| Author | Message | ||
     Henrik |
I'm rebuilding front calipers and needed new pistons. Called PM and got the wrong part numbers and sizes. Called again with the sizes and after a bit of "run around" I got the guy to look more thoroughly for those piston sizes. Here's what I got: Small piston: 0.75" x 1.125" p/n 0051-1401 $7.65 Medium piston: 0.75 x 1.25" p/n 0052-1401 $6.50 Large piston: 0.75 x 1.375 p/n 0053-1401 $6.50 The guys said they were no longer making these piston sizes, so if I were planning on keeping the PM caliper for awhile I should grab a few extra - so I did. I'll post an update when I receive the pistons and compare with what I have. But bottom line might be that if you have an S2 and plan on keeping it, you might want to grab a set of pistons and a rebuild kit before they run out. PM phone number: 800-479-4037 Henrik (Message edited by Henrik on August 11, 2006) | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Henrik, Thanks for the heads up, I'm ordering 2 sets tomorrow. Brad | ||
| Court |
Brad: Let me know how it goes, I want to order spares as well. Court | ||
| Mikej |
Does the S2 use the small, medium, or large? | ||
| Court |
All three (3) I presume. There are 6 pistons. 2 small, 2 medium and 2 large. Here....see this. (Message edited by court on August 14, 2006) | ||
| Henrik |
Does the S2 use the small, medium, or large? Yes  2 SM, 2 Med, 2 LG. You'll need a rebuild kit with seals, O-rings and lube as well. Henrik | ||
| Mikej |
Thanks, I think.... (....wondering how hard it would be to convert to mechanical front drum brakes....) | ||
| Court |
And they don't take American Express . . . I spent 10 minutes on the phone, shipping info, etc....and Poof. | ||
| Henrik |
Yeah - they're not the most service minded around ... Henrik | ||
| Henrik |
Follow-up on my PM dealings: Well, when I called to get a tracking number last week, it turned out they never processed the order - it'd just disappeared ... also, apparently the "service" person I'd dealt with had been fired - sigh. So I went through the whole thing again with Jesse, who seemed like a good guy, although not "good" enough to bump up my shipping to compensate for their screw-up. Oh well. The piston sizes and part numbers I listed above are supposedly correct, however the impending demise of these pistons are quite exaggerated. Jesse said they had over 300 in stock and that these are sizes that they still use?? So I apologize for hyping this up and causing unnecessary expense for you guys. It occurred to me later, that I should have ordered fresh cotter pins and maybe even new brake pad guide pins while I was at it. I should be receiving the new pistons tomorrow and will follow up with, hopefully, a confirmation of these sizes and part numbers. Henrik | ||
| Court |
It is precisely through experience like this that we, as a group, learn and benefit. Thank you. | ||
| Seth |
I've wanted to put a PM front caliper on my '98 S-1 for a while. Not for any performance advantage if there is any but because I like the little horsey on it! Thanks for doing all the run around for us and finding out the sizes and part numbers! Seth | ||
| Ratbuell |
That's exactly the information I needed. Awesome. I have an S2 with a grinding front caliper - the outer pistons were working just fine, the inners were frozen, and the brakes were working...but pushing the rotor into the inner side of the caliper. Disassembled, pulled, cussed, beer-ed, cussed some more, finally got the inner pistons out (the shop manual's method of compressed air didn't do squat), cleaned them and found 2 of them were pitted and nasty. A little cleanup with the wire wheel and some antiseize, and everything seems to be working well enough. O rings are in good enough condition to last a couple more days. The ultimate irony? I want it working right and *Right Now* because I'm going to a Pocono track day on Tues/Wed to ride the 1125, and the brakes need to work well enough to pass tech (and keep me alive) in case I get a chance to run it on the track. And to get me the 200 miles up and back, LOL. Irony is I'm staying in Scranton...and one of about 12 dealers that show the rebuild kit in stock is....Scranton. Couldn't make that up if I tried. But I'm going to order a pair of piston sets too, just to be safe. It helps that we're a PM dealer at work  | ||
| Henrik |
Joe; happy to be able to help. Please be careful ... Henrik | ||
| Reepicheep |
I used the compressed air method to get a piston out of the caliper on my KLR-250 about three weeks ago... The swelling is finally going down now... Keep your fingers (and other squishy parts) clear if you try that method. | ||
| Road_thing |
and other squishy parts ...eeewww... rt | ||
| Henrik |
I had no luck with the compressed air either (no squishy parts harmed in the attempt ). It'd pop out one piston and leave the other 2 stuck in there. I ended up using a Craftsman large snap-ring plier in "reverse" - i.e. opening the jaws when squeezing the handles. I padded the jaws with a rag I believe, "clamped out" the pliers inside the piston and used a pulling/rotating motion to ease the pistons out. Not easy, but with many tries it worked. In retrospect, I'd probably use a higher friction padding; ;cut up bicycle inner tube or similar. That might have made the plier pull easier. Henrik | ||
| Reepicheep |
Ahhh... thats where the KLR was way ahead of you, they thoughtfully only put one piston in the entire caliper! (Now let me remember to keep my helmet visor up, it halves the bikes braking distance...) | ||
| Court |
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| Ratbuell |
That looks like a rear caliper diagram... Also, does anyone have (or can get) the spec for the bolt that runs thru the caliper, between the slide pins? My caliper is apparently missing that bolt. Never knew it was supposed to be there until I read "remove bolt" in the shop manual disassembly steps. PM doesn't seem to know what it should be either. He asked if I knew how long the bolt was and if it was an allen bolt. Uh...I don't have it, that's the problem. LOL. | ||
| Henrik |
Joe; it is an allen bolt. I threads into the inner half of the caliper. Unfortunately it is *very* easy to strip the threads out of the caliper, which may be why you don't have one anymore. I drilled the threads out of mine and installed a longer bolt with a small nylock nut on the inside. I'll go and see if I can find out size and such. Not an ideal set-up, but I believe that bolt is there to keep the caliper halves from "spreading" when you get on the brakes, so better to have something there. OK, I'm back: I'm using 1/4 x 20 cap screws (in retrospect it could have been a tad longer) and low profile nylock nuts. I have a couple of spare and would be happy to send you one. Shoot me a PM with an address. Henrik |
