Gonna put some new brake pads on the rear and I just want a heads up on pushing the calliper piston back in. First question is the piston on the inside part or the outside part of the calliper. Next question is, is it possible to push the piston back while the rear calliper is still attached to the bike, and how tricky is it to finagle a mini g clamp in there in order to push the piston back in. Also what size g clamp would be the correct size.
thx.
You *might* be able to get a mini-clamp in on the piston in the gap the pads leave but it'll be a lot easier to undo the two bolts and lift the caliper off the disk and just use some normal g-clamps or just a section of wood to use as a two-handled lever.
The rear has opposing pistons. The pistons can be moved with the caliper in situ and the pads removed. Just lever gently with two flat screwdivers or similar. Keep an eye on the resovoir level as it will rise and may overflow. If it is full before you start you will need to remove some fluid.
Might be obvious to some....but remember to take off the lid to the correct brake reservoir. In other words, don't try pushing the Pistons back with the lid on... :dunno_white:
Quote from: Sandgroper57 on July 23, 2017, 07:12:09 AM
The rear has opposing pistons. The pistons can be moved with the caliper in situ and the pads removed. Just lever gently with two flat screwdivers or similar. Keep an eye on the resovoir level as it will rise and may overflow. If it is full before you start you will need to remove some fluid.
use a slivver of wood between those screwdrivers to ease the pistons apart and balance the pressure!
scrub the sides of the pistons free of crud with a smidgen of rag while you're at it (all the way round) - they'll stick eventually if you don't....
Make friends with someone who has one of these.......
http://www.wunderlichamerica.com/motorcycle/7221096.html
Gotta agree with you on that one Sledge.
Just finished, the pads were worn down to within an inch of their life, so the pistons were well out. There was no way that I could push them in and I don't know how any one can because you cannot push them from the centre if you put a brake pad in and clamp it you can then only press from the edge and that doesn't seem like a good idea.
Ended up taking the exhaust off to get to all the bolt, took the whole calliper off which in the end was a good idea, was able to give them a thorough clean and it's easy to put it all back together. Unless you have one of them thar calliper spreaders I'd recommend taking the callipers off.
However it wasn't a good day wrenching because I thought while I have the exhaust off I may as well put the new studs in that I got, cleaned out the holes with brake cleaner and put a bit of hi temp loctite on the threads and screwed them in, however I discovered to my horror that they were 40mm bolts not the 50's that I asked for, but I managed to get them out luckily and put the old bolts in. Otherwise it's all good.
Quote from: sledge on July 24, 2017, 12:25:18 AM
Make friends with someone who has one of these.......
http://www.wunderlichamerica.com/motorcycle/7221096.html
You get lots of people saying just do this/that in this forum. Fine in theory but it soon becomes obvious that they have never actually done the job themselves :D
after removing the old pads, I've used an allen key (wrapped in cloth to protect the rotor), to push the pistons in
Also used the flat end of the rear shock adjustment tool :D
Quote from: sledge on July 24, 2017, 02:14:06 AM
You get lots of people saying just do this/that in this forum. Fine in theory but it soon becomes obvious that they have never actually done the job themselves :D
True, I've not done this on the GS yet but that is how I would have approched the job based on a similar setup on another bike I have owned in the past. You live and you learn. :thumb: