Front Brake problems

[storysunfolding]

That's awesome. We have alot of girl wrenchers on the forum. Lion lady one of our mods does the maintenance on her BMW.

[sharpmagna]

Also, here's a pic to prove a girl can turn a wrench, too!

I think I can speak for the forum and say, "We love girls that wrench!"

I think I have you beat on the brake fluid. When I got my 87 earlier this spring, the front brakes locked up on me after a day of riding. I opened up the front brake master cylinder and saw what looked and was the consistensy like warm chocolate ice cream.

[Shorts]

Man, that's yukky Kinda like opening a front diff on a truck and seeing and smelling the gear oil milkshake

[MonkeyMaw]

Gear oil milkshake? Sounds delightful.
Speaking of oil, I did my very first oil and filter change today. It's a wonder I can type with all this back-patting. My front brake pads arrive tomorrow, so I'll be sure to tell you how that goes.

[Shorts]

hehe have fun with your stuff. Oil...that reminds me, mine's been due for a while. I better get it done!

[MonkeyMaw]

UPDATE
Brake pads arrived today, but we hit a snag. We got the worn pads out just fine, but then we couldn't open the pistons to put in the new ones no matter how hard we tried. We used a C-clamp, as per the Haynes manual, to pry them open, but no luck.
The next step was to rebuild the calipers, but we just didn't feel up to that. We don't have the rebuild kits here and the calipers would just sit on the kitchen table, staring me down, every time I passed the dining room. I've decided to let my mechanic install the new pads while he's putting on my new tires. That should happen next pay day. I hope he is able to get the pads on without having to rebuild anything.
In the meantime, I got insured, registered, taxed, tagged and titled today. As soon as I get the new pads and sneaks on I'll be ready to roll.
Here's a shot of the old and new brake pads. I think they might have been original to the bike. What do you think?

[sharpmagna]

Do you have access to a c-clamp pliers like these?



I find these work better than regular c-clamps. Also when you are trying to compress the pistons, it helps to have the brake master cylinder uncovered. This lets the air escape a little easier though make sure the brake fluid won't over flow the MC. Also if you haven't tried it already, spray some penetrating lube/fluid onto the pistons.

Nice work so far on your bike!

[Shorts]

+1 on the reservoir being open. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOU COMPRESS PISTONS AND THE RESERVIOR IS OPEN! If you press them too fast, you have a volcano explosion of brake fluid. And we all know brake fluid is corrosive, paints especially. So, have a rag and/or some plastic or foil under the MC that will catch any spill-over when you compress the pistons.

[MonkeyMaw]

The master was open and we had absorbent shop rags draped everywhere to be safe. I don't want to mess up my shiny paint!
SharpMag, what sort of lube would you spray on the pistons? Shouldn't I avoid lube on/near brake pads?
I do not have access to those C-clamp pliers. Since I bent mine all to heck I now have to shop for new ones, so I will look for those. They seem a lot better suited for garage work.
Who makes that pair in the photo?

[sharpmagna]

MM-I meant to say a rust penetrating fluid like liquid wrench or WD-40, not specifically lube but something that can get through the rust that probably formed. After you've finished with your brakes, it's always a good idea to spray down the discs and calipers with brake cleaner and that should get rid of any contaminents you may have introduced. Also anytime you replace the pads, you want to take it easy on the brakes for the first couple hundred miles to seat them properly.

Yeah I've been using that type of c-clamp pliers for years on my previous cars and they work fantastic for compressing the pistons on calipers. I'm not sure who makes the ones I posted, I just did a quick google images search, but I've seen them sold in any parts shop including lowes/home depot/harbor freight etc.