Mailmans , 77D getting a makeover

I've pulled the pads out of lots of old calipers and cleaned them up. Some were OK, some oil contaminated as Gary said. It's easy to tell. Cleaning with brake cleaner will make them a nice light tan. If they turn dark again in an hour or so, they're toast. That's more oil flowing out of them.

I've always been happy with stock pads and thought they worked just fine. I put some nice aftermarket ones on the '78, Ferodo Platinums from 650Central, and wasn't that impressed. But now that I have another 650 to compare side by side with, those Ferodos do seem to work a bit better than the stock pads I have on the '83. So I may try some aftermarket ones on the '83 after all. And I happen to have a set I ran across in one of the old calipers I stripped down. These are interesting, dual compound pads. I remember reading about them years ago in the bike magazines but never tried any. Here's my chance, lol .....

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I wonder if the dual compound pads are supposed to brake better or limit squeal? I haven't had the squeal problem yet. If your pads have good meat on them but their just oily, you can save them (for later) by packing them in cat litter, the clay type. It will pull all the oil out. (works on tractors)
Thu
 
I wonder if the dual compound pads are supposed to brake better or limit squeal? I haven't had the squeal problem yet. If your pads have good meat on them but their just oily, you can save them (for later) by packing them in cat litter, the clay type. It will pull all the oil out. (works on tractors)
Thu

Once oily, pads are junk. This ain't a farmall. Think you got em clean? Point a heat gun at em for a bit and watch the oil boil out. Temperature-wise that's a lot like grabbing a hand full of brake when you need it. :yikes: Pony up the $6 for new pads..........
 
Once oily, pads are junk. This ain't a farmall. Think you got em clean? Point a heat gun at em for a bit and watch the oil boil out. Temperature-wise that's a lot like grabbing a hand full of brake when you need it. :yikes: Pony up the $6 for new pads..........

I don't got farmall. I got Ford and JD. Capillary action will pull all the oil out. Heat gun; good way to test if all the oil is out. If not, stick em' back. Given time, they will get drier than a cracker fart. Yeah, I didn't have time to wait. I used new ones. I don't remember what I gave for mine? Mikesxs, they got to be good!
Thu
 
Once oily, pads are junk. This ain't a farmall. Think you got em clean? Point a heat gun at em for a bit and watch the oil ;)boil out. Temperature-wise that's a lot like grabbing a hand full of brake when you need it. :yikes: Pony up the $6 for new pads..........

Achtung (for a couple more hours - on THIS trip):

Yeah, I am with Gary on this one. Contaminated pads are for the horse feed bag (tell me Gary - how does Allison like that little addition to her buddy’s food ;)).

I am not a brake expert but I can tell you that the whole issue of brake squeal is one of the most vexing dealer service issues in the auto industry. Essentially, squeal is a vibration problem and to cure it, a colleague of mine has developed a special alloy of iron which has very high natural damping characteristic. Automaker’s tests have shown that rotors made from this stuff are not subject to squeal but it is a bit more expensive so it’s an uphill battle to get it past the cost police.

Anyhow - an interesting problem and very much in the same category as motor oil and oil filters in terms of the number of opinions (mainly uninformed) and arguments (largely fact-free) it generates. Some might say that it’s a YUGE issue.

oops - no politics. Sorry, my bad.

Pete
 
Well, I’m making some progress here, yesterday I went out and bought some caliper spray paint. Gave everything a final prep and masking and shot the pieces.
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They came out pretty good, but I’m gonna have to do some touch up on an underneath part of that caliper that did not get good enough coverage.
Gary and 5Twins have made some interesting suggestions regarding brake pads, but I already have a new set of EBC that I will be installing.
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I contacted Gary and he also managed to find a pair of those obsolete shims that 5Twins suggested, so I’m going to give those a try.
I still need to pull my front wheel off and remove my front disc for cleaning and surfacing. Maybe that’ll be today’s project.
Moving along.......:cool:
 
I do apply a little grease to the backs of the pads (well, the shims actually), but just a very small amount, and mainly just where they will contact the caliper and/or piston. I do the inside of the shims where they rest against the pads as well, just a smear. I also smear the hollow inside of the piston with grease to keep it from rusting. I use the grease 3M from 650Central (and Vintage Brake) recommends for brake work - that Sta-Lube premium red stuff. If you don't have any, HF sells it in grease gun tubes.

