*TECH TIPS* Do your own brake pads and steel braid line installation.

New monthly tech tip: Brake pad and steel braid line installation.

Oil change and rear wheel removal tips can be found in my sig below.

First off, make sure you have all necc. supplies on hand, use recommended brake fluid (DOT3,4,5, whatever is suggested), and make sure you have an ample supply of rags, brake fluid can and will eat any paint or plastic surfaces it encounters.

The good news is brake fluid is water solluable so it cleans right off easily

Special thanks to Faz for letting me photo and work on his sweet superchicken

Im going to cover the brake pad replacment first. If you are not changing the brake lines, do not remove the hoses from the calipers. There is no reason to open the system unless you are changing the lines.

You want to remove the caliper mounting bolts and remove the caliper.

Turn the caiper over and inspect for any wetness around the rubber seals. If there is any moisture there, your caliper is most likely leaking and needs rebuilt or replaced.

On most types of brake calipers, there is a small "cap screw" that keeps the pad retaining screw in the caliper, remove this first.

Under that screw is the pad retaining screw. Remove this and then remove the pads. Pay attention to how the anti rattle clip is in the caliper so you can re-install correctly. *edit* There sometimes is an arrow on the anti rattle clip, and it should point up towards the front of the bike. Thanks Kevo for the tip.

You should now have the caliper empty, and it most likely is way dirty like this one

Now take a rag and some carb cleaner or other de-greaser and clean the area around the pistons and seals. It should look like this when done.

Take a flat screw driver and use the OLD brake pads to compress the pistons back into their bores.

If you are not changing the lines and the system still has brake fluid in it, make sure you dont overflow the brake res. on the front master cylinder. You might have to remove some fluid to give the fluid you are now pushing back into the system some room.

Now both sets of pistons should be pushed all the way back in like so......

Now install the new pads and retainers, dont forget to tighten the pad retaining bolt and cap screw.

You should put a light coat of grease or some sort of lube where-ever the pads touch the caliper. (we didnt do this cause I forgot, and then I read it here in another post...DOH!..Thanks PhaTeLeSS )

Re-install caliper and pump the brakes till you have a firm feel in the lever. I usually use a light coat of loktite blue or red on the threads of the mounting bolts, just a little will allow you to remove if needed at a later date.

If you are not doing lines you are done, make sure the fluid is full and enjoy the new brakes.

If you are doing lines, move onto the following steps.

First remove the lines from the calipers and let the fluid all drain out into a pan of some sort. Do this on both sides.

Keep track of all hardware. There will be 2 small copper or aluminum washers for each end of the brake line. The new lines usually come with new washers, but just in case keep all your parts till the job is done.

Now remove any mounting hardware or brakets that hold the old lines on the bike. There will usually be a braket on each fork, and at least one up inside the fairing holding the left side line.

Now put an old rag under the master cylinder up top and remove the old lines from the master cylinder. This will leak a little fluid so be ready for some possible damage control

Take the lines out of the bike carefully so you dont throw fluid all over the place, and place them on the ground. You will need to remove the old brakets from the old lines to use them again.

Now take out the new lines and check them out.

There will be 2 slightly angled ends that go on the caliper side, and usually a straight and angled end on the master cylinder side. Basically the lines will be the same except for 1 end. That straight end goes to the master as seen in the pic below.

The longer line goes to the left side caliper. (as sitting on the bike)

This is what you want the lines to look like at the top, make sure you have all the washers in the correct places.

Route the new lines just as close to the original routing as you can, making sure there will be no interferance or binding when you turn to the left and to the right at full lock.

Tighten up the top bolt and make sure the bleeder is tight.

I try to use the original clamps and rubber insulators. You need to use a screwdriver and open up the clamp, take a knife and cut the rubber insulator so you can remove it from the old line.

install the rubber insulators and brakets, route the lines to their original mounting points, making sure there is no kinking.

Now install the new bolts and washers, and tighten the lower lines in place to the calipers.

Now the fun part....bleeding...there are a ton of different ways to go about this...some use a mighty vac, some do it by hand, some try gravity bleeding......they all work, some better than the others.

I am spoiled and have a air operated bleeder, and have never had to do it any other way, so Ill try to do my best here and describe what I feel is the easiest way.

There are some great tips in this post. http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38299

Please do a search and try to find the best way that suits you.

Usually its a good idea to have all fittings tight and pump the lever for a few minutes, trying to buid up some lever pressure.

After doing this, leave the lever in, as if applying the brake, and start with the upper bleeder on the master. Bleed as stated below until you have fluid coming out, then move onto the calipers.

Pump lever again, hold lever in and open one side caliper bleeder. never release the lever with a bleeder open. close the bleeder and let go of the lever, pump it up a little and hold, open bleeder and then close, release lever.

Basically you are doing it in this order always..

1) pump lever and hold in

2) open bleeder for a second.

3) close bleeder.

4) release lever and pump again, hold...see step 1.

You will do this over and over, on both sides till you have a firm lever feel.

Always make sure the fluid stays full in the res.

It takes a while this way, and like I said, I have no secret method unless you want to wait till the next tech day and Ill do everyones with the air bleeder

Sorry Im not much help in the bleeding department, but there are a bunch of posts here on the board that can help you get through it, and if you have any questions please feel free to PM me and I will help you any way I can.

Thanks again to Faz for letting me use his bike as a ginea pig

Stay tuned, there is a tech day in the works, just need to iron out a few more details and I will post up.

Please feel free to send me comments on this as I always seem to overlook something, and Im always happy to edit accordingly.

Thanks for reading,

EB