ace 50, Caliper is unbolted from it's carrier bracket before removing the axle.  I've removed the wheel this many times changing tires and a few more for other reasons:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelogs_zpse04c1f44.jpg

Ace, Jack, thanks guys, I'll get on it later tonight.

Can't wait

Keep us updated! It's always good to see another GS get some much deserved love. Treat it right, and it'll treat you right.

Quote from: gsJack on June 25, 2014, 05:11:35 AM
ace 50, Caliper is unbolted from it's carrier bracket before removing the axle.  I've removed the wheel this many times changing tires and a few more for other reasons:

I never unbolt the caliper. Just remove axle and wheel slides right out.
I just misquoted that you can take off caliper without removing axle.

In this case azbo is removing the caliper to work on it and I'd certainly take it loose before pulling the wheel, he's waiting for a rotor to put on it too.  See his other thread regarding binding wheel.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=67494.msg812753#msg812753

I usually take my caliper loose the same way when changing pads because I pop the pistons to clean them before pushing them back in as described in that other thread.

With those like new looking pads in azbo's caliper I think this is a good example of dirty pistons having been pushed back into the seals causing the wheel "sticking" as the mechanic pointed out to him.

Quote from: gsJack on June 25, 2014, 05:04:47 AM
It is frequently very difficult to remove the caliper from the rotor if the rotor has some circumferential  grooving from wear.  Just grab the caliper in both hands and wiggle it back and forth to push the pistons back in the caliper a bit and free it. 

I think this was the problem The disc is has some serious grooves on its surface, to the point where there is a lip at the outer edge (you can sort of see it in the first pic below), which I assume was catching on something, preventing a clean removal. In the end, brute force was the answer.

Took the wheel out, gave it a good clean. I'm not sure if this is right or wrong, but I used WD40 to help get some of the grime off, seemed to work pretty well. I also cleaned off the sprocket, to try to determine if it needed changing; it looks ok to me, but I'll let you guys be the judge...

(apologies for the crap photos)



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Don't use WD40 to clean brake calipers. That's what they make brake cleaner for. Hard to see grooves straight on. There is a minimum thickness a rotor should be. Have to check a manual for that.
Never seen rotor holes filled with crap like that either. Looks like mud-daubers were at it!

The underside of my bike is a real horrorshow hehe, to give you an example... you know the rear suspension adjuster ring, with the holes... well you can't see the holes!!

Cleaning off all the muck from that wheel was great! To clarify, WD40 was just used on the wheel and sprocket, not the caliper itself. For that, I was planning to use soapy water and a tooth brush, followed by brake cleaner spray.

Hopefully the new disc will be in better shape...

That is quite an edge in that well worn rotor, good your putting a new one on.  It confirms the new looking pads are actually quite new at least mileage wise if not age wise, the pads are only hitting the high spots on the rotor.

With only 47K kilometers (28K miles approx) on your bike that rear sprocket looks OK to me but I've never replaced a rear sprocket on a bike having put 80-100K miles on 4 of my 6 bikes.  Front sprocket needs replaced every 2nd or so chain replacement for me on the GSs, your mileage may vary.

I clean my rear wheel with WD-40 every time I put a new tire on it whether it needs it or not.    Just don't get it on the pads or rotor surface.
.

Yeah, WD seemed to work great at getting the very think clumps of black off the rims. I'm gonna take out the pads tonight, to take a look and remove any crud on them.

Now the wheel is off, I have more room to work on tarting up my chain. The left side is looking ok now, but I can see now that the right side has some spots of rust on it. I'll try to work on that while the wheel is off.

I'll post up some more pics later if I have anything to report.

Cheers guys

Quote from: BockinBboy on June 24, 2014, 06:42:32 AM

YES!  I want to reemphasize Jack's words here... the latter two concerns from the original post sound like normal GS behaviour.  A stock GS won't do much until 3k rpm, and I wouldn't climb a hill at 3k rpm ever on a GS... more like 5k+

I'll add a BIG AGREE to that comment. 

Obviously, I'm not aware of how "mellow" the hill was, but the average mellow hill around here (when I'm on the GS) - is usually taken in 2nd or 3rd gar max and at 4000+ RPM

Yeah I hear what you're saying. I'm not expecting anything like my previous bike (VFR400... man, I loved that bike hehe), but that slog up the hill had followed a poor start from stationary, which was just after the issue with the sticky throttle, and, well, something about the performance just didn't feel right.

Of course, I may not know the bike (in fact, it's fair to say, I don't actually), so it could be just how it is.

As soon as I get my rear brake system running ok, I'll be out and about, so I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again to everyone for taking an interest, it really is appreciated