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Mailman, hold on lets all consider EBC pads a minute ? See, we all know that I scrounge used XS bikes and parts and
I have experience with found EBC pads that just might be validated with other members or not IDK but as your are clearly one of our best XS650 test pilots I need to share that I’ve found EBC pads in poor shape on two XS’s and believe they chunk out to easily ? Im posting pics of the last set I pulled from that 79F .. put in used Sumitomos
instead. Any other inputs here ?
 

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Hmmmm......I haven’t seen any problems on the ones I’ve been running. I wouldn’t have changed them out if they didn't get grease on them. That’s interesting that you have found issues. I think I will forge ahead with these pads, but I work on my bikes a lot and I will keep an eye on them, thanks!
 
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Mailman, hold on lets all consider EBC pads a minute ? See, we all know that I scrounge used XS bikes and parts and
I have experience with found EBC pads that just might be validated with other members or not IDK but as your are clearly one of our best XS650 test pilots I need to share that I’ve found EBC pads in poor shape on two XS’s and believe they chunk out to easily ? Im posting pics of the last set I pulled from that 79F .. put in used Sumitomos
instead. Any other inputs here ?
From the way you drive your van it's no wonder you have brake pad "issues". :cheers:
 
Boom Boom Boom Boom......:pimp:

Moving right along, got the bike up and the front wheel off.
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Got the disc on the bench and cleaned it up with some acetone, here’s the before.
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And after I worked it over with a variety of Roloc discs. I didn’t get too aggressive with it, I wasn’t trying to remove every mark on the disc, just level it out a bit and knock the shine off.
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Disc going back on with new bolt lock clips, I just happened to have in my box of goodies.
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And mounted back up on the bike.
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This is the second time I have dressed this disc by hand and I had some concern that maybe it was wearing a little thin, so I measured the thickness and came up with a thickness of 7.3 mm and according to the manual the minimum thickness allowable is 6.5mm. So there’s lots of beef there yet.
I also noticed in the manual how to check the disc for run out, so I rigged up my dial indicator exactly the way the manual showed it, bolted to one of the caliper mounting bosses.
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I also had concern that all this working the disc with grinding wheels by hand , might make the surface wavy, even though I do not use an aggressive medium and I always try to keep moving in a circular pattern and use a light touch.
The results? Readings taken in multiple positions show no more than .001 inch anywhere on the disc, and the manual states that up to .005 is allowable. I was quite surprised that the surface was really pretty level.

Well that’ll be all for the weekend, I’m waiting for a special delivery from Baraboo! :geek:
Boom Boom Boom Boom baby!
Later, Bob
 
You have more patience than I Bob, I'd be ride'n! Don't want to admit in public so mum's the word but it was ahem, several years before I realized how easy it is to pop the late model caliper/pads off while leaving the bracket on the fork tube.............
 
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Well that’ll be all for the weekend, I’m waiting for a special delivery from Baraboo! :geek:

Hi Mailman,
shoulda drilled that brake disk full of holes. Honest to God it'll work better that way.
There's a second tab on those retaining washers so there's another go left in them.
I used single coil spring washers instead although that meant grinding the bolt heads down to get clearance.
 
You have more patience than I Bob, I'd be ride'n! Don't want to admit in public so mum's the word but it was ahem, several years before I realized how easy it is to pop the late model caliper/pads off while leaving the bracket on the fork tube.............

Ha! Not patience, this is my idea of fun. I kinda miss having a big project. But two bikes are my self imposed limit.
In order for me to have a new project, one of my babies would have to go! :eek: I got too attached to them.
 
Yeah, I shoulda never got rid of my drill press! I’m sure not doing that by hand! :laugh2:

Hi Mailman,
too effin' right! That disk material is tougher than old boots.
Low speed, high tool pressure, lotsa coolant and cobalt steel drill bits, right?
But WTF get rid of your drill press? It can be a poor man's vertical milling machine if you don't have a "Bro with machine shop."
 
I know, it was during my “ I’m gonna clear out my garage “ phase, I got rid off a bunch of bulky stuff that didn’t get used much. Don’t really miss anything but the drill press. :shrug:
 
I know, it was during my “ I’m gonna clear out my garage “ phase, I got rid off a bunch of bulky stuff that didn’t get used much. Don’t really miss anything but the drill press. :shrug:

Hi Mailman,
I've often thought that Nature failed humanity by making it impossible for a person to kick their own arse.
 
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