Question about removing rear brake caliper

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marcusknight

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Jan 31, 2015
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Manitowoc, WI
I have a 1984 GL1200. I have to grease the brake slides on the rear brake. It seems like there is no way to remove the caliper without having to disconnect the brake line. Thus I would have to drain the fluid. The brake line is not long enough for me to remove the caliper otherwise.

Is there any trick to this so I don't have to remove the brake line and drain the fluid?
 
If you do this on a regular basis and the caliper pins will come out easily you should be able to do this without disconnecting the caliper from the brake system. There is enough slack in the brake line to allow you to do this with the caliper connected.

Be careful punching out the caliper pins, don't want to mushroom the pin heads.

Once you get the pins out, use a small brass brush and clean out the caliper pin holes and use some silicon grease when you put the caliper ins back in. Clean the caliper pin(s) with some very fine grit paper before install.

Cheers
 
Remove the caliper from the caliper support bracket, same as if you were removing the rear tire. Set up some form of work platform that you can place the caliper on so that it is supported when you remove the caliper pins. The trick to removing the caliper pins and minimizing any damage is to have a firm work platform that you can use to punch the pins out.

Barring this, remove the caliper and take it to a work bench. Tie the brake line up to minimize fluid loss. Always good to flush and have new brake fluid in the lines. If you do remove the rear caliper from the bike, when you bleed the rear brake caliper, because it is linked to the front right brake caliper, you do the front caliper first then the rear caliper. Do this procedure a couple of times and all should be good.

Another issue with these calipers is the pivot pin that has a tendency to seize in the caliper due to time, crud, etc and does not allow the caliper to float and self adjust during use. You can tell if the pivot pin is seized or starting to by uneven wear of the brake pads. You can also try to move it when you first take the caliper off the caliper support bracket. You can remove, clean and lube the pivot pin with the caliper not removed, but if it won't move you will have to take the caliper off to punch out the pin, clean, lube and reinstall.

Having mentioned all this, you may want to remove the caliper from the bike and do a good clean and lube of all the parts, probably not necessary to do the oil and dust seals.

I would also recommend that if you are doing the rear caliper, do the fronts as well. Good maintenance and after the first time, an afternoon's work.

I notice that you are in Wisconsin and probably don't ride in the winter. Constant use keeps the components on these bikes working well, but winter lay ups can cause items to need maintenance when you may not think so. Doesn't take much to build up corrosion that can affect the caliper operation.

Hope this all makes sense and is of help. Cheers
 
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