| Author | Message | ||
     Hangetsu |
Well, I just did the brakes. The front was pretty straight forward, as everyone has said, thought compressing the pistons on the inboard side was a bit of a pain. The rears however, were not so straight forward and the information in the book was pretty nebulous about what to look for in aligning the new pads with springs, retainers, and the like. However, with a little fuss, I did get it done. The next time will certainly go smoother. Cheers. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Congrats! Your post helped nudge me into adding brake pad replacement to my 'can do' list as well. Thanks. Any tips on the rear pads? | ||
| Hangetsu |
There's nothing that you can't easily figure out once you're in there. However, unlike the front, you will have to remove the caliper and it's a bit of a juggling act getting the pads into place and keeping them there while you slide the caliper back onto the rotor. You'll figure it out once you're in there. Oh, one thing I would recommend when changing the front pads. Make sure you drain some fluid from the reservoir and replace the cap before you press the pistons back into the caliper. If you don't you will have fluid all over the front of your bike. It will shoot out of there like a geyser. You may need to drain some fluid from the rear as well, but you can leave the cap off with no issue. | ||
| Hangetsu |
The new rear pads squeak! LOUD!  | ||
| Buellerxt |
Did you go back with stock? By the way, you scared me off with that mention of brake fluid 'shooting out like a geyser'! I've seen my tech change pads a number of times on Harley's and there was no fluid leaking. The video didn't mention it either. I'm glad you mentioned it though. I'll have to re-think this when the time comes.  (Message edited by buellerxt on June 27, 2011) | ||
| Andymnelson |
NO need to remove fluid, in fact if you do you will be low on fluid as your new pads wear out. Leave the cover on (you actually should NEVER remove the brake fluid cover unless replacing the fluid....lest you introduce moisture into the system). As far as the squeak- make sure to properly bed the pads, once worn in they will not squeak. | ||
| Hangetsu |
If you have been topping off the fluid as the pads have worn, there will not be enough room in the reservoir for the fluid in the lines as you compress the pistons. This is the case with any hydraulic disk brake system. To avoid overflow when replacing pads, I have always had to remove fluid from the master cylinder of every vehicle I have ever owned. The only time you would not need to do this is if you never top up the fluid as the brakes wear. In any case, the factory manual specified to remove fluid from the master cylinders as i did for the very same reasons I just stated. My only mistake here was to not replace the cap when I compressed the pistons. I actually just had the bike serviced at the dealer before replacing the pads and they definitely did top up the fluid as part of the service. The pads were well worn and had I not removed the reservoir cap and drawn off some of the fluid, the reservoir would have definitely over filled when I pressed the pistons in. In this case, my decision to do this was based on past experience and the recommendations of the Buell Service Manual. (Message edited by Hangetsu on June 27, 2011) |
