No, I don't have a manual.  Didn't think I'd be scratching my head over a caliper for this long. 
How do you take this thing apart!?!?!  WTF!!!  I've done this on cars plenty of times, but come on! 

I know the trick with the rear; it's the front that I need.  It's a '93, and doesn't have the cotter pin like Kerry's. 
Am I supposed to pull off the little rubber nipple thing, or do the rods on the side screw out? 

Have you removed the caliper from the fork?

Not sure how to remove the pads...  They changed the design in '96.  They should just unclip, according to my manual.

Oh, I've had it off the rim for quite a while. 

No, they don't unclip.  There's not a bolt, clip, nut, screw, or staple on this thing that I can see, other than the bleeder screw and the two bolts holding it onto the rim. 
The exploded view affirms it.  Seriously, I've been turning this thing over for at least an hour, like a monkey with something shiny.

Manual sez:

On 80-95 models, perform the following:

a.  Press the mounting bracket toward the caliper body to allow brake pad removal

b.  Remove the inboard pad from the posts on the caliper mounting bracket and remove the pad.

c.  Unhook the outboard pad and remove it from the caliper assembly.


Very helpful, I know..

Thanks for that, at least.

I've done A.
I've been trying B the entire time. 
If I get to C, I'm throwing a party. 

You probably need to push the pistons into the caliper to get enough room to get the inner pad off the mounting bracket pins.

Quote from: gsJack on November 08, 2008, 08:15:20 PM
You probably need to push the pistons into the caliper to get enough room to get the inner pad off the mounting bracket pins.

What he said!

Yeah, I've done that just now.  Didn't realize these things pushed in as far as they do, didn't want to break it. 

But, MOTHER OF GOD!  The outboard pad does not simply just "unhook".  Doesn't help that the previous owner apparently hated paved roads. 

Success!!  Time to party!!!!


Consider yourselves lucky if you have a post '96. 

If you don't:
unbolt caliper from forks
Apply C-clamp
Turn c-clamp until you've nearly disintegrated the caliper into dust
Keep turning c-clamp  (Oh, no, you're not breaking it!  Suzuki engineers WANTED you to do this)
Turn it more
Curse
Stab yourself in the hand with a screwdriver
Angle the outboard pad until you can get it past the posts.  There won't be much room.  Have a blast!
Pop off the inboard pad. 

See?  Simple!

Should I take pictures?  Anybody wanna see the carnage?

Quote from: wladziu on November 08, 2008, 08:56:38 PM
Should I take pictures?  Anybody wanna see the carnage?

As long as the screwdriver's still in your hand....

Quote from: wladziu on November 08, 2008, 08:52:54 PM
Success!!  Time to party!!!!


Consider yourselves lucky if you have a post '96. 

If you don't:
unbolt caliper from forks
Apply C-clamp
Turn c-clamp until you've nearly disintegrated the caliper into dust
Keep turning c-clamp  (Oh, no, you're not breaking it!  Suzuki engineers WANTED you to do this)
Turn it more
Curse
Stab yourself in the hand with a screwdriver
Angle the outboard pad until you can get it past the posts.  There won't be much room.  Have a blast!
Pop off the inboard pad. 

See?  Simple!

Yeah, it is quite the pain. I just did it for the first time and it took a bit of time to figure it out. Then I stripped the threads where the banjo bolt go because HEL decided to ship me a bolt with the wrong thread pitch. Grr, after being angry for a while I went to the salvage yard and got another caliper for $40 so I could take the new pads out of the messed up caliper and put them in the new one. I'm actually getting pretty good at removing and installing brake pads in these things now....

Quote from: wladziu on November 08, 2008, 08:52:54 PM
Success!!  Time to party!!!!


Consider yourselves lucky if you have a post '96. 

If you don't:
unbolt caliper from forks
Apply C-clamp
Turn c-clamp until you've nearly disintegrated the caliper into dust
Keep turning c-clamp  (Oh, no, you're not breaking it!  Suzuki engineers WANTED you to do this)
Turn it more
Curse
Stab yourself in the hand with a screwdriver
Angle the outboard pad until you can get it past the posts.  There won't be much room.  Have a blast!
Pop off the inboard pad. 

See?  Simple!

I lost it at stab yourself in the hand 

Yeah, I'm counting on the toluene in the brake cleaner to denature any bacteria in the wound. 

Could have used you yesterday, Fred.  Glad I'm not the only one who had difficulty with the design.  But, you're right.  Once you've done it once, it's a snap to do it again.  Helluva learning curve. 


I'd like to thank everybody for their help, though.  I was pretty sure that everyone would be laughing at the new guy that didn't have a clue, but that hasn't happened so far on this forum.  Pretty unusual.  I'm going out on a limb to say that this must be a pretty nice community. 

*Points and laughs*