Broke Brake

[jimboreeno]

Hi All.
I am trying to replace the brake pads on my right front caliper on my XJ1100.
Unlike the left one, the post that holds the pads has the wonderful allen wrench design and is of course completely stripped. I have tried everything including hammering a square head bit in and trying to turn it with a vicegrip. It stripped teeth off the vice grip! And yes I have been spraying it with the penetrating oil to try to break the thing free. I am afraid it is toast....so...
A. Is there something I am not thinking of to get it out?
B. Can I get it out or do I need a whole new caliper? (and if so..who has one?)
C. Can I drill, or otherwise ruin it and replace it with ?? something?
Thanks in advance for all sage advice!

[fredintoon]

Decapitation

Hi Jim,
get a drill bit the same diameter as the Allen screw shank diameter and drill down through the wrecked hexagonal pocket until the head pops off. Now you can get the thing apart and hopefully there's enough of the shank left to grip and with the bolt tension gone, the stub should be removable.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[79XS11F]

I'm not familiar with the XJ bikes but will try to help. ... Have you put heat to it yet?? If its a steel bolt in an alloy hole then heat the alloy part up with a heat gun and once it is GOOD and warm spray the penetrating oil at the it. The alloy should expand much faster then the steel and create enough space for the penetrating oil to go down the threads. Once that done give it a go. If you do end up removing the head of the bolt do the same thing to remove the balance of the bolt.
Rob

[red bandit]

Allens bolts are harded, might want to use a carbide tipped masonary drill.

[fredintoon]

Hi Red,
Allen bolts are tough rather than hard.
Being of an alloy steel they are certainly harder than the average stove bolt but a good quality high speed steel or better yet a cobalt steel drill bit will cope just fine.
Also the tungsten carbide insert in a masonry drill is angled all wrong for cutting metals.

[Jerry]

I am a little confused.....

The XJ front brake pads are held in place with a "slide pin". Backside has a small cotter key which keeps the pin from sliding out of the bore. When I last changed pads I removed the key, tapped the back end of the shaft with a hammer until it began to slide out, then grabbed the square head of the other end of the shaft with a pliers and it came right out. If there is an allen wrench bolt in there it isn't stock! Left and right calipers have the same pad retaining system.

Could be the back side of the caliper hole has been tapped for the allen bolt. What does a visual check show? Would have been easier to put a nut back there instead of tapping the bore.

Only option I can think of off-hand is to remove the caliper, push the pads apart using an appropriate brake pad spreader, then reach between the pads with a Vise-Grip and grab the bolt. Try tristing it to see if you can break it loose. You may have to clamp the caliper in a vise to to do that, but remember, the assembly is just cast aluminum.

[jimboreeno]

Hey Jerry,
You may be right, the right front may not be stock. It is not like the left. It has a pin that slides in and appears to be threaded at the outside end. When applying penetrating oil, it runs right around the pin on the inside of where it goes through the caliper. On the outside (threaded side) it is frozen solid.
It appears I will have to drill it and replace it with another type.

I tried the heat.... no go.

[jimboreeno]

Well, the caliper was obviously NOT from an XJ1100!
It was different and, without knowing, I would guess it was from the 1980 XS that my motor is from. The brake pads that came off were slightly different. I had to file off one of the corner tabs for clearance on the XJ pad but it worked fine.
The rod that holds the brake pads in was threaded at the allen wrench end. I had to go buy a tungston bit and drill it out. I had to sharpen the bit on the old bench grinder a couple of times as well!
Anyway, I replaced the rod with a longer bolt and it seems to be fine!

[snowdog51]

bolt

take caliper off take to weld shop weld bolt to bad spin out when hot .
bill

[Jerry]

It was different and, without knowing, I would guess it was from the 1980 XS that my motor is from.

This could only happen of the fork were also different, as the XJ caliper mounting is quite a bit different than any XS. The caliper mount is farther up from the axle, more toward the center of the lower fork, and the bolt spacing is much closer together. (I checked when I was looking for replacement calipers.) I didn't find another other caliper that was a bolt-on fit, but that doesn't mean one is't out there, but not from another 11.

The XJ does use the same pads as some of later model XS11s, no modification should be necessary. From the EBC catalog:

XJ 1100 J 82 Front: FA70. Rotors: MD2024LS (Left) MD2024RS (right)
Rear: FA41 Rotor: MD2025

These are the same as used on the '81 Midnight Special and the same pads fit a few other XS11 applications, some front, some rear. Since your new pads would not fit the caliper you have it would be another indication that the caliper is not a stock XJ or XS caliper.

If the fork is stock I would like to see a pic of the caliper, as I have been concerned with finding an alternate that would bolt right up. This has raised my interest again.

[beegshot]

XJ1100 Brake Pad

I'm adding this title and text strings so this post will be easier to find using the search function.

Thanks Jerry for posting those part numbers. I'm trying to replace all three sets of pads on my XJ and could not remember if front right/left were the same. I've used Ferodo and EBC pads with good results.

Bikebandit has the EBC for $27.86 per set. You'll have to order two sets for the front if you're replacing the pads on both rotors.

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