XJ750 Replace brake master cylinder

I am currently working on an XJ750 https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/1982-xj-750-seca-cafe-racer.132829/#post-687474 and am very new to this.

The master cylinder is in a poor state and the switch gear on the handlebars also needs replacing. My question is it possible to replace with something like this:

YAMAHA XJ 600 600 N FRONT Brake Master Cylinder

I haven't done anything like this before.

Thoughts and help appreciated.

Matt

 

The 750 Seca used the goofy cable/hydraulic hybrid on the front brake. The primary purpose of that setup seemed to be simply to allow hiding the thinner cable within the bar cover for a "cleaner" look. The secondary purpose seemed to be to make the brakes weaker and maintenance more difficult.
That being said, I have my cable routed outside of the bar cover because it gets forced into an unnatural bend when inside the cover causing a harder pull and faster wear.

If you want to eliminate all that nonsense, in theory, yes you can swap for a standard bar mounted master cylinder unit. There are considerations though.

I assume since you are making a cafe racer you won't be using the stock handlebars, so you will need to find one that sits at least somewhat level and points the lever in the right direction on whatever bar bend you end up using. You will also likely have to get a custom length brake line and figure out a good way to route it and secure it. Electrical connections and switches may vary. There may also be issues with displacement ratios between the caliper and master cylinder. I don't have any idea how standard that is. Most of the bar mounted cylinders look pretty similar, but someone else may know more about that.

So, it may not be quite as simple as just grabbing one from a different bike and bolting it to the bars. Might require some research to find which ones are compatible.

I've thought of doing the swap myself. I like the stock bars and don't have a problem with the pads, but it would be nice to simplify the brakes and maybe get a little stronger action since I don't hide the cable anyway. Will be interesting to see what you end up with.

 

Thank you. I think I may just go for it and see what happens.. who needs brakes anyway!

 

My bad on the model and the type of mc it has. I have rebuilt on for them remote behind the headlight frame driven by a little push rod mc. It was fun...lol. Getting access to it will be a bit of work. Just make sure you take a few pics of each step you do so you keep all the wires and cable in the OEM routing path with you are done. I am sure you can get them brakes working. You do need them, and you really need the front brakes for safety. 75% of braking power comes from the front.

 

If you do this you need to work backwards from the callipers, and copy the MC cylinder size from one of the other bikes with the same discs and calipers. Do this and it should work fine. I fitted flat bars on my 650 maxim, tried a Seca 650 MC, it was way too soft. In the end I found a YZ 350 (if I recall), that had a similar bore size to the tilted up Maxim one.

 

Sweet spot is around 25 to 27:1

 

the 750 has twin front discs , some of the xj600n's only had one front disc, you would have to check the model to see if it had 2 discs
some virago's , and xj600 pre diversion had twin discs