idiot proof brakes

[Anonymous]

1979 gs425e 16,500 kms

hi, my brake pads/shoes need replacing. can someone please give me easy to follow instructions on changing them. I have had the caliper off the rotor before and have in the past removed my rear wheel and checked the shoes so I am good that far. I am just wondering if there is something I should know before I dive in as I want to limit my down time and not kill myself in the process. They both squeal very badly and I just eyeballed the pads. they look pretty thin. One thing is they used to spin very quietly when on the centre stand but now after I put the caliper back on after my inspection it has a rythmic scuff noise. is this normal? I did manually push the piston/pad back in a bit to inspect.

karl

[Anonymous]

brakes

Hi Karl,
Their simple, just a couple tricks from an ex brake mechanic.

Just undo the bottom caliper bolt, loosen the top, flip up the caliper.

keep the pad and backer together (backer = thin anti squeek plates that dont work well).

Spray liberally everything with (environmentally friendly) break cleaner, including pads and backers (and new pads if replacing) one at a time and putting pads back together after spraying.

NOW use some grease (YES grease) anykind, and brush between pad plate and backers and put back.
grease the outside of baker plates where the caliper piston touches the backers.

If new pads, take off Mst Cyl cover.. and cover the bike below the MC. if it drips on the bike it will eat through it.

Push the caliper piston back in, SLOWLY (best is C clamp and some scrap luan plywood scraps (or anything not to scratch the calipers and even the force on the piston. fluid will pump back into MC and may overflow.

Put back together.... SIMPLE

caution: get no grease on pad faces or rotors...

ANY Questions,
just ask..
Stimpy

[Anonymous]

the brakes

The only thing I can add is watch the direction of the arrow on the shim, when taking apart and use a syringe of even a lint free rag to absorb some of the fliud out if the master so if its full will not run out all over the place, when preeing piston back and you can use grease be hind the pad but use a high temp grease or better yet use synthic brake grease

[Anonymous]

thanx guys, I have just ordered the pads and shoes. It will be next wed. before they arrive. I'm going to print out your instructions for easy reference. Just another question. Is the front rotor supposed to be ultra smooth or have small ridges on it. My bike has only 16,500 kms sot the pads/shoes are orig.

karl

[Anonymous]

rotor should be smooth but NOT shiny, a glaze coat can form on the rotor and drum. If fairly smooth without any gouges from bad pads...
DO NOT take them to be turned, take some 200-300 grit garnet or other sandpaper and remove any glazing. Most shops turn off too much metal and the rotors/drums will be trash after 2 turns and the more metal the cooler they stay.

stimpy

[Anonymous]

okay I understand that. thanks for all the info. I can't wait til the parts show up.

[Anonymous]

Hi all, The brake job has been completed. using all the suggestions above, but I have a grinding noise coming from the new pads. I removed the caliper to inspect the pads and there are a couple of scoring lines on the pad faces. The piston moves ok back in by hand and then all is quiet until the brake is reapplied.

karl