Tuesday, Jan 14 2014 [6,248 miles]
I took a ride Sunday and was otherwise busy Monday. The plan was to finish the service today. The plan didn’t account for sunny weather with temps in the 70s and afternoon sun beating down into the garage as it does during the winter. I’d have preferred rain.
Mud guard removed
Brake pad thickness
After brake cleaner
To remove the caliper you have to remove the wheel; at least it seems that way to me. I removed the rear mud guard, the rear wheel, and unbolted the caliper before removing and cleaning the pads. Still plenty of life left. There should be.
Retracting pistons
New brake fluid
After checking the calipers (they slide easy) and cleaning the pads I cleaned and added some anti-sieze to the pin and put the pads back. I use wedged blocks of wood to retract the caliper pistons as much as possible. Once they were retracted I pulled the old fluid out of the reservoir with a syringe and added new fluid. All of that was flushed out of the system.
I use a Motion Pro one way valve on the bleed nipple to make flushing easy. The fluid coming out looked the same as the fluid going it. After filling the reservoir a couple of times I called it done. It was getting HOT in the garage.
Torque wrench
Other brake bleed tools
Per a thread on Adventure Rider… yes, sometimes I use a torque wrench for fasteners that are torqued to less than 10 Nm. I have a torque wrench for just that job. It is probably the best torque wrench I own.
The plastic bag contains everything that might be contaminated with brake fluid. I don’t want to use those same tools when changing final drive oil, for example.
Tomorrow I’ll try to finish the service. The front brakes need to be flushed and the service reminder reset. Hope it isn’t too hot.
Tuesday, Jan 15 2014 [6,248 miles]
Protect from spills
Before starting a front brake fluid flush I removed my handlebar bag and wrapped the reservoir with a damp rag to protect from spills. Good thing I did.
Front brake pads
left front caliper
Caliper pistons compressed
I forgot to open and empty the reservoir before retracting the caliper pistons. After a bit of cursing for being such a dumb-ass I rinsed off the rag and flushed anywhere where brake fluid might have fallen with a spray bottle of water I had handy just in case. Now back to the bleed.
Ready to flush
Flush in progress
The Motion Pro one-way valve makes flushing the brakes very easy. I make sure to route the tubing up from the caliper to help any bubbles that might be in the system escape. I did the left side, then the right side, almost finishing off the bottle of brake fluid I opened yesterday for the rear brakes.
Once flushed I torqued the calipers and pumped the brakes until the pads were in contact with the rotors. The last bit of brake fluid was used to fill up the reservoir.
Set next service
Test ride time
I hooked up the GS-911wifi I’ve been testing and made sure the fault logs were empty. I also used it to bump the next service by 6,000 miles and one year.
Last thing to do was put back the handlebar bag and give the bike a test ride. Everything is as it should be. When I got home I parked the bike on the lift. Next up is to remove the cam from my R69S, a job easier done with the bike off the lift (I think). Maybe tomorrow.