Stupid Reservoir Idea

[Pasta Bobber]

So I have some pretty cool ideas on how to clean up my bars on the bobber I'm building (pee cups are ugly  ) One of my dumber ideas involves a question. Since the rerservoir only supplies brake fluid as the pads wear down, Could I fill and bleed the brakes, and ditch the reservoirs? put a screw or bolt where the openings were? It would obvously need to be monitored more than a standard reservoir system. It sounds even more dumb as I type it, But I gotta ask. Fire away!

[He Man]

Its a hydraulic action that pushes the pads into the rotors. Since these fluids are considered to be non compressable, then that means you need to displace a certain amount of fluid to move the pads. Wheres the fluid comming from if there is no outside source?

[TAftonomos]

Nope, you've got to have a resi.

Clean way is to fab the bars with the resi's built in  

[Jarvicious]

I was about to respond about how Gregg's customs built a bike with similar reservoirs.....until i saw the little Hellion at the bottom of the pic 

I'm so madly in love with those I can't even think straight.  You're the welder TAftonomous, how feasible would those be to fab up?  I'm looking for some beginner's projects this spring.  I've got the coffins on my ride but I'm looking into new masters and I abhor the pee cups. 

Sorry Pasta Bobber, but I looked into the same thing for a while.  You gotta have them.  Why manufacturers always mount them so far above the master cylinder is beyond me though. 

[TAftonomos]

NOT hard really.  My only question would be if the inside of the reservoir would need to be coated with something to protect the aluminum.  I'm pretty sure brake fluid is caustic enough that it would eat away at aluminum.

Those pictured are either steel or Ti, more than likely steel. 

The aluminum cap and the flange on the top of the reservoir are simple items made on a mill.

Other than that it's a flared piece of pipe, welded to the bar with a hole drilled in it.  Sometimes the simplest things make for some clean mounting

[Drunken Monkey]

I'm pretty sure brake fluid is caustic enough that it would eat away at aluminum.

I don't think so.  I've heard about it taking off chrome, paint and plastic, but it better not be caustic to anodized aluminum because that's what my reservoirs are made out of (Rizomas)

One of the monster challenge guys just used a pair of modified fuel filters (capped the tops) as reservoirs. You can kind of make them out in the photo below

[greenmonster]

I`ve seen a SBK w just one, a bit larger reservoir.

[Capo]

[Norm]

Your idea will work fine and is commonly used for rear brakes. It's a little trickier up front because as the bike is leaned to extreme angles, any little bubble will go where it's not supposed to go and......no brakes (FHE).

[fasterblkduc]

Your idea will work fine and is commonly used for rear brakes. It's a little trickier up front because as the bike is leaned to extreme angles, any little bubble will go where it's not supposed to go and......no brakes (FHE).

Exactly, which is why you need the reservoir to be high above the master cyl.. That chopper picture with the reservoir built into the bar is a clean looking idea, but it's for show. That bar is probably stainless steel and not only is it too low for a sportbike (or any bike that will be leaning), but you will likely have condensation problems from being metal. Also, the reservoir is too small for a sportbike brake system because you are pushing more fluid...(i.e., two big calipers instead of one tiny one) It's for show, and it's a really bad idea.

In the original poster's scenario, when you apply the brake, it would lock up and stay locked up.
 
And the brake fluid does eat away at anodizing. Even the stock cap that is anodized black has the finish flake off. If you don't believe me, go pull the cap off your stock reservoir and look at all the little flakes. This happens to them all after a while. These flakes can wreck seals too.

So, to sum up...you may not like the look of your big plastic cups that sit up high, but they were designed that way for a reason and you really should not get too radical trying to modify them.....good luck

[TAftonomos]

Hmmm:

[He Man]

That bike looks freaking bad ass! but does it work half as good as it looks?

[fasterblkduc]

Taft, I thought that from that first pic, it was a chopper. Doesn't matter what kind of bike it is...it's not a great idea.

[Pasta Bobber]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Built into the bars was my other idea. Thanks for the cool helion pic Tafto. Built into the bars is probably the way I'm going to go. The other idea was a small piece of tubing like they used on flat trackers. I had the same question about the fluid corroding the steel bars. I guess we could make another set out of stainless. I read on another forum that DOT 5 won't peel up paint if it's the right base (can't remeber which) I would like to think that if it doesn't peel paint, the steel would be safe.  Making sure there is little air in the bar will be important, I'll probably still use a cap with a diaphram. While the pee cups are a great design and functional, thats not reason enough to let them trash the look of my bike. Function, form....whatever. I'm sure I'll have planty of brake performance for what I'm building the bike for. Heck, the stock front system that I'm starting with (S2R 1000) is better than what most bikes come with. it'll be safe either way [moto]

[Pasta Bobber]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Built into the bars was my other idea. Thanks for the cool helion pic Tafto. Built into the bars is probably the way I'm going to go. The other idea was a small piece of tubing like they used on flat trackers. I had the same question about the fluid corroding the steel bars. I guess we could make another set out of stainless. I read on another forum that DOT 5 won't peel up paint if it's the right base (can't remeber which) I would like to think that if it doesn't peel paint, the steel would be safe.  Making sure there is little air in the bar will be important, I'll probably still use a cap with a diaphram. While the pee cups are a great design and functional, thats not reason enough to let them trash the look of my bike. Function, form....whatever. I'm sure I'll have planty of brake performance for what I'm building the bike for. Heck, the stock front system that I'm starting with (S2R 1000) is better than what most bikes