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From: Ig on 16 Mar 2007 20:09
Well, the bike is sweet but needs some work. and of course, all those
"easy fixes" never turn out that way. Here's the first problem, hoping
you fine people can help...

I have a jammed brake pad in the front caliper. took it of to take the
thing apart but the pad seems to be completely locked in. I am
assuming that there is a piston behind this, but can't even get to it.
I will try to pry it out tonight with some needle nose plyers or
something... is there a "mechanic's trick" to this (a couple of whacks
with a hammer)... or is this highly uncommon and need to look into
getting a new caliper altogether?

From: Ron Seiden on 16 Mar 2007 22:20
Assuming that you've unscrewed the bleed screw to drain any brake fluid (if
you haven't removed the bleed screw, the piston would be held in by air
pressure/suction), then you might want to try & trickle some Kroil into the
cylinder (through that bleed hole). Let it sit for a couple of days & the
Kroil will break up most rust &/or corrosion that may be jamming the piston.
Then tap on the face of the brake pad to break loose the piston.

If the pad is rusted onto the front of the piston, trickle some Kroil around
the pad...

"Ig" <elrogigor(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1174090185.941573.67150(a)l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> Well, the bike is sweet but needs some work. and of course, all those
> "easy fixes" never turn out that way. Here's the first problem, hoping
> you fine people can help...
>
> I have a jammed brake pad in the front caliper. took it of to take the
> thing apart but the pad seems to be completely locked in. I am
> assuming that there is a piston behind this, but can't even get to it.
> I will try to pry it out tonight with some needle nose plyers or
> something... is there a "mechanic's trick" to this (a couple of whacks
> with a hammer)... or is this highly uncommon and need to look into
> getting a new caliper altogether?
>


From: The Older Gentleman on 17 Mar 2007 04:35
Ig <elrogigor(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, the bike is sweet but needs some work. and of course, all those
> "easy fixes" never turn out that way. Here's the first problem, hoping
> you fine people can help...
>
> I have a jammed brake pad in the front caliper. took it of to take the
> thing apart but the pad seems to be completely locked in. I am
> assuming that there is a piston behind this, but can't even get to it.
> I will try to pry it out tonight with some needle nose plyers or
> something... is there a "mechanic's trick" to this (a couple of whacks
> with a hammer)... or is this highly uncommon and need to look into
> getting a new caliper altogether?

If it's the pad behind the piston (the bigger part of the caliper),
simply pump the brake lever. If you've dismantled the brake system, then
attach a grease gun to the line and use hydraulic pressure there.

Using compressed air also works, but the results can be spectacular and
dangerous....

If it's the fixed pad, they can be right sods. Do check that it hasn't
got a little split pin at the back of the caliper - some are secured
like that. Otherwise, soaking it in paraffin (kerosene) for a couple of
days should do the trick. Do not attempt to e-use the pad after this!


--
BMW K1100LT 750SS CB400F CD250 Z650
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....
From: Potage St. Germaine on 17 Mar 2007 12:23
On Mar 16, 4:09?pm, "Ig" <elrogi...(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a jammed brake pad in the front caliper. took it of to take the
> thing apart but the pad seems to be completely locked in. I am
> assuming that there is a piston behind this, but can't even get to it.

It's a single-sided caliper, with one piston on the outside pushing
the one brake pad and the other (dead) side just has a
brake pad attached to it.

Putting pressure on the piston pushes the "live" pad against the brake
disk and the "dead" pad is pulled toward the "live" side.

Don't laugh. Most cars have single-sided calipers that work that way,
and the mechanic must remove the caliper and
pad and push the piston back into its bore by using a large
c-clamp.

But Honda seems to have designed a piston retractor jack screw into
the pivoting caliper arm, from what somebody once told me...

The whole caliper is mounted on a rather long pivoting aluminum
casting and there is a mysterious crosswise bolt in that arm.

I had just helped a friend replace his brake pads by prying on the
pad's iron backing plate with a screwdriver to retract the piston on
the live side, and I was pumping up the brake pressure again, when a
wise guy who owned a CB-750 told me that I didn't need to use a
screwdriver, because the crosswise bolt was intended to retract the
piston when tightened...

There is a diagram of the brake caliper on www.bikebandit.com

Click on OEM > Honda > 1973 > CB350G > brake caliper

From: The Older Gentleman on 17 Mar 2007 13:04
Potage St. Germaine <flying_booger(a)yahoo.com> wrote:

> But Honda seems to have designed a piston retractor jack screw into
> the pivoting caliper arm, from what somebody once told me...

Wrong
>
> The whole caliper is mounted on a rather long pivoting aluminum
> casting and there is a mysterious crosswise bolt in that arm.

That would be the main caliper mounting bolt.
>
> I had just helped a friend replace his brake pads by prying on the
> pad's iron backing plate with a screwdriver to retract the piston on
> the live side, and I was pumping up the brake pressure again, when a
> wise guy who owned a CB-750 told me that I didn't need to use a
> screwdriver, because the crosswise bolt was intended to retract the
> piston when tightened...

Wrong again.


--
BMW K1100LT 750SS CB400F CD250 Z650
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....
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