Uneven Break Pad Wear

[RegalSwan]

I was taking a look at the front brakes on my Maxim because they have been a little soft since i got the bike. I noticed that the pad on the left of the rotor was worn nearly down where the pad on the right was nearly brand new. I am assuming this has something to do with an adjustment made last time the brakes were changed. When i get the Haynes manual along with some new pads i plan on changing them but is this normal and is it pretty straight forward to adjust? Also, the pads seem on constantly but not more than i would consider normal, is this something i could adjust myself as well?

P.S. I bleed the old fluid (extremely off color) and cleaned the caliper and braking power increased dramatically, enough to help me lock up the rear tire first time out actually...

[Skier]

Uneven wear like that is most likely caused by the pistons in the calipers being stuck on one side. Which means you get to take the calipers off the bike and rebuild them with a bunch of expensive little seals. Your shop manual should have a guide on how to do it, and bikebandit.com or ronayers.com should have all the parts you need.

[ZooTech]

Before rebuilding the calipers, try pushing the pistons all the way in then pumping them back out with the lever several times. The one on my CX500 was stuck just as you described and this exercise freed it up nicely.

[RegalSwan]

Turns out that the piston was stuck...and still is. Anyone have some ideas on how i could get the piston out? I am having trouble getting the brake line reprimmed so that excercise isn't an option. Hopefully I can buy a pump tomorrow and try the excercise but until then I am open to options.

[Skier]

With the calipers off the bike and split apart, you can take an air compressor fitting or air pump nozzle, designed for inflating small rafts, beach balls and things like that, to push the piston out. There are probably two spots where brake fluid usually resides in: cover one with a gloved finger, then push air through the other. The piston should be pressed out.

The holes I'm talking about are the ones above the threaded holes in this picture:


You can see the sealing o-ring on one of the holes in this picture:

[RegalSwan]

So I finally finished my brake job. One master cylinder later and everything was working fine. I used a C-Clamp to give the piston a gentle push in then used the new master cylinder to push the piston all the way out. Not a problem. Now I have a new pair of pads and a new master cylinder on the bike and I am ready to ride. Now to replace that break light switch i broke....