Caliper Rebuild & Advice From Cyclerob

[RadicalR1150R]

A pleasant conversation last evening with CycleRob in regards to rebuilding my Tokico front calipers.
Complete Tokico kits & the Honda dealer sourced inner "joint seals" ordered. Spiegler braided SS line kit from Sportbiketrackgear.com here in Michigan, & no extra charge for colored lines or fittings & free shipping too, and for good measure the "motion pro" piston tool..
If you've followed my previous "spin art" post your aware I'm getting an ever so slight spatter on the front rim. I either pushed the pistons in without cleaning them well enough when installing new pads, or "stress damaged" the lines when cleaning the pistons & or painting the caliper.

Rob is again correct in stating that unless this kind of brake work is done correctly, it will indeed take a bite out of your wallet & require more than just 1 free day in the garage.
Hey Rob, I forgot to mention that I no longer reload, I sold everything to help finance this & the other lessons I've been learning this season with my renewed interest in my 04 R1150R....
Stay tuned all. & PM me if ya need any Tokico brake rebuild part numbers.
Oh yeah...How do the lines remove from the fender(black clips)?
Steve

[Mr.Frequent]

RadicalR1150R , if you would please,PM me that list for Tokico. I know they aren't widely used -our 1150's have the Evo 1's,and are found on a lot of early four piston sets used on 2000s Suzukis, such as SV1000s, GSX-R750. I'm gonna do the brakes again with a good caliper cleanup and figure it would be smart (?) to have the piston seal numbers just in case. Thanks!

[riceburner]

The inner-seals can also be bought from Kawasaki dealers - the vast majority of 90's Kawasakis used the same basic calliper. You can also buy seals and pistons individually. If you're in the UK try Cradleigh Kawasaki, I used them quite a few times and they're very good.


FWIW - a 2nd hand set of Brembo callipers are £100 each from Motorworks and (in my experience) give better braking and longer life for the seals. Swapping them over is an hour or two's worth of work, quicker than a seal swap. (depends on your level of mechanical skill, obviously).

[Mr.Frequent]

Riceburner , if I got used Brembos , I'd probably want to rebuild them as well - so I would know what I had going forward. Just my thought.

[riceburner]

Riceburner , if I got used Brembos , I'd probably want to rebuild them as well - so I would know what I had going forward. Just my thought.

It's a fair point.
I'll admit the 2 times I've fitted them I've not bothered and not had any problems.

[jrsndman]

Any reason you can't just post the part numbers in this thread?

[CycleRob]

Oh yeah...How do the lines remove from the fender (black clips)?

Going from doing this over 10 years ago Look at the underside of the fender and you'll see a split cone shaped barb. Each half of that split cone is attached to one side of the brake hose clamp. With the fender on I believe it will require lifting the end of the front fender's rear portion, using an 11" long curved needle nose plier (had one) and insert the tool from the rear under the fender to squeeze together the halves and easily remove the clamp. If you only have a regular 6" nose or regular combination plier it will be more difficult. You could remove the front fender -but- that also requires removing the front wheel.

If anyone has a front or rear brake that drags slightly, enough so that an elevated, hard handed free spin stops the wheel in less than 1 rotation (valve stem indicated) . . . then you need a full disassembly cleaning and/or seal replacement. The "why of it all" is the simple fact that ageing rubber seals harden to the point that they no longer flex, as in tilt sideways without sliding over the slightly moving piston. When it slides instead of distorting/tilting, it no longer is able to pull the piston back with the stored tilt angle energy, releasing the brake pads from the disc. That's right, only the seals can "take the brakes off". There is no caliper piston return spring or a strong enough master cylinder suction action to do that task. The tilted over cone shaped master cylinder seals are primarily designed to expand for pumping fluid when you squeeze the lever and then allowing fluid to pass the other way when you release the brake lever/pedal, as what happens when you close the bleeder screw. If you did not close the bleeder you would see the fluid then get suctioned back into the master cylinder but that suction is quite weak, comparable the force resistance changes like the same type of cone shaped seal in hand operated tire pumps . . . hard going down when pumping, easy pulling it up for another stroke as the full piston stroke volume of air easily passes by the tilted cone seal. On the lack of individual BMW parts replacement, it's a real shame we have to go to Honda and Kawasaki to purchase caliper seals and/or pistons, but I guess there are decades and thousands more Honda/Kawasaki motorcycles with common brake components.

All just words to the wise why neglected brake servicing will get Expen$ive. If you are new here or visit infrequently, here is a brake bleed and disassembly pictorial to guide you: https://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=30659

[racurley]

Any reason you can't just post the part numbers in this thread?

Here's what I have in my notes when I rebuilt the front calipers..

The small O - Ring (Joint Seal) between the caliper halves part numbers are:
Kawasaki 43049-1004
Honda 45103-MEL-003

Kawasaki 43049-1004 RING,SEAL, 6.5 X 11.5 X 2.2 (SEAL BETWEEN CALIPER HALVES)

Honda is cheaper - Ordered from Partzilla for $1.13 each plus $7.95 shipping

When I inquired about the part the local BMW dealer, they told me you can't split the calipers. That was of course bunk.

[riceburner]

Oh yeah...How do the lines remove from the fender (black clips)?

Going from doing this over 10 years ago Look at the underside of the fender and you'll see a split cone shaped barb. Each half of that split cone is attached to one side of the brake hose clamp. With the fender on I believe it will require lifting the end of the front fender's rear portion, using an 11" long curved needle nose plier (had one) and insert the tool from the rear under the fender to squeeze together the halves and easily remove the clamp. If you only have a regular 6" nose or regular combination plier it will be more difficult. You could remove the front fender -but- that also requires removing the front wheel.

I've never had to remove the mudguard, the black plastic clips should be able to push over to one side far enough for the locking clip to be squeezed enough by hand to pull out 1 side, then the other will pop out easily.