What did you do to your bike today?

[winnsworld]

Realised that I've got a dodgy front fork seal with oil running down the forks onto the brakes, the wheel and the tyre!!!!

Booked it for next Saturday as I still want it sold....

[dokterdave]

Well yesterday I cleaned the calipers as the front brakes were binding, actually turned out to be the front brake lever pivot bolt needed cleaning.
Chrome bolt with rust spots on it.

Today I took the bike to the dealers for a minor service and to have the fork seals replaced.

[Lonewolf]

Took mine out for a wee jaunt today and spoilt it rotten by buying it a new front tyre for it while I was out. That should last me a couple more years.

[O.C.]

Took mine out for a wee jaunt today and spoilt it rotten by buying it a new front tyre for it while I was out. That should last me a couple more years.

 

[Lonewolf]

An old thread which has been untouched for a while but still worth contributing to and resurrecting. 

Well I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence but there are some folk on here, like Nigel, Rusty, that bloke from Worthing & the other geezer who works in the smoke for that cushy unit  who have possibly never tinkered with their bikes and done such simple jobs as a quick brake overhaul so as I was overhauling the callipers today for the forthcoming trip to Scotland I thought I'd take a few pics which may just assist others and give them the confidence to have a go at this simple task.

Firstly the basic tools which I tend to use to make sure things run smoothly.



I tend to do the front callipers first, significantly slacken off the pad pin bolts before you do anything else otherwise you'll never move them. Obviously you can completely remove them if you wish along with the pads but I tend to just slacken them and remove pad pins, spring and pads when I have the calliper in my hand. 

As you can see they get caked in crap, that's only about 6 months worth.





Lay out the internal parts, springs, bolts and pads and then individually clean them all with brake cleaner and a tooth brush finally giving them a wipe if necessary with a power towel.



Get rid of all the build up of crud on the edges of the pads, I tend to just run a flat bladed screwdriver down the edges.



After a bit of a tidy up they should look much better.



For the reassembly, use a little bit of copper slip on the pad pin and the back of the pads, (quite important it only goes on the back of the pads). 

Drop the spring in place, note that it will only fit one way due to the different width ends so there's no danger of any mistake here.
Feed a pad in and then feed the pad pin in by hand making sure it captures the hole in the pad and goes through the groove in the spring, pay particular attention and make sure the pin goes through the pad and spring otherwise you'll lose them when they fall out onto the road. But that'll be the least of your problems!  Finally replace the opposite pad again making sure that the pin goes through the pad capture lug. I tend to screw the pad pin in as far as it will go by hand that way there's no danger of stripping any threads.



Then do the opposing pair of pads.




I then use a wide flat bladed screwdriver to part the pads and then gently slot them back over the discs.



Then using an audible and vibrating Snap On torque wrench,    torque the calliper fixing bolts to 25ft/lb.



Then tighten up the two pad pins to 13ft/lb.



Be careful you do not over tighten any of the bolts as it'll be an expensive repair!

Finally and this is extremely important. Pump the front brake lever as the pistons will be retracted and the brake lever will virtually touch the handlebar.





This is what you want. It wont now pull in any further.



Then I did the rear calliper which I've always found to be more fiddly than the front, even though there's nothing to it. (Yes I know its a bit corroded.)

Undo the bolts circled in red, don't touch the other large bolts underneath the circled ones.



Again, full of crap as the front ones were. Some of the rear pads may still have a silver backing plate which is an anti rattle plate.





Maybe I ought to clean these more often!



Everything out and as before give it all a good dousing of brake cleaner and scrub and then wipe dry before re-assembling. Use the same care and technique as you did on the front callipers.



This time torque up the calliper retaining bolts to 18ft/lb.



And the pad pin to 13ft/lb.



Finally as before, pump the brake lever until it feels stiff. The entire job should take much less than an hour and its even therapeutic doing a bit of DIY on the bike. 

So that's what I did to my bike today before fitting another Go Pro mount under the offside mirror mount. My Beadrider seat covering arrived today also so that'll be getting fitted tomorrow.

[Rusty]

Well done Steve ... Nice to see you doing something up there before we go away ! I look forward to my Mr Wolf DIY lessons in the future when I'm not so busy ! Today ? Rode home from the smoke on warm dry roads with the temp showing 24c all the way ... Quick wipe of the screen and polish her up a bit in preparation for tomorrow ... A trip to Bromley for a 12000 mile service and fitting of new horn and a set of stainless steel Akrapovic headers to compliment the can .... Just to let the Scots know we are coming their way !

[Burchy]

Nice pics.  Its a good opportunity to also clean all the crud off the pistons and GENTLY push the back into the caliper to get them moving nice and smoothly again.  Aerosol brake cleaner will get rid of most of the build up and the toothbrush the rest

[Boomer]

Nice one Steve. The 10-14 calipers are different from the 08-09 ones. The pads look the same though.
Like Burchy I also clean up the pistons.
I pump the pistons out a little more once the pads are out and then use WD40 (or similar) and a toothbrush to clean the pistons.
I then use Brake Cleaner to get rid of the WD40 before pushing the pistons back in.
Be aware that when you push them back in, the other pistons will try to pop out.
I use some steel blocks to prevent this but wood is fine too.
Also be aware that when pushing the pistons back in you are pushing brake fluid back into the Master Cylinder.
If it's full you could cause damage.

[Lonewolf]

I did give the pistons a tickle with the brake cleaner but perhaps had I had more time I would have done as you both suggested, I always have when I've changed the pads, as I don't want all that crud getting under the seals.


This was really just to check on their condition and make sure they had plenty of life in them for a trip up in the highlands.

[O.C.]

Looking at the level of corrosion and rust on those vital components Steve, I would recommend using this (for example)   

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Scottoiler-FS365-Anti-Corrosion-Spray-1-Litre-Motorcycle-Protects-Against-Salt-/141061748177?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item20d7ef75d1

And definitely some brake cleaner ( for example) which should be used first of course

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WD-40-Specialist-Motorbike-Brake-Cleaner-500ml-/281242933664?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item417b6299a0

[Lonewolf]

Everything still works fine despite the surface corrosion, but yes, now that my garage doesn't leak like a sieve, this coming winter I'll be giving the bike a major overhaul, unless of course I part ex it which potentially I'm still tempted to do.

[Debs]

Feeling happy today...

Yesterday I removed all the fairing and took baby up to Bournemouth Kawasaki.

Today she had the shims checked (All good and didn't need changing),
Brake fluid changed on front and rear reservoirs and also the clutch fluid changed. All were black but the rear was far worse than the others.

Service book also stamped 

And she had her MOT done for another year... 

[Zebedee]

:):):):):)


Sent from my iPhone by mini Elves.

Zeb

[PRD]

I wonder what Mr Wolf would part-ex his bike for.

[viper]

fitted RG adventure bars ( front )


promptly took them off to be fitted properly at a later date