Well, I bought the bike! (pics, etc.)

[osmosis4b]

that's sad
I can believe someone swiped your parts! Hopefully it is a "misunderstanding" and your parts will show. I can only imagine having to wait another week. I almost chewed all of my nails off, and burned a few hours of PTO waiting for mine!

[knewsom]

hopefully FedEx will at least reimburse me.

[knewsom]

Ok, time for another update - been awhile

So, partsnmore is sending me a replacement order, which should be here tomorrow - sadly, they did NOT request signature service this time, and if the package gets stolen again, I'm going to be very dissapointed. However, I put up a "please drop package over fence" sign, and a "beware of dog" sign, so hopefully that combined with me leaving my dog outside will deter any thieves.

sooo, I've been workin' on me brakes. I've got one caliper off, and inside the piston is all rusty and crap - that's inside the hollow, mind you, not the rest of the piston - but I don't have much hope because it's not wanting to come out very easily at all, and I'm SUPER pissed that the Clymer (piece of CRAP) doesn't have caliper disassembly and reassembly instructions, they basically just say to take it to a shop.

Next lovely thing is, I'm taking my MC off the bike, wrenching on the bolt that holds in the brake lever, and *SNAP* the bolt breaks, stuck inside the MC. I take apart the MC and it's all full of gunk, the seals are about to break - very brittle looking, and so, I'll be making yet another partsnmore order for a new MC. great. more weeks of waiting.

To top it off, the bastards who bought my car still haven't forked over what they owe ME (though the payoff to my credit union has gone through), so I'm totally out of funds at the moment, and will probably have to wait until FRIDAY to order the MC from partsnmore, with means a whole week EXTRA of waiting.

I'm sorry to rant, but I'm really having issues here - it seems like EVERYTHING needs to be replaced... a case of sit-itis turned into a case of "everything is broken" itis. If I don't end up just giving up and selling it off for parts, I'll at least have a fully functioning knowledge of how to fix nearly EVERYTHING on the bike. I mean, I'm not one to shy away from a bit of a project, but JEESUS this is rediculous! How much more am I gonna have to do before I can even RIDE the damn thing!?

in my estimation, this is what's left to do:

rebuild calipers, install new MC, bleed brakes.

put new tires on, balance wheels, replace bearings.

install new mufflers to replace the rusty buckets that are on there.

"bench-sync" carbs, reinstall, then do a true sync, once I've bought the tool for it.

do a valve adjustment, once I've got the tool for it, and then buy the shims I'll need for it.

replace fork oil and seals

*phew*


oh, then I have to take it on a nice long ride to see if I can blow all the cobwebs out of it and get the tickign sound to stop. If I can't, then I need to find the bad bearing the the crankcase, and replace it.

but that'll probably be after months of riding - aka until the noise gets louder and I can't stand it anymore.

[remccool]

The easy way of getting the caliper out is hook it up to the front brake line but don't install it on the rotor, just hold it, fill up the master cylinder and start squeezing the handle. It will push it right out for you. I didn't believe it would work, but it does. Just make sure that the other side has something hooked up to it and do them one at a time, even the the back, this way you can keep adding fluid as needed without a lot of hassle.

[TopCatGr58]

Well, Remcool,

It's kinda hard for him to be able to pump the calipers out when his MC is totally gunked up!?

Kris, when I did mine 6 years ago, I put the calipers in a vice, and then used a pair of channel locks to grab the end of the piston, and slowly rotated it to get it out. I used some PB Blaster, and also a heat gun to heat up the caliper to try to get it to expand a bit to loosen it's grip on the piston! I only grabbed on the rusty exposed lip of the piston, so teeth marks on/around it didn't interfere with it's function, or the dust seal!
T.C.

[John]

Sure fire method

A grease gun with a good coupler will latch onto the bleeder screw and will pump the pistons out using the high pressure generated by the pump. It is a lot more pressure than compressed air. You will need to remove the brake lines, and use the banjo bolt, with a wad of paper towel stuffed into the hollow shank to stop the folow of grease. Tighten the banjo bolt back into the caliper open the bleeder screw a couple of turns, and then attach the grease gun to the bleeder, and pump the piston out. It will work.I have done it many times. Use a small drill bit to remove the wad of paper towel from the banjo bolt. Wipe away the greas, and use p;enty of brake clean to clean the rest of the grease out of the caliper.

