Did my wife break my brakes?

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Great

With all you have done, and it sounds like you understand brakes pretty well I am sure you will be fine. Not saying my 1st test would be to see how well they stop me from a 100 MPH run, but you know what I mean

I love the head light for the price If it was any brighter I would be blinding the chick on her cell phone in the 6000lb SUV comming at me, instead of just warning her

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

After thought

Hey, just an after thought, if you do get a slight pulsing when you brake hard on your bike, check the bolts that hold the front calipers on. If the caliper wobbels at all when removeing it, replace the bolts. The have a tendency to bend just slightly and can make you pull your hair out trying to figure it out. A member on here told me about it (wish I could remember who, too say thanks)

[natemoen]

As to the dishwasher Not OK IMHO, I try to "never" get water around an opened brake part

Hot water and soap are the best thing to clean up brake fluid. You just need to be thorough and dry the parts well.

[DGXSER]

As to the calipers, the biggest point of dirt build up in these calipers is behind the seal / o-ring that the piston travels against. The flushing of the fluid will not get at that dirt, and it will eventually cause the piston to seat with the brakes nice and tight against the disc, and not let go. Not something you want to find out about when you try to take off from the stop light, or worse yet when your going say 30 MPH and let off the throttle to have the bike come to a sudden and complete stop!!

Anyway, not saying OEM is wrong, and that may work well for you for months or even years, but for me, I'd tear the calipers down and throroughly clean behind that seal.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

?

? Only done a few thousand brake jobs, but, what? If he has a clean caliper and no funk inside and the O ring is clean and in place and he said he checked / removed and cleaned it, adds new clean fluid and bleeds. Good piston, clean caliper new fluid and a good dust seal?? You got me on this one? And I am willing to learn and admit when I am wrong, just need help understanding your point

As to the calipers, the biggest point of dirt build up in these calipers is behind the seal / o-ring that the piston travels against. The flushing of the fluid will not get at that dirt, and it will eventually cause the piston to seat with the brakes nice and tight against the disc, and not let go. Not something you want to find out about when you try to take off from the stop light, or worse yet when your going say 30 MPH and let off the throttle to have the bike come to a sudden and complete stop!!

Anyway, not saying OEM is wrong, and that may work well for you for months or even years, but for me, I'd tear the calipers down and throroughly clean behind that seal.

[cywelchjr]

? Only done a few thousand brake jobs, but, what? If he has a clean caliper and no funk inside and the O ring is clean and in place, adds new clean fluid and bleeds. Good piston, clean caliper new fluid and a good dust seal?? You got me on this one? And I am willing to learn and admit when I am wrong, just need help understanding your point

What he's saying is that the area of these calipers that causes most of the problems with them is BEHIND the o-ring of the caliper, and if you don't REMOVE the o-ring from the caliper and make sure that slot is clean, it can be dirty back there if the PO cleaned everywhere BUT there, and it can look good and not be. If you break it down to that point, it doesn't make sense to NOT pull the o-ring out and make sure the slot if goes into is nice and clean, if it is, it takes but moments to put it back, if not, then you can see and take the time to clean it and not need to do it later. I WILL disagree with Don on one thing though, if the brakes are maintained per the manual regularly there won't be a problem as the rubber parts are supposed to be replaced every 4 years. However, even if all you do is just fully flush the system every 1-2 years, it's unlikely there would be much if any buildup in there as you wouldn't be giving it time to build up.

However, in most cases, if the calipers are clean when you look in there, they are probably fine, but based on the condition of the master cylinder, there are clearly things that were missed, and under the o-ring is one of the things I would be concerned with checking.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

+1

+1 on all of that, I thought that is what he did??? I can get reading on a site and not seeing the parts, yes clean everything (thought that would be a given) even under the O ring and dust cover and such But, I would not put brake parts in the dish washer Water and brakes don't mix, that is just IMHO I am sure some like water and brake parts

What he's saying is that the area of these calipers that causes most of the problems with them is BEHIND the o-ring of the caliper, and if you don't REMOVE the o-ring from the caliper and make sure that slot is clean, it can be dirty back there if the PO cleaned everywhere BUT there, and it can look good and not be. If you break it down to that point, it doesn't make sense to NOT pull the o-ring out and make sure the slot if goes into is nice and clean, if it is, it takes but moments to put it back, if not, then you can see and take the time to clean it and not need to do it later. I WILL disagree with Don on one thing though, if the brakes are maintained per the manual regularly there won't be a problem as the rubber parts are supposed to be replaced every 4 years. However, even if all you do is just fully flush the system every 1-2 years, it's unlikely there would be much if any buildup in there as you wouldn't be giving it time to build up.

However, in most cases, if the calipers are clean when you look in there, they are probably fine, but based on the condition of the master cylinder, there are clearly things that were missed, and under the o-ring is one of the things I would be concerned with checking.

[cywelchjr]

+1 on all of that, I thought that is what he did??? I can get reading on a site and not seeing the parts, yes clean everything (thought that would be a given) even under the O ring and dust cover and such But, I would not put brake parts in the dish washer Water and brakes don't mix, that is just IMHO I am sure some like water and brake parts

Best way to clean hard parts is hot soapy water. Just make sure to get them fully dry. That's the way I was taught in auto shop in high school even, and has been repeated more than once in automotive tech classes in the military since. We always used compressed air to blow everything out to make sure there was no water left. I would never recommend using water to clean out any of the rubber parts, for those either brake cleaner or clean brake fluid, same with the brake lines if you do anything other than flush them out with clean brake fluid.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Water and brakes?

Nohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluidt trying to start anything, but water and brakes "DON'T MIX"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluid

[natemoen]

Nohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluidt trying to start anything, but water and brakes "DON'T MIX"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluid

Yes, that is why your it off! Because dot 3&4 (never worked with the silicone based stuff dont know) are a water soluble chemical means that water is the best way to clean it. As long as you dry the parts off once cleaned then you are good to go.

OEM, do you throw your leftover brake fluid away after you are done doing a brake job? Well you better, water in the air gets in the fluid and ruins it! (i am exaggerating here, alrhough that is what you are suppposed to do)

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Sealed container

Sealed container means a container with the cap on tightHey, if it works and you have had good luck useing water, keep on doing it. I have used brake parts cleaner with good results, i probably over estimated the water thing

Yes, that is why your it off! Because dot 3&4 (never worked with the silicone based stuff dont know) are a water soluble chemical means that water is the best way to clean it. As long as you dry the parts off once cleaned then you are good to go.

OEM, do you throw your leftover brake fluid away after you are done doing a brake job? Well you better, water in the air gets in the fluid and ruins it! (i am exaggerating here, alrhough that is what you are suppposed to do)