After digging into the rear brake pads earlier today, I have realized the time has come to move the GS500 (Project Name: CHICAGO) into the basement for the winter tear down.

There was NOTHING but bare metal left on the pads and the pistons are frozen solid so I might as well get it into the workshop and start.

Carb work...front suspension...front and rear caliper rebuilds, new pads, rotors and new paint - Ducati yellow with white stripes....meow plus whatever nightmares I discover along the way.

Stay tuned....

Quote from: gsmetalAfter digging into the rear brake pads earlier today...was NOTHING but bare metal left on the pads and the pistons are frozen solid so I might as well get it into the workshop and start....

Been there, done that, the t-shirt fits fine.

If you have a rotary tool, get the Dremel 511 abrasive buffs to clean up the pistons and calipers. They are also at Sears under the Craftsman name. The Sears product comes with a mandrell, Dremel buffs only.

Look over my GS page and the photo album for brake work. You might as well paint those calipers yellow to match.  

Here's a photo of my comfy workshop

Nice lift....how much did that cost you?

I've had it for several years and really like it. It's very well made. I think I paid about $600.00 for it at the time and that included shipping. I like it because it's not clunky and takes up very little space.

You can see it here: http://www.biggmaxx.com/

man that is a really nice lift, i wish i had a garage and the loot to get one.

Looks cozy.  

How do you like that lift?? Have you had any bigger bikes on it yet?

I'm semi-shopping for one still ( making do with an electric hoist... works well enough....).

Like I said, I have had the lift for about 3 years.

If I had to do it all over again, I would buy it again. I like the smallness of it and the fact that it does the job without eating up space. Sure there are bigger lifts but for me it's all about the portability.

I think it's rated for 1000lbs but you would have to check the web site to be sure. The largest bike I have had on it was an K100RT.

It's a well built lift - very Heavy Duty.

I wish i had a lift like gsmetal's.  I also wish i had my own garage and know how to work on my bike.  I also wish i had the proper tools.  Now alphafire's lift..!!! wow..!! the man took "all natural" to the next level.  Alpha can actually work on his bike and when he's done not have to put anything away.l  And it doubles as a hammock.  How cool is that..??    

Quote from: juggernaughtI wish i had a lift like gsmetal's.  I also wish i had my own garage and know how to work on my bike. :

I don't really consider myself mechanically inclined - my brother got all the smarts in that department.

Having said that, I like to tinker and motorcycles are a great place to do that. You can start by doing your own oil changes.  Aquire tools as you need them and soon you'll have a nice arsonal. You can pick up a nice rachet set from Craftsman for about $100.00 They are in the paper all the time. Don't buy crap tools!

A few year back, I bought a Mighty Vac to help me bleed my brake lines - that 'tool' cost $35.00 and I have changed brake fluid and bled brakes on my bike(s) and my friends bikes. With this tool you can bleed your brakes and change the fluid in 10 minutes. Hell, it would cost you $35.00 if you took it to the dealer and your bike would be in dry dock for the weekend.

There will be times you screw up-so what?

I can't even tell you the amount of mishaps I've had but I'm much wiser for it. My latest lesson is "Don't overtighten nuts, bolts or screws".  I was changing the oil on my wife's BMW when I was tightening one of the oil filter cover allen bolts. I thought "It's tight, but I should tighten it a bit more" So  I'm tightening it (should have used a torgue wrench) even further when..."TINK". f%$k - I broke the bolt head. So then I have to drop the whole pan and have it drilled out.

You learn as you go and with the help of the Internet, and message boards like this, you can tackle a lot of projects and help other people - that's how the whole thing works!

Well here's a photo of the rear brake caliper with the dust seals off.

You can see the outboard piston  has just a gunk all over it - it's no wonder the pistons didn't move.

Stay tuned

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Quote from: juggernaughtI wish i had a lift like gsmetal's.  I also wish i had my own garage and know how to work on my bike.  I also wish i had the proper tools.  Now alphafire's lift..!!! wow..!! the man took "all natural" to the next level.  Alpha can actually work on his bike and when he's done not have to put anything away.l  And it doubles as a hammock.  How cool is that..??    

Hahaha, no no, not mine. That's a guy I know here at school.  I wouldn't mind having his SV though.

Quote from: gsmetalWell here's a photo of the rear brake caliper with the dust seals off.

You can see the outboard piston  has just a gunk all over it - it's no wonder the pistons didn't move.
quote]

That caliper actually looks pretty good.  If you know anyone with a lathe you can have them turn down the height of the puck (piston) to the shorter height of the damaged area.  Clean it all up REEEELY good paying attention to get the surfaces of the bore and piston smooth.  Put it back together and as long as the seals are not munged up, it will work like new.

As I said earlier, the abrasive buff will be all you need as long as the piston isn't ground up. It will look brand new when done.

A little compressed air on the input and they should POP out. BTW, cover the whole thing up with a heavy rag or cloth before doing that. I've got a tshirt that still has spots on it from a set I rebuilt. Gawd it was funny! I had yucky brake fluid all over me!  :lol:

Do you plan to split the caliper? I did, ran it in the parts cleaner for a while and then buffed the pot up also. Lots of nasty gunky stuff in there. If the half seal (0-ring) is shot, you will need another one. About $5 or so from the dealer. I had just over $60 in new seals and rubber, dealer price. Online would have saved only a few $ and it was time to toss a bone to the dealer anyway.  Keeping up good relations.

LOL...I'm no newbie when it comes to brakes....this is probably my tenth set. :lol:

Here's what the inside of your brake caliper probably looks like.

My bike has 9300 miles on it. As you can see by the photo, there's a fair amount of sludge and boiled brake fluid inside.

This photo shows the sludge which is behind the piston. The fluid pushes the pistion which in turn pushes against the brake pad and the pad pushes against your brake rotor which stops you.

The brake fluid should be clear. The fluid breaks down over time from heat and that's the sludge you see. It was looking a lot worse in real life.  The pistons did come out without too much drama so there weren't frozen as I first suspected but I'm glad I'll have some better braking capabilities.

Hmmmm 450$ ...  

Yeah there are bigger lifts.....but it's compactness is kind of cool... I've been looking at them for awhile...

I've been looking at a few other ones...but they all cost a few hundred more..(They have air  or electric over hydraulic  instead of manual...)...


Merry Xmas to me.....

Don't get too caught up in the electric or air lift portion of it.

The bike goes up in about 10 pumps and I figure it's one less thing to break.

Once the bike is up, it's up when you are working on it. What I mean to say is, it's not like you are going up and down with the lift several times a day like a dealer would. In my case the bike will stay up for several months at a time before it comes off the lift.

For me, the compactness of it outweighed the benefits of electric or some type of foot pump.