Happy Saturday morning to all!
I like to think of Saturday as Maintenance Day for most before that Sunday Ride, good times.
Hope you have a great weekend of riding where ever you decide to go.
Before getting in those weekly curves here is some maintenance to consider for your bike.
Now some steps may be a little different but if you are reading this you will get the gess of it all. Lets get started!
You should be cleaning brake caliper pistons every oil change as well. Now the more you do this the less tedious it will be. Some may thing this may be over kill but again it just depends on the rider and how smooth you want your ride to be. Plus, uneven tire wear can lead to other problems to the point that when you notice it is too late.
I inspect and clean mine every-to-every other oil change. You may ask, umm what does that do? Well, with all the grit and grim that your bike picks up some can and will get in the caliper and can cause the pistons to slide unevenly causing rotor warping and inconsistency in your braking leading to more $$ problems. So, cleaning these are easy and wiping the rotors down with a parts cleaner can help as well [spray on rag NOT rotors] I have to say that for those that are umm
.
Here are some steps
(do this one caliper at a time)[reason being when cleaning these one caliper will hold the pressure and if you take both off you will just have one dangling on the rotors and you don't want that]
STEPS
1. place painters tape on wheel (this is so that when removing the calipers they don't scratch front wheel)
2. brake loose brake pin (usually a 5mm allen) don't take out just loosen
3. remove bolts that hold caliper to forks
4. carefully remove caliper
5. Now, you can take out the brake pin
6. brake pads should just fall into hand
7. Inspect caliper and if there is any oily residue STOP and consult your dealer to get the caliper service (nothing you want to do yourself and you will know that it is done correctly) If not move to step 8
8. Looking at pistons push two (same side) back and hold while you or a friend squeezes the front brake. Only allow pistons to come out NO MORE then an inch.
9. if really duty use simple green or s100 to remove grit and grim. No direct water meaning NO HOSE get a bucket and rag of water (only) and a soft bristle toothbrush. You can let sock in for about a min or so but not tooo long take your time and be precise this can take a while.
10. Do step 8 and 9 for the other 2 pistons on the SAME caliper.
11. After removing the heavy crap and rinsing, repeat STEP 8
12. This time use dish washing detergent and toothbrush to bush softly around the edges of pistons. The dish detergent acts as a lubricant for the pistons to move back and forth.
13. Push pistons in
14. Now take SHOP TOWEL TO wipe caliper/pistons clean. NO RINSE!
15. Do steps 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 in that order to place brakes back on rotor to move to the other caliper then repeat STEPS 1 through 14 and you are done and ready to ride.
this should be your final product:
( you don't have to have the front will off even though it makes it easier, I was doing some fork work also. This can be done with the bike at rest.)
ATTENTION:
READ the instructions of new brakes because every set of pads have special instructions for you to abide by so be safe and READ. Usually this consist of you wait 250 - 300 miles before having to brake aggressively.
Ride safe and I hope that this helps those that want to get out there and LEARN their bike.
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