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Dyna Glide ModelsSuper Glide, Super Glide Sport, Super Glide Custom, Dyna Glide Convertible, Super Glide T-Sport, Dyna Glide Police, Dyna Switchback, Low Rider, Street Bob, Fat Bob and Wide Glide.
Just purchased my first Harley and I'm loving her. 2011 Super Glide Custom. It's almost perfect, with the exception of the front brake master being pretty badly corroded from a small slow fluid leak while it sat for a long time. Wondering if I should replace it with a used OEM master or if this is a common thing and I should go with aftermarket. I did just drop a ton of money on her, so I'm a little strapped for cash... But the issue does need to be resolved.
Welcome to the forum, personally I would replace with OEM as its a critical brake component and I just trust OEM more than some aftermarket piece unless its a real high quality brand. Anyways, brake fluid can leak from there if there is too much fluid when the cap is installed or if that rubber gasket is compromised or installed incorrectly. I would go ahead and flush the brakes when changing the master cylinder and be sure that gasket is installed correctly on the new one.
I have a similar problem on my '14 Fatboy. I bought an OEM replacement cover ($39.99 + tax) and installed it by myself just a few days ago (see picture). The original cover is very close to yours. The new one has a different design. I filled fluid leaving 1/4" of space in the reservoir. In a 30 minutes ride, fluid leaked at the corner near by the side mirror. I took off some fluid (say, 3/8" of space), and fluid still leaks to a less degree. I'm thinking to sand or file the cylinder contact surface to clean it (some corrosion and bad old rubber on it now). The manual says the screw torque is 6 to 8 in-lb. That's a very small torque, and my smallest torque wrench starts with 20 in-lb. I don't feel like buying another torque wrench and relaying on my manual method for now. Any tip is appreciated to end this issue.
Looks just like mine. I replaced the top with a cheap chrome one from JP Cycles with no window. I'll just repaint the body of it. Looks shitty but just not worth the money to replace completely as far as I'm concerned.
next time, I'll buy anything inexpensive. this time, $70 + tax for front and rear covers was spent. I looked at bikes parked at the dealership and found most of older bikes (say, older than 3 years) have brake fluid leak. HD needs to better the cover/gasket design across the fleet.
Some of them may be leaking, but I bet most of those 'leaks' you're seeing evidence for on parked bikes is actually the result of user error. If you're not paying attention when you take off those caps, you'll instinctively flip them over to catch the drips. This puts fluid on the mating surface and up onto the cover itself which then drips down onto the body of the MC once installed. Those gaskets also have a breather hole to vent the air in the MC to atmosphere, and that hole is where excess fluid will leak out.
I know about not flipping it upside down like that, and I still end up flipping it over occasionally. One of the things I find really interesting about working on bikes is when the engineering meets human nature like that. It's a lot like how on Japanese bikes, you'll often see the JIS screws (like those on the MC cover) being stripped out. This happens because the humans over here look at those fasteners and figure they are Philips drive, but they're not. They're just close enough to accept a Philips, but it doesn't seat properly and they just strip. More of an anthropological problem than a technical one just like the flipped lids, and I find that really interesting.
The rear MC on mine was very crusty. For me and my setup, it's not worth the hassle to strip, prep and paint it in order to make it look right. The time it would take me to set all that up and do it, is not worth the $34 CAD they wanted for a brand new one. If you're all setup for painting already, you might make a different choice. The new cover also comes with a new gasket and screws, too.
Just purchased my first Harley and I'm loving her. 2011 Super Glide Custom. It's almost perfect, with the exception of the front brake master being pretty badly corroded from a small slow fluid leak while it sat for a long time. Wondering if I should replace it with a used OEM master or if this is a common thing and I should go with aftermarket. I did just drop a ton of money on her, so I'm a little strapped for cash... But the issue does need to be resolved.
Thanks for the advice guys!
I actually have one I was getting ready to list on the classifieds here or ebay. I can post pictures if you're interested. It's a 9/16, same as yours and came stock on my '14 street bob. Only reason I took it off is that I went to a 11/16 for dual discs.
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Damaged Front Brake Master
