Two steps forward, one step back.........

Another slightly frustrating weekend. Off-side front brake caliper decided not to play ball as the pistons of one half refused to come out. Tried all sorts of cunning manoeuvres, and even resorted to impact engineering at one point, but sadly to no avail. A quick scout around on eBay soon located a guy in Stoke selling two race preped. KR1S with a shed load of spares. Spoke to him on the phone and he was able to find a replacement caliper and a left handlebar for £30, which I collected on Saturday morning. Whilst I was there I took the opportunity to measure the KR1S tank to see if it was a possibility for our tank less chassis. Having taken a template with me it appears to be a usable alternative. He had one in his eBay haul that, if the winner didn't want, he would get back to me about. Haven't heard anything yet so that's another item to add to the list.

So having acquired a replacement caliper I decided to force the calipers out using hydraulic pressure. That was the plan anyway! So now it's the turn of front master cylinder not to play ball - I'm detecting a trend here. Started to strip the master cylinder, but couldn't find anything amiss; piston seemed free, fluid was moving in and out of the reservoir holes, it just wasn't coming through into the brake hose. Eventually, after much blood, sweat and tears, and needing to drill-out the bolt holding the lever in place, I decided that it was also f**cked. If I charged myself out at £10 and hour it was an expensive way of getting nowhere fast. Admitted defeat and e-mailed John Goode to see if his auto-jumble like garages could provide an alternative. Luckily he thinks we should be able to find something suitable, which hopefully means the front end can get finished.

So ended a frustrating, but perversely enjoyable, spannering weekend!