What the &*%$# happened to my rear brakes?????!!!

[Road_Clam]

What a wonderfull morning to commute to Sout Lawrence this morning. I hop on the GS and head to work. I hit the exit ramp doing my usuall 75 mph, and it's a kinda fun windy exit ramp, I near the stop lights and grab some front brake, and grab some rear brake, WOOAAAA !!!!! the rear pedal goes right to the stop with zero braking force!!! I try the brake again, nothing, ahhhhh crap I blew a line, or seal. I get to work and to my horror I lost the 2 caliper mount bolts!!!!! The caliper assembly is resting on top of the rotor !!! No doubt I forgot to tighten the caliper bolts during the past winters' restoration.... thank god I always rely 80% on my FRONT brakes first....... (and YES you wise guys, I immediately checked my FRONT caliper mount bolts)

PS anybody got a pair of rear caliper mount bolts??



This is EXACTLY why you gently shake down a fully restored bike!!! I remember after rebuilding my '68 Camaro and I forgot to tighten the LH motor mount bolts. The 3 bolts fell out, and when I mashed the throttle for a pleasing burnout, the throttle stuck WIDE OPEN and would not release! The engine would come right off the frame and the pulling motion of the carb linkage would hold the throttle wide open..... I crapped a loaf in my pants that you wouldnt believe! So always go easy on your freshly rebuilt project!!!
Rich

 

[Jackrp]

What a wonderfull morning to commute to Sout Lawrence this morning. I hop on the GS and head to work. I hit the exit ramp doing my usuall 75 mph, and it's a kinda fun windy exit ramp, I near the stop lights and grab some front brake, and grab some rear brake, WOOAAAA !!!!! the rear pedal goes right to the stop with zero braking force!!! I try the brake again, nothing, ahhhhh crap I blew a line, or seal. I get to work and to my horror I lost the 2 caliper mount bolts!!!!! The caliper assembly is resting on top of the rotor !!! No doubt I forgot to tighten the caliper bolts during the past winters' restoration.... thank god I always rely 80% on my FRONT brakes first....... (and YES you wise guys, I immediately checked my FRONT caliper mount bolts)

PS anybody got a pair of rear caliper mount bolts??



I bought a couple of metric flange (head) bolts at the local hardware store, Chrome even, Just make sure they are not too long and screw into the disk,work great plenty strong.

 

[Road_Clam]

I found a temporary set of bolts at my local Napa auto. I actually had a tough time locating the bolts, as they are the odd M10X1.25 pitch. (The same pitch used on most all rear view mirror mounts). I have the stockers on order.

 

[DaveDanger]

I know it's probably overkill on my part, but having to do it daily for work regardless makes it a chore I just deal with. Every time I remove a fastener from anything on my bike, I drill the edge of it or through the center of the head and secure it after reinstallation (and proper torque)with stainless aircraft safety-wire. The special spinning pliers made for that chore are a bit pricey, but I'll donate a 1 lb. can of .032" or .041" stainless safety-wire to road_clam if he'd like

 

[Road_Clam]

I know it's probably overkill on my part, but having to do it daily for work regardless makes it a chore I just deal with. Every time I remove a fastener from anything on my bike, I drill the edge of it or through the center of the head and secure it after reinstallation (and proper torque)with stainless aircraft safety-wire. The special spinning pliers made for that chore are a bit pricey, but I'll donate a 1 lb. can of .032" or .041" stainless safety-wire to road_clam if he'd like

Thanks for your help. I actually have saftey wire myself as I dabble in racing motocross, and do some Pro stock oval chassis assembly. Good advice. I ended up splashing on some blue loc-tite (I am not really a fan of loc-titing bolts, but obviously this is needed).

 

[DaveDanger]

Road_Clam... Mostly I was poking ya with a sharp stick I figured from having read your posts here for a while that you were more'n sharp enough to figure out a way to secure those bolts (without my help) even if it was just tight'nin 'em properly the next time around.
As for using Loc-tite, I'm prolly of the same school of thought that you are. I hesitate to ever apply anything that'll make threads gooey in any fashion. If anything, I probably tend more to put anti-seize on every thread I touch on my bike in the interest of preventing threads galling at some point in the future. I then just make sure I torque correctly, and of course, I safety-wire like I mentioned earlier. That's not to say that safety-wire is the answer to all problems, but since it is something I do every day, it's an easy solution for me for a problem of this sort.

 

[Road_Clam]

Road_Clam... Mostly I was poking ya with a sharp stick I figured from having read your posts here for a while that you were more'n sharp enough to figure out a way to secure those bolts (without my help) even if it was just tight'nin 'em properly the next time around.
As for using Loc-tite, I'm prolly of the same school of thought that you are. I hesitate to ever apply anything that'll make threads gooey in any fashion. If anything, I probably tend more to put anti-seize on every thread I touch on my bike in the interest of preventing threads galling at some point in the future. I then just make sure I torque correctly, and of course, I safety-wire like I mentioned earlier. That's not to say that safety-wire is the answer to all problems, but since it is something I do every day, it's an easy solution for me for a problem of this sort.

I do CNC machining for a company that engineers and mfg's large scale severe service industrial pumps. We antiseeze EVERYTHING. Ever see what 100% "uncut" pure Chlorine does to metal???? (you dont!!!) We use a antiseeze product called Nikkal. Its a high Nickle content nuclear spec antiseeze paste. The stuff is awesome. Our assembly tech's claim its just as good as loctite in a sence the thick antiseeze compound absorbs vibration which causes bolts to back out. We do a fair amount of safety wiring too, so as to comply with all nuclear spec pumps, but it's SOOOO time consuming.
Rich

 

[duaneage]

All reassembly I do is with a torque wrench and a chart from the manual. FWIW I use blue loctite on safety critical items. It is not going to seize anything and the factory uses it too. The red stuff never comes off.

 

[yogib]

With enough practice safety wiring is a breeze,but you have to do it everyday to get efficient,count tools too.I don't miss that!! Don