After working on my gas cap last weekend, I'm ready to take on the brakes (front first).  Any advice? 

Not looking to do anything fancy.  They work fine despite my wanton disregard for the maintenance schedule. (coming up on 25K miles on the bike).  I know, I'm a bad GS500 owner.

The little window on the front reservoir looks kind of cracked or 'crazed'.  I'm concerned that my new fluid won't be dark enough for me to see.   I'm thinking of trying to polish the window a bit while it's dry... or should I just get a new front reservoir/piston assembly?

The brake line hasn't been replaced in... well since I've owned it (uh '99 probably).  Who makes a good SS line?

The rotor is just below the spec in my Clymer manual, so I'm thinking of picking up the EBC.

What pads should I get?  More EBC?

How about the caliper and piston, is there a rebuild kit or something I should consider?

Thanks for any info!

Quote from: scalveg on July 29, 2008, 06:37:57 PM
After working on my gas cap last weekend, I'm ready to take on the brakes (front first).  Any advice? 

Not looking to do anything fancy.  They work fine despite my wanton disregard for the maintenance schedule. (coming up on 25K miles on the bike).  I know, I'm a bad GS500 owner.

Have you at least been changing the oil and lubing the chain?! Ignoring the other stuff will hurt you in the long run, but probably not as dramatically as engine oil and chain.
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Maintenance/MaintenanceSchedule

Quote
The little window on the front reservoir looks kind of cracked or 'crazed'.  I'm concerned that my new fluid won't be dark enough for me to see.   I'm thinking of trying to polish the window a bit while it's dry... or should I just get a new front reservoir/piston assembly?

If the window is cracked, you probably need a replacement reservoir. If it's just scratched, clean it up and away-you-go! A photo might help here 

Quote
The brake line hasn't been replaced in... well since I've owned it (uh '99 probably).  Who makes a good SS line?

I use Earl's stainless steel line. I think Galfer is another popular brand. I went to a local motorcycle shop and asked; they had a roll of Earl's and cut it the same length as the old line I brought in (30" front; 28" rear).

Quote
The rotor is just below the spec in my Clymer manual, so I'm thinking of picking up the EBC.

What pads should I get?  More EBC?

I used a set of EBC organics (#FA129). I have a '95 - depending on the year of your bike, the part number may be different.

Quote
How about the caliper and piston, is there a rebuild kit or something I should consider?

Thanks for any info!

Unless you have reason to suspect there is a problem, I wouldn't dismantle the calipers. I would, however, clean up the exposed piston surfaces before pushing them back in. Take one of those green scouring pads (not steel wool) and polish them up nice and shiny! gsJack has made some detailed posts about the best way to do this.

Make sure you don't squeeze the brake lever when the pads are out! And use Loctite blue on the caliper mounting bolts.

Bleed in some fresh brake fluid, and you're good to go... good luck!

edit: I should have mentioned that the whole process is a lot easier if you have a shop manual. The manual is also confidence-inspiring, which is very important when working on brakes!

I do change the oil and lube the chain.  I've even been known to replace the oil filter and adjust the chain tension from time to time!

Thanks for the info!  I'll probably order up the rotor and pads today, and maybe call my favorite shop to see if he has some SS line for me.

Wow them rotors are expensive.  Maybe I'll actually re-measure mine to really make sure how it's doing.  I'm not quite rich enough to go dropping $175 without being sure I really need it.

Quote from: scalveg on July 30, 2008, 10:36:19 AM
Wow them rotors are expensive.  Maybe I'll actually re-measure mine to really make sure how it's doing.  I'm not quite rich enough to go dropping $175 without being sure I really need it.

Agreed. No need to replace the rotor unless it is grooved, warped, or too thin. I know that rotor life will depend strongly on how the bike is ridden, but here are some relevant threads for your information:
gsJack >90,000 miles -- http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41688.msg468612#msg468612
Lars 30,000 miles -- http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=13000.msg109683#msg109683

HOW TO:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=13871.0

Oh yeah, when you do put in the new brake pads, make sure to follow the proper bedding procedure:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=40052.0

Yeah I adjusted my chain tension on Saturday and borrowed a nice micrometer instead of my old rattly one, and the disc is like .015 inch thinner than spec at its thinnest point, so I've ordered a disc, stainless line, and pads.

Looking forward to this weekend already!

But, driven by the idea of my brake pads flying out of the caliper at speed if I had let the rotor get much thinner, I also think I'm going to try to follow the maintenance interval a little more carefully. 

Hey dude, measure the new rotor and post back here what its thickness is. My contention is that its not too much more than 4mm to start with.
As a commuter mine routinely went at 20K or there abouts. 1 disk every other set of pads ...
You could have done galfer disc and put it on the stock hat for prolly ~200 ... I guess 175 for the stock is OK. No swapping hats.
Cool.
Buddha.

I had one local guy who needed a tire, a disk and pads, and fork seals. The total cost $500. He paid me $400 for a kat FE and went down the road happy.
I took his fork legs and pulled it apart to find some very serious straight rate springs in it. No one had a clue what it was.
Cool.
Buddha.