Mailmans , 77D getting a makeover

PS bleeding goes so much better with the caliper off and separated from the carrier and pads. Pump into and retract piston with a c-clamp, a few times........ bingo, bango, done!
 
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Happy Veterans Day ! ;)
Just a quick question as the topic of brake pads is alive here on Bobs project. Are there opinions on MikesXS brake pads ? They look “Organic” and very tempting to try, there is a brand new set in my 79 ?
Thanks, -R
 
This is what I paid for these pads on EBay
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well, I do occasionally buy XS’s and spares lol. Hey everybody I am actually seeing and even liking some of the MikesXS parts that are all over the latest 79 I am fixing. Brake pads look fine. This oil filter cleaned up nice and looks fine. Even the sump strainer looked fine.
But I’ll accept my cheapo reputation today :)
 
I'm cheap too, lol. As the old saying goes ..... "free is for me". My 650 buddy and I took a ride to No Bull Motorcycle Parts, a used parts place, last weekend. He sells a lot on eBay but you can go to the shop too. His eBay prices are sometimes a bit high but good deals can usually be made if you go there in person. I saw he had a nice '80 Special seat listed on eBay. I was looking to replace the ugly mega-hump stock seat on my '83. Price was rather high at about $100, but he had it marked down to $70. I was hoping a visit to his place might net me an even better deal, and it did. I offered him $60 and he went for it ......

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But you're thinking, wait, that's not free, patience, there's more to the story. On the way out, by the front door, he had a rack of shelves loaded with assorted mirrors, turn signals, footpegs, and tail lights. When I asked him about that stuff, he said they were items he couldn't positively I.D., that they had been sitting there for 5 or 6 years, and he was going to just scrap it all !!! He said look through it and take whatever we wanted, free !!! Less for him to scrap, lol. So we had at it, and found lots of good XS stuff. We got well over a dozen turn signals, some still in very good shape, a Standard tail light assembly, and about a dozen footpeg assemblies .....

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Most of the footpeg rubbers are still good enough to use, and more importantly, so are the rubber mounting grommets for the brackets. They and the footpeg rubbers are still available from Yamaha but are $23 each. That means there's close to $70 in rubber parts alone in one footpeg bracket assembly, and I found 8 650 ones. I also found 5 others from different models but with the same footpeg rubber. Needless to say, I was tickled pink .....

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I offered but he said no, just take it. He said he'd rather see it get put to use than scrapped. I would have insisted if I hadn't already given him money for the few items I actually bought. He told me to back my van up and take it all, lol. Then he wouldn't have to go through all the work and the trouble of scrapping it. But then I would, lol.
 
Good grief I’ve never had so much trouble bleeding brakes!

Two days it took me TWO! :eek:

I was just bragging to Gary a few days ago that I’ve never had any trouble bleeding brakes. Well I jinxed myself pretty good. My Mighty Vac brake bleeder broke the last time I used it, but I thought no biggie, I’ll just do it the old fashioned way. Ha! I could not get even one little tiny bit of line pressure, so Harbor Freight was having one of their perpetual sales and I ran up there to get another one, but instead I picked up their house brand knock off for less than half the price and at check out I had an additional 20% off. Winner winner chicken dinner! :thumbsup:

Back home with my new brake fluid super sucker and I pumped and pumped for two solid hours and even though I moved a whole lotta fluid through the system, I could not get any line pressure. :wtf: By now I was getting plenty tired and cranky, so I just walked away and said tomorrow is another day.

Tues morning rolls around and I kept running Gary’s advice through my head.

PS bleeding goes so much better with the caliper off and separated from the carrier and pads. Pump into and retract piston with a c-clamp, a few times........ bingo, bango, done!
:pimp:

So I tried that. Everything back off and C clamp at the ready and I got started. That’s when I had an epiphany, my caliper piston, no matter how much I worked my brake lever was barely moving. The master cylinder piston was not traveling full stroke. The MC piston was sticking before returning to the fully open position. As soon as I freed it up, things began to rapidly improve. I was able to build line pressure and get the air out of the line.

By the end of the day , I had everything buttoned up, no leaks and a nice firm lever feel. I had that danged caliper on and off so many times that my new paint suffered some wear, but it still looks better than before. And those little shims? Well I sure hope they work, they were like juggling cats trying to get everything together without them falling out or shifting out of position. If I were to do it again, I think a small drop of glue between the back of the brake pads and those shims, to hold them in place , would be very helpful.

So let’s recap....
Stripped and painted caliper and carrier
New EBC brake pads
Installed new ( used ) anti squeal shims ( Thanks Gary! )
Resurfaced brake disc
Bought a new tool and got to play in the garage for several days ( priceless! :) )
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Tomorrow or the next day, I’ll get it out for a test ride, but I don’t anticipate any problems.
Hmmmm......what can I do next! :smoke:
Later, Bob
 
A little post script on Operation Stop that Squeal!

I’ve been out riding the last couple days, I’ve put about 65 miles on since doing all the work. Not a lot of miles yet, but I have been staying in the city, riding lots of stop and go traffic. My disc is taking on its normal smooth shine.

So what are the results you ask? As of right now....not even a whisper of a squeal! I have a super good lever feel, and I can stop hard with just one finger braking.

Thank you to 5 Twins for putting me on to this fix. I always wear earplugs when riding, but that squeal went right through them and set my teeth on edge! They are so far, absolutely silent.
Also thank you to Gary for sourcing those shims for me and getting them to me so quickly!
This proved to be a very worthwhile project!

Later, Bob
 
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