Clean Brake Calipers

[Notty]

Those are definitely floating discs !!

[Jambo]

What do you mean 'grabbing on too tight'?  Are they not releasing when you let go of the brake lever? or are they 'severe' & snatchy?

Either way, I'd be inclined to strip apart n have a look inside, might be full of gunk, seen it before on another thread on these.  The pistons are most likely to be OK, just seal / overhaul kit at hand then strip down.

What I meant by grabbing too much is, with the wheel of the ground, it's kind of hard to spin it. Shouldn't it slightly grad the disk? They seems to brake fine with two fingers only!

Thanks for the tip. I will just perform a complete service and change the boots and seals!

Cheers

"kind of hard to spin" is relative. Try this: Loosen the mounting bolts (both sides) then finger-tighten them and unscrew them again just a touch. Now spin the wheel and pull the brake lever at the same time. Hold the lever and tighten the mounting bolts.

Is the wheel in properly? When installing the wheel, the pinch bolts on the right should not be tighten until after you pushed down on the top yoke a few times.

How about very hard to spin. Back wheel gives no resistence compared!

I will try retighten the mounting bolts while braking. I did that on my bicycle front disk!

Front wheel untouched...for now!

Might also be that the discs are no longer floating - try freeing the bobbins https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=211.0

The disk is floating, I can move the disk side to the side. But even so, I will perform the bolt and nut procedure, just to make sure all bobbins are free.

I reckon your disc is below the wear limit, you may need to consider a new one before the MOT.......

I can't feel any diference with my fingers. Unlike the rear disk which I can feel a diference with my finger. Only measurements are accurate I suppose!

In Portugal, motorcycles are not subjected to periodic inspections like the four wheels or more!

I'm sticking with 6 pots.

Cheers

[Andre]

This thread is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

I actually have done the cleaning as showned. But the brakes are still grabbing on to tight. The callipers were so dirty. I spent 2 days scrubbing and still they were far from perfect shine.

So I decided to rebuild both front callipers. What you guys think. The bike has 66000km, never has it been done I suspect and neither has it ever been clean properlly on previous brake pad changes. All the dirt which accumulated has been pushed in through the seals...and that is a no no.

Do I have to order the Nº 3 which is part Nº 59100-40870-000? that would be the correct set, wouldn't it?

Cheers

That is the correct part #. Sounds like a good idea to put these in new, inclusive a good cleaning of the seats for them. Red rubber grease for the seals would be good too.

Are the pads worn unevenly? If they are and you switched them they could cause the problem with the hard spin. Also check if the pins that hold the pads don't have rough spots that cause them not to glide sufficiently. The holes in the pads where the pins go through should also be smooth.

In the end maybe all that is needed is to take the bike for a spin and do some forced breaking to have things settle in right

[Irish in Oz]

Is it binding on one caliper or both! I had a problem once when it was only one, less to concentrate on.

[Jambo]

I would like to start with saying, I am sorry for highjacking this thread. Won't do that again!

I have managed to free up the front wheel. I tried the method suggested but in any case it got worst.

What I did was, took out the mounting bolts. Gently forced the pistons back in. Re-tightened the mounting bolts and pumped the brake lever very slowly so all the pistons come out. Wheel off the ground and now I can rotate wheel whith my hand, but still not perfect.

The are the bobbins to be delt with. I am sure after the procedure, front wheel will rotate even better!

What do you mean 'grabbing on too tight'?  Are they not releasing when you let go of the brake lever? or are they 'severe' & snatchy?

Either way, I'd be inclined to strip apart n have a look inside, might be full of gunk, seen it before on another thread on these.  The pistons are most likely to be OK, just seal / overhaul kit at hand then strip down.

That is the way I am heading. Thanks for the guidance!

Cheers

[Beermonster]

Well I must say a big thank you to this forum and Gsxbarmy for his fantastic write up on cleaning the brake calipers.
I have a K3 that I acquired a couple of years ago. It was rather unloved, but with some money and TLC it has come up beautifully, however, the brakes have become really rather wooden.

I had planned to clean the calipers, buy some braided hoses and change the brake fluid. Yesterday, I methodically went through gsxbarmy's instructions, replaced the calipers and torqued everything up.

I've not been out of the house for 3 weeks but took the bike slowly to the chemist on a legitimate journey and am really pleased with the improvement in performance. The brakes now "feel" much better. So much so, that I'm going to leave the existing hoses but replace the brake fluid. Result!

[Hooli]

Sounds like a plan to me. My hoses are original & the brakes on mine are still fine.

[numbskull]

Gave mine a bit of a rub down and a clean off, then masked the bits with the pistons. Repainted, new fittings, and used a Dremel to carefully polish the paint off of the logo. Then replaced the brake hoses as they were the original ones and looked a bit tired. Think they look OK for a quick refresh. None of the pistons were seized so no further work required.

[KiwiCol]

They look great mate.   

[froudy]

@numbskull They've come up a treat.

I rate those Wezmoto lines too. I've fitted them all round on mine including the clutch line

[numbskull]

@numbskull They've come up a treat.

I rate those Wezmoto lines too. I've fitted them all round on mine including the clutch line

Got one fitted to the rear brake as well, but not done the clutch yet. Is the clutch any worse to do? Looks as though the hose is significantly longer and with more complex routing.

[froudy]

@numbskull They've come up a treat.

I rate those Wezmoto lines too. I've fitted them all round on mine including the clutch line

Got one fitted to the rear brake as well, but not done the clutch yet. Is the clutch any worse to do? Looks as though the hose is significantly longer and with more complex routing.

Yes, the clutch line is quite a bit longer than any of the brake lines. Easy enough to change though.

[Hooli]

Clutch looks easy enough, once you take the tank off.

Having said that my lines are all original & work fine so I'm not changing them.

[mlivkovich]

Couple months ago my brother sent me braided line from his stunt bike (left hand-rear brake) and it's cca 40 cm longer than gsx clutch line so I had to reroute it. Now it's going on RH side of the frame, around airbox and down to clutch cylinder and it works great

[GSXKING]

Gave mine a bit of a rub down and a clean off, then masked the bits with the pistons. Repainted, new fittings, and used a Dremel to carefully polish the paint off of the logo. Then replaced the brake hoses as they were the original ones and looked a bit tired. Think they look OK for a quick refresh. None of the pistons were seized so no further work required.

Great job mate they look like real gold