Front brake maintenance

[Scottish]

I've just come back after 3 weeks away with the bike parked out in the rain...the front wheel needed a push to get it going, it had basically seized up with some rust on the front disc.

Any cleaning/maintenance tips? I thought about using some wd-40 but that might not be the best thing to use on brakes!?

[djcat]

I've just come back after 3 weeks away with the bike parked out in the rain...the front wheel needed a push to get it going, it had basically seized up with some rust on the front disc.

Any cleaning/maintenance tips? I thought about using some wd-40 but that might not be the best thing to use on brakes!?

No, WD-40 or any other type of lubricant is not the best thing to put on brake discs...

I just changed my front pads to Lucas ones as they are supposed to give a better and more progressive feel. I used this video as a guide:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1yszz ... stall_auto

I did use the opportunity to put some brake cleaner inside the caliper to get rid of whatever was lodged in there. It takes a little fiddling around until you get the pads to sit right, but don´t do it right and you are in trouble.

Very important: PUMP the brake after re-install or you will have a bad surprise ....


However: It is normal for brakes to seize if they are left to rust / not being used. Gentle braking at slow speed should clean that off. If not, disassemble and clean, its a one hour job if you know 50% of what you are doing.

[djcat]

Forgot the legal disclaimer: If you don´t know what you are doing, don´t do it. Any fiddling around with your brakes is your problem, you do so at your own risk.

I believe that its one of the easier jobs to do but thats just me.

[you you]

I've just come back after 3 weeks away with the bike parked out in the rain...the front wheel needed a push to get it going, it had basically seized up with some rust on the front disc.

Any cleaning/maintenance tips? I thought about using some wd-40 but that might not be the best thing to use on brakes!?

Charles Darwins tip would be grease on the disc as a preventative measure

[Scottish]

So it was worse than I thought, partially seized and not something I could have fixed myself, £35 for the guy that did though.

[DAB]

If you take the brakes apart and grease the cylinder, make sure you use a grease that will not degrade the rubber seals!

[speedandstyle]

Use a scotch bright pad! It will clean off the rust without any damage to the rotor. You can use some brake cleaner to clean off any dust left over. The pads themselves will finish the job. DO NOT use any kind of lube on the brakes!

[fish]

So it was worse than I thought, partially seized and not something I could have fixed myself, £35 for the guy that did though.

Not a bad price for something so important.
And we learned something, yes?
Well, I did.
Thanks for your post.
Fish

[kramnala58]

So it was worse than I thought, partially seized and not something I could have fixed myself, £35 for the guy that did though.

£1 to fix the problem and £34 to know what the problem was and how to fix it.

[speedandstyle]

So it was worse than I thought, partially seized and not something I could have fixed myself, £35 for the guy that did though.

£1 to fix the problem and £34 to know what the problem was and how to fix it.

Reminds me of this story -

One appeared on the letters page of Life magazine in 1965, after the magazine had printed a story on Steinmetz. Jack B. Scott wrote in to tell of his father’s encounter with the Wizard of Schenectady at Henry Ford’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

Ford, whose electrical engineers couldn’t solve some problems they were having with a gigantic generator, called Steinmetz in to the plant. Upon arriving, Steinmetz rejected all assistance and asked only for a notebook, pencil and cot. According to Scott, Steinmetz listened to the generator and scribbled computations on the notepad for two straight days and nights. On the second night, he asked for a ladder, climbed up the generator and made a chalk mark on its side. Then he told Ford’s skeptical engineers to remove a plate at the mark and replace sixteen windings from the field coil. They did, and the generator performed to perfection.

Henry Ford was thrilled until he got an invoice from General Electric in the amount of $10,000. Ford acknowledged Steinmetz’s success but balked at the figure. He asked for an itemized bill.

Steinmetz, Scott wrote, responded personally to Ford’s request with the following:

Making chalk mark on generator $1.

Knowing where to make mark $9,999.

Ford paid the bill.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/c ... FjtQ8AR.99
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[iceman]

That's great - and impressive re. Steinmetz