Help getting brake pads out

[Vitesse39]

Trying to change front brake pads on my ZXR750 L1. Done it tons of times on cars but this is a little smaller / different.

Problem is the bar that goes through the pads to hold them in place, won't budge - any ideas ? I really don't want to have to take the whole thing off and apart (that's not to say I can't or won't, just if I can get away without.....OK so i'm lazy )

I've tryed WD40 and getting them to rotate - no joy, I'll keep doing this until the weekend see if it helps over time.
On the cars the bar was accessable from the other side so you could tap it back out - these aren't (they go into a cup, not just a hole).

Any ideas suggestions most welcome

Al

[sjtscott]

Vitesse39 said:

Trying to change front brake pads on my ZXR750 L1. Done it tons of times on cars but this is a little smaller / different. Problem is the bar that goes through the pads to hold them in place, won't budge - any ideas ? I really don't want to have to take the whole thing off and apart (that's not to say I can't or won't, just if I can get away without.....OK so i'm lazy ) I've tryed WD40 and getting them to rotate - no joy, I'll keep doing this until the weekend see if it helps over time. On the cars the bar was accessable from the other side so you could tap it back out - these aren't (they go into a cup, not just a hole). Any ideas suggestions most welcome Al

I remember having a similar problem on my 97 ZX-6R, the bar/pin that retains the pads had corroded and stuck in place. I seem to remember needle nose pliers, wd40, a twisting motion on the pin and time was the only way I sorted mine. The pin once removed is a prime candidate for a touch of copper grease to stop it happening again, just a little mind or you'll have other problems like not being able to stop!

[Andymx5]

With my ZX6R (G1) the same thing happened with the Tokico 6 pots.

In the end, I removed them from the bike completely and did a complete rebuild.

IF the pins stuck, the chances are you'll see a benefit of cleaning all the pistons as well, so it might be worth it.

[Vitesse39]

Cheers guys

I thought it might be a case of taking them off etc, just didn't want to if could be avoided.

oh well....guess what i'm doing this weekend

[Mad Dave]

Had same problem on my 7R. You'll have to split the caliper in half to remove it. I found that the bolts to do this were also seized and rounded off (damn Ebay caliper!!) so I cut the caliper in half with an angle grinder. It didn't help, but it made me feel better.

[catso]

Mad Dave said:

so I cut the caliper in half with an angle grinder. It didn't help, but it made me feel better.

I guess that's why you're Mad Dave

[Mad Dave]

catso said:

Mad Dave said: so I cut the caliper in half with an angle grinder. It didn't help, but it made me feel better. I guess that's why you're Mad Dave

I'm not joking either. I started out with the intention of cutting the bolts to one side of the join to split the caliper, to then mate that half to the remaining good half of another caliper I had - but the metal just got too hot fused the bolt to the caliper - so I thought sod it and just hacked it in half! It did make me feel much better though.

[Andymx5]

Did you find that you got air in the system once you'd cut it in half?

[Mad Dave]

Sadly yes. It seeped fluid too.

[Vitesse39]

Ah....there's nothing worse than a bit of seepage

I've got new fixing kits on the way (the bar and split pin), so I will try cutting a notch into the side of the current bar to see if I can tap it out with a screw driver, with the caliper in a vice.....
.....never know it might even work - can't wait for the weekend now

[Andymx5]

Once I had my calliper in half (Buy undoing the bolts instead of using an Angle grinder) I hit the pin with a hammer from side to side and this freed it up.

If you can cut the pin in half, you should be able to do the hammer trick and you might not even need to remove the calliper.