pattern pistons + seals from Wemoto for peanuts. It also need new tyres, chain & sprockets, radiators, cooling hoses and a full engine overhaul. If the brake pistons and pads were that knackered on your bike, I suspect the disks are also shagged out.. along with a host of other safety critical parts. If you only paid £640 for the bike it's bound to need some TLC and money thrown at it.

JamieDemos wrote:Thanks for the links. I was thinking why not just turn down some stainless steal bar and make the pistons, seems simple enough? What's everyone's thoughts on this?

Don't let some of the nay-sayers put you off trying this.

Seems a lot of unjust negativity going on here.

I've done the same before using stainless steel bar and a lathe. Its much cheaper if you can turn down your own pistons if you already have the equipement and it doesn't take that long other once your setup.

It should go without saying that your mesurements have got to be accurate or you'll leak fluid and having faulty brakes is dangerous :)

If you know how to use the equipemnt go for it.