Hendo Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Cleaned my R1 calipers up tonight. What an utter shit job, I hate cleaning calipers. Anyhow, in the past Ive always used a slight smear of copper slip on the contact edges of the pads & pins etc. I will usually put red rubber grease on the cleaned pistons too. All it seems to do is create a pastey gungey mess. So I didnt bother with it tonight and put everything back together dry. Lovely and clean. I only use my bikes on dry, summers days, shouldnt be a problem, no? Or is there other reasons for lubing calipers up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregorious77 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Just done mine too, new fluid and clean callipers. I went for lube though! Red rubber on pots and copper on pins and back of pads. I did have the same thoughts as you but I do ride in rain on occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackdaybob Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I always lube Force of habit I guess but that's just what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendo Posted March 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Force of habit Thats exactly why I always do it. But is it really necessary for me? I only use my bikes in the dry. Brakes get stripped for a big clean once a year anyways. Im sure it will be a lot cleaner and easier to do next time. Awaiting someone telling me otherwise.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxr renegade Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Never used coppaslip in my life and never had a problem getting pads/pad pins in or out and I ride in all weathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollygiant Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I have copper slip in a 50ml syringe. Every bolt I take off get some on before it goes back in! The lazy phuckers at Aprilia and the previous keepers didn't use it either and nearly every fastner I come across is seized. I even sand the paint off the edge of pads and copper slip them and the back of the pad where it touches the piston, also the pins get greased! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackdaybob Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Every bolt I take off get some on before it goes back in! Me too. Seized fastners/bolts are a rarity for me. That's good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollygiant Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I never had any on my TDM I owned for 9yrs and soon the Tuono will be the same! Just the bolts are crap so round out so easy to start with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I more or less wrote off a caliper trying to get a pin out some years back after the previous owner had let it corrode away for god knows how long. Lube FTW, even if it's to prevent disimilar metal corrosion between the alloy and the steel of the pin rather than from salt etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcaztls Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Personally I don't lube around the actual pistons themselves, all that does is attract dirt and drag it down into seals. I lube the seals themselves with appropriate rubber grease so they don't stick into seal grooves. Lots of modern caliper pistons are coated with a low-friction coating, so leave them unmolested and they'll do the job you're trying to achieve on their own as long as they're clean. Never put copper or any other metal based anti-seize around pistons themselves as it's essentially a very fine grinding paste. Same with axles/spindles. Aluminium based anti-seize pastes seem to work better on the backs of pads, pins etc. as it has a higher melting point than copper based ones, and calipers get more than a little bit toasty. While we're talking calipers, just pumping the pistons out, cleaning them and pushing them back in is not a caliper service. The problem area is the seal grooves which fill with dirt and salt, so the seals are forced tighter against the piston. The number of customers I get in complaining of seized brakes yet they've "stripped and cleaned them" then when I ask them what they've done, say they've removed pads, pumped pistons out then forced them back in with a g-clamp is unreal. Then they complain when I say it'll be £30 a claiper for me to 'strip and service them' because it only took them ten minutes yet it takes me 45-60 to do the complete job. And don't overlook stripping and servicing the master cylinder as part of it too, paying attention to the lever heal/piston face. I love brakes me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurninman Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Me too - but then I have Tokico 6 pots and so have an intimate relationship with them I strip and clean the calipers maybe 3 or 4 times a year - a little smear of red grease on the seals and a very small amount on the back of the pads.Nothing else. When I had gold spots on my old EXUP, they didnt need anything apart from a quick clean now and again and a change of pads.Lovely ,lovely calipers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcaztls Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Gold spots have the lighter, coated pistons which the blue spots don't. I too love those calipers, the main reason why they're still on my bike although vanity will win one day and a set of HPK's will no doubt push me further towards bankruptcy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollygiant Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Anything with a thread gets copper slip apart from spindles, bearings and mounts/ing bolts gets LM grease. Having it in 50ml syringes saves having a tub open to get grit/ sawrf/ man fluid into all the time and makes it easy to get the right place and not all over your fingers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Big tangent, but gold spots, surely the best mass produced axial calipers ever? They took blue spots, which were just about the best mass produced calipers going, then made them better. Don't suzuki ever ride their own bikes back to back with some of these and realise that their brakes are really cheap and nasty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyJim Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Big tangent, but gold spots, surely the best mass produced axial calipers ever? They took blue spots, which were just about the best mass produced calipers going, then made them better. Don't suzuki ever ride their own bikes back to back with some of these and realise that their brakes are really cheap and nasty? agreed! I went from ' 99 axial R1 blue spots to 06 suzuki radial tokicos. It's a backward step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcaztls Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 In their defence, most of Suzuki's brake issues are to do with their standard pads. Change those and it's a big leap forward. Anyway Loz, you can't talk about brakes, you're 675's aren't the best and as for that lever... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilchicken0 Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 There's sposed to be a G clamp somewhere on a girl but I could never find it even with a manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6Jon Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 There's sposed to be a G clamp somewhere on a girl but I could never find it even with a manual. Theres a manual for them ! Where might one get a copy of this manual, cos mines got batshit mental over the last week or so !! And before you mention it, this is not the usual week of being a PITA, oh no, its much, much worse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcaztls Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Take your pick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollygiant Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Top one! Used know all about the 2nd one but could never work the top phuckers out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendo Posted March 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Well after reading all your advice Ive gone back and very lightly smeared the metal/metal contact edges of the pads/pins etc with copperslip, as I usually do. Havnt touched the pistons though, they are clean,dry and free moving. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozybloke Posted March 15, 2013 Report Share Posted March 15, 2013 Have got that first one, it gives tips on basic maintenance but bugger all about fitting uprated parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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