[remccool]

Sorry, didn't mean to step on any toes. Just seems to me that he's going tp need to get the master cylinder working before the brakes are ever going to work. If the brake lines are that gunked up they will need to be cleaned or even replaced anyway. Both of which (cleaned some and replaced others) I did on my bike after I bought it. My brake fluid was actually crystalized in the lines. I replaced the lines, rebuilt the master cylinder, and then removed the caliper pistons by attaching them to the front brake line that I had just replaced and pumped the lever, and the caliper pistons popped out, yes it took a few dozen pumps to build up the pressure, but it worked for me and I didn't have to bring them to a machine shop or bike shop to do it. As for "pulling" them out, good luck.
I am just writing what worked for me. I have spent the last 5 plus months restoring an XS1100E, but I'm sure there are tons of things that I could have done better and faster.
http://www.geocities.com/remccool
That is the link to pics of the one I have been restoring.

[GNEPIG]

.. i do it the way Rich [remccool] does it, i leave one caliper hooked over the rotor and pump/add fluid until the loose one falls out. then i pinch the lower brake hose off with visesgrips and remove the other side and start pumping the system until the other piston falls out

[knewsom]

...wouldnt' that totally mess up your brake lines???

I like the idea of using the MC to push it out, but sadly my MC is out of commision! I managed to pull/pry the piston most of the way out with my hands/a large screwdriver - couldn't get it ALL the way out, but the seals looked pretty tight, I flushed the whole thing out with cleaner (non chlorinated) VERY breifly, and then several times with new DOT3 fluid.

If I get it all back on the bike with new lines and a new MC and find that the calipers leak, then I'll use the MC method of pushing the pistons out, and FULLY rebuild them.

As for now, I think they'll work allright - there was no sign of air in the brake lines, just tons o gunk.

Cheers,
Kris

[webbcraft2150]

Hang in there buddy!!! I feel your frustration. But, it will get done. Look how far you have come now. Don't give up!!!

[remccool]

The way to avoid the pinching off part, disconnect the brake line at the juction located by the tripple tree and use the hose straight from the MC , then you will have more room to work and be able to stand and do it all from the right side of the bike sp you can keep an eye on the fluid level.

[knewsom]

Cheers rem - that's a great idea!

Thanks for the encouraging words, webcraft!

I've always been stubborn and headstrong (heh, like a baboon, oddly enough...), and I'll beat this thing yet, or die tryin'!

The baboon WILL SUBMIT!

[remccool]

If you get discouraged, check out the link to my webpage. I started with a lot less than you have, and with the help of TC, Webbcraft2150, Andreas (great for parts!), and everyone else on this site, I have mine looking and more importantly running great! And I have learned a lot more than I thought I would ever need to know! LOL
But remember, there's always a way, we just got to figure it out.

[TopCatGr58]

Sorry, didn't mean to step on any toes. Just seems to me that he's going tp need to get the master cylinder working before the brakes are ever going to work.

Hey Remcool,

No sore toes here, and I didn't mean to sound like I was snapping or being crass. Just that I didn't think he was wanting to wait until he got his new MC before trying to remove the caliper pistons? I think he should have pulled them ALL THE WAY OUT, lots of crud can be inside the calipers behind the pistons, without pulling them, it's hard to tell IF he's gotten all of it flushed out!?

Kris, you said you had them almost all the way out. You could put a strap of leather or such around the lip of the caliper, and use those channel locks to grip, and twist the piston, and applying lateral force you should be able to work the piston the rest of the way out. There can also be lots of crud around the caliper seal, and inside the rubber seal channel inside the caliper. I posted some photos a while back, will try to see if I can find that post again to show you what you're looking for!
T.C.

Found it, here's the Frozen Caliper piston thread and photos

[mro]

without pulling them

You won't know if there is any corrosion on the piston

Mine would not come out by hand. Stuck air nozzle w/120PSI in it and it literally "POPPED" out.

Found just a little rust and a few pits bottom side of piston, cleaned w/emory cloth and wd40, cleaned inside of caliper, reassembled and all works well now.



mro