"I love the smell of brake fluid in the morning. It smells like Victory!"
I installed new brake pads, and while the bike stopped really well, the brakes were dragging something fierce. So much so that I could hardly push the bike around in the garage. And when I would return to my house from a short ride, the rotor would be too hot to touch.
I could also hear the pads dragging on the disc while I was riding. So, I ordered parts for a caliper rebuild.
Here we go.
First I pulled the caliper from the front fork but left the brake line attached. I wanted to use the brake fluid to push the piston out of the caliper. That piston was HARD to move. I sprayed some silicone around the piston and kept working the brake lever and after much fiddling around I was finally able to get the piston out.
I then removed the brake line and took the caliper to my work bench, where I broke it down and cleaned it up with kerosene. The piston felt like it was covered with really sticky goo. And the caliper had a lot of crud and particulates in it. Here are a couple photos of what it looked like before cleaning. There were really hard deposits in the groove where the seal goes and some minor pitting.
I cleaned the groove that the seal resides in with a very small screwdriver and a plastic brush and kerosene. The corrosion/pitting I lightly touched up with some fine 800grit wet sand paper. Should have used 1000 grit but I used what I had.
I'm going to have that engraved on my tombstone. "Here lies Mailman, he used what he had."
But I digress, After the kerosene bath, I washed everything in hot soapy water and blew everything out with compressed air. Here are the after photos , ready to assemble.
The first time I bled the front brake, before I rebuilt the caliper, I had a hell of a time. My Mighty Vac wouldn't do it and I struggled to do it by hand. No wonder, my bleed screw , that did not have a cap was full of crud and corrosion and was nearly plugged. I wire wheeled all hardware , greased the pivot bolt, and applied anti seize on all the threads.
So I hooked up my Mighty Vac, filled up the master cylinder with new fluid, and this time the brakes bled in no time. Got a good feel at the lever. Everything re assembled.
Let's go for a ride.
I knew as soon as I dropped it down off the center stand , I knew that it was better. The bike rolled freely in the garage. Took it out and rode it for about 15 miles , stopping about every 5 miles and checking for leaks ( none) and checking to make sure the rotor wasn't too hot ( it wasn't).
I think this smells like Victory!
