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brake "dragging", caliper rebuild time?

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    brake "dragging", caliper rebuild time?

    Hi friends,

    I was searching the forum for a reason the rear brake is "dragging" on the rotor making a scraping noise on my 80GS1100E when the bike is pushed and read I may need to rebuild the caliper. Not sure where to start on this repair and never done anything with brakes other than pads so a rebuild would be new to me, from how to do it which parts to buy and if there are less expensive aftermarket parts are available and a good value. I am not ruling out I did not put the rear wheel back on with all parts in the right sequence but the bike rides straight and true so I think I got that part right.

    I just ordered new pads for all three calipers just to start the riding season off right.

    Thanks for any advice and if you have a link to a How-To on the rebuild of front and or rear brakes that would be great.

    -Bob

    #3
    Could we (I) trouble you for some pics of your historic beauty? After all, yours was the beginning of a several year dynasty of "World's Quickest (Production) Motorcycle", at least according to Cycle World magazine.

    (I ride the '82 1100e, which, in Cycle World's testing, was slightly edged out in the quarter mile by the Kaw GPz 1100 - an 8-valve machine! Oh the shame!)
    1982 GS1100E V&H "SS" exhaust, APE pods, 1150 oil cooler, 140 speedo, 99.3 rear wheel HP, black engine, '83 red

    2016 XL883L sigpic Two-tone blue and white. Almost 42 hp! Status: destroyed, now owned by the insurance company. The hole in my memory starts an hour before the accident and ends 24 hours after.

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      #4
      I recently rebuilt my first ones. Mine could have been put back into service without any rebuild kit parts. All the rubber parts were good. Old brake fluid had crystallized in behind the rings on the brake pistons, forcing them too tightly into the cylinder. They were undamaged, and cleaning would have been sufficient. I had the (overpriced) parts, so I put them in.
      sigpic Too old, too many bikes, too many cars, too many things

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        #5
        Maybe, maybe not.
        It could be as simple as a sticking brake pedal. That was the case on my gsx1100es, dismantled the brake pedal assembly and rubbed the shaft and bore with some 220grit paper and wd40, greased it and put it back together and it's working super.

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          #6
          there will ALWAYS be some drag and noise.., as in your driveway etc. but pushing the bike around should be NO PROBLEM.. if so, then dissasemble, clean, reassemble , bleed
          the pads , in proper function, will 'float' at speed

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            #7
            Probably a good cleaning and new lines will do it. How often have you changed the brake fluid? Is it nice and clear or black?


            Life is too short to ride an L.

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              #8
              For something as safety-critical as brakes, I would NOT use less expensive aftermarket parts in case the rubber parts have to be replaced. Only OEM is good enough in my book.

              Just think about the possible costs of hospitalisation and rebuilding your bike after an accident due to inferior quality parts, and I am sure you will agree with me!
              1981 GS850G "Blue Magic" (Bike Of The Month April 2009)

              1981 GS1000G "Leo" (Bike Of The Month August 2023)

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                #9
                Sorry for the slow reply, thank you all for your advice. I am going to rebuild the whole thing.

                Off to make a new post on where to source brake rotors and if many here use a particular make/model.

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                  #10
                  Originally posted by Rob S. View Post
                  Could we (I) trouble you for some pics of your historic beauty? After all, yours was the beginning of a several year dynasty of "World's Quickest (Production) Motorcycle", at least according to Cycle World magazine.

                  (I ride the '82 1100e, which, in Cycle World's testing, was slightly edged out in the quarter mile by the Kaw GPz 1100 - an 8-valve machine! Oh the shame!)
                  Sorry i left my signature off the original post. See the link below

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