pipe buffering

[Frank Kujawski]

  I upgreaded versions of Linux, and bash, and I am finding that the pipe, 
|, is buffering differently.  Before I could go a fe pipes before I get a 
buffered output, now it seems that it buffers at a single pipe.
  I have looked for settings in bash, as it apears to be bash related and 
not command related.  The specific command is
        tail httpd-*.logs | cut -c-80
  While I presume this is an internal behavor to the CLI, I would liek to 
be able to turn it off.
        Frank