Front Brake Pad Replacement (30 minutes)

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1. Clean your front caliper, so you have a clean area to work with

2. Loosen the brake pad pin [brake02]

3. Remove the 2 bolts attaching the caliper to the shock[brake03]

4. Remove the caliper from the disk [brake04]

5. Remove the brake pad pin [brake05, brake06]

6. Remove brake pads from caliper [brake07]

7. Turn handlebars to put the front master cylinder at a level position.  Then remove cover from master cylinder. [brake08, brake09]

8. Now you should be able to push brake piston in.  In my case i had to use pliers to push it in.  But be carefull not to damage anything. [brake10, brake11]
(side note... clymers says that you should be able to push this in with your hand, and if not you should take apart and clean full caliper)

9. Insert brake pads [brake12, brake13]

10. Make sure brake pads line up when looking through the brake pin hole.  you may have to push the brake pads in, against the "anti-rattle" springs for them to line up. [brake14]

11. Insert  brake pin and hand tighten [brake15, brake16]

12. Install caliper back onto brake disk, be sure not to damage leading edge of pads [brake17]
     NOTE: there are no spacers between fork and caliper.

13. Install 2 bolts securing caliper to front shock [brake18, brake 19]
     NOTE: there is a washer and lockwasher under the head of the bolt.

14. Tighten brake pad pin [brake20]

15. Replace master cylinder cover [brake21, brake22]

16. Done [brake23, brake24]

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Good photos.  Nice step by step.

Good reminder about the brake fluid too.  Gotta keep it off the paint.

Now, I'm gonna insert this, because if you illustrate it, someone is gonna do it...so,

...I would add that if you are going to compress the caliper piston, that a c-clamp with one of the old pads against the caliper piston face would be best.

You run the risk of damaging the piston, dust boot, or even the outside of the caliper with the channel locks.  A c-clamp provides an even force so as not to score the inside of the caliper by c0cking the piston during the process....especially if the fluid is particularly nasty.

PS - I don't know that I have ever been able to compress a caliper piston by hand, so I don't know why Clymer says that.  At any rate, you can always get a pad spreader at Harbor Freight too.

One more thing you might want to do when swapping out brake pads:

Clean the caliper slide pins and grease 'em a bit with high temperature brake (or silicone) grease.

IHTH someone!

Okay, so about replacing the piston seals:

First drain the brake fluid by disconnecting the brake line at the caliper. Be ready with some kind of catch pan and some rags.

Remove the caliper following the instructions above. Drain what fluid you can from the caliper. Remove the pads.

There are two ways to remove the piston. The easy way is to slip the caliper over the edge of a piece of plywood, particle board or masonite (or sheet of steel or aluminum). Then use the rubber cone nozzle of an air compresser to shoot a short burst of air into the brake line hole. The wood (or metal) is there to keep the piston from shooting across the garage. It should now be easy to pull the piston the rest of the way out.

The other way, if you don't have an air compressor, is to slip as many fingers as you can into the piston and twist as you pull.

Fish the seals out of the grooves. Wipe any remaining brake fluid out of the grooves and the bottom of the piston well. Clean any crud from the grooves.

Clean the piston with something that won't scratch it.

Wipe the new seals with fresh brake fluid and slip them into place. Run your brake fluid coated finger around them to make sure they're fully seated and not twisted. Using as much finesse as you can, twist and push the piston into the caliber, making sure you don't push the seals out of their grooves. (Remember, the piston goes in open side out.) The piston will probably slide easily past the outer seal and then meet resistance from the inner seal. Take it easy, twist and push. Once past the inner seal, push the piston all the way in. Reassemble the brake.

By "Master Cylinder".....do you mean "caliper piston"?

I assume the 'Brakepad mounting bolt' is the brake pad pin which according to the tech section torque specs should be 7.4 to 11.1 ft/lb, apart from the caliper mounting bolts which are correctly listed as 18-29, I can't see what else can be meant by the brake pad mounting bolt other than the brake pad pin?

Kropatchek wrote on 08/18/08 at 08:16:42:

Could you recommend me what Type/Brand of brake pads the best.

Thank you! This was very helpful!