I need to replace my front brake pads on the Gs750...any hints? I hear it&#039;s just like changing them out on a car...<br /><br />I&#039;m thinking it&#039;ll be pretty much the same but I thought I&#039;d ask...

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If you are just replacing pads, its pretty simple - I&#039;ve done this quite a few times.&nbsp; If you are flushing your brake lines - not a bad idea after a few years - then it can be a bit more work getting air out of the lines.

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QUOTE:
<br />If you are just replacing pads, its pretty simple - I&#039;ve done this quite a few times. If you are flushing your brake lines - not a bad idea after a few years - then it can be a bit more work getting air out of the lines. <br />

<br /><br />The brakes feel realy nice so I dun think I&#039;d have to bleed them although I see what you&#039;re saying about over time, a guy probably should.&nbsp; But the handle feels nice and firm and it&#039;s got tons of braking power so I think I&#039;m just going to switch out the pads...<br /><br />Do I need to take off the front brake fluid cover in order to compress the piston back in??

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Depends on the bike.&nbsp; I usually open the cover and push the pads back in really slow.&nbsp; Depending on your brake fluid DOT4 vs DOT5, you need to be&nbsp; REALLY careful you don&#039;t spill on paint or plastic.&nbsp; DOT4 eats plastic and paint - if left to sit, the plastic will turn to powder.&nbsp; DOT5 doesn&#039;t have the same damaging effects, BUT, and this is REALLY IMPORTANT, you can&#039;t, EVER, mix them. If you mix different brake fluids together, they turn to a gel and you&#039;ll end up replacing almost everything.&nbsp; I&#039;m not 100% sure about your bike, but I believe it is DOT4.&nbsp; The reason you want to change it on a regular basis is that the brake fluid is hydroscopic - it absorbs water vapour from the air.&nbsp; If this absorbed water makes it down to the calipers, the heat of the braking process will boil the water and you end up with a gas (steam) in the line which compresses.&nbsp; One of the definitions of a fluid is that it doesn&#039;t compress, this is the basis for hydraulics.&nbsp; If you get vapour in there, your brake lever will now travel a little further and you will loose a bit of braking power.&nbsp; Over time this gradual reduction in braking ability can make your bike very unresponsive to sudden braking demands.<br /><br />When I change pads, I usually wrap the master cyclinder with duct tape and a plastic bag to catch any potential spills.&nbsp; I set the cover on a clean rag and before I start I make sure I have a spare rubber gasket.&nbsp; I use a putty knife - the tool to &quot;mud&quot; drywall and insert it between the rotor and pad and push back with this until the pads are fully seated.&nbsp; I pull the pins using the manufacturer&#039;s process and drop the pads.&nbsp; I then use brake cleaner to clean the caliper pistons and then put in the new pads.&nbsp; I sometimes use a brake backing compound (you can get this from Canadian Tire) to prevent possible brake squeal.&nbsp; I then break in the pads according the manufacturer directions.

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Wow...you amaze me with your knowledge more as time goes on...hehe<br /><br />Thanks for the advice!!&nbsp; O0

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QUOTE:
<br />Wow...you amaze me with your knowledge more as time goes on...hehe<br /><br />Thanks for the advice!!&nbsp; O0<br />

<br /><br />I&#039;m old - well maybe not old - but I&#039;ve been playing with bikes since I was 13 which was a couple years back.&nbsp; Plus, I&#039;m an avid reader with access to most major motorcycle publications and have held active memberships on about 20 bike oriented websites for years.&nbsp; Even I pick up the occasional tidbit of info after all that time...<br />

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Another way to compress the piston back in that I have used is a Quick Grip bar clamp. The ones made for woodwork have the nice rubber pads, so they won&#039;t mark the caliper.

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QUOTE:
<br />Another way to compress the piston back in that I have used is a Quick Grip bar clamp. The ones made for woodwork have the nice rubber pads, so they won&#039;t mark the caliper.<br />

<br /><br />That&#039;s a good idea. You&#039;d need to drop the calipers to make that work, which on most bikes shouldn&#039;t be a big deal. The putty knife lets you leave the calipers on the bike and just drop the pads.&nbsp; I&#039;ll keep it in mind for future brake work when I drop the calipers.

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I always drop the calipers anyhow. Once the pads or out, I squeeze the brakes a bit to push the pistons out so that I can clean and grease them, and then use the bar clamp to push them back in. Might take a little longer, but like the peice of mind knowing (hopeing) that one of the pistons will not be seazing up on me. <br /><br />As well, it shouldn&#039;t be a problem, but I am always leary of prying on the rotors. Would hate to warp one.

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That&#039;s the benefit of the putty knife - it will flex, not your rotors.&nbsp; I do have a question for you on the &quot;clean and grease&quot; re the pistons.&nbsp; All the service manuals I&#039;ve ever owned indicate that you should use brake cleaner and then you can lube the pistons and rubber seals with brake fluid.&nbsp; Grease would be a contaminate and if it works back into the brake fluid from the piston action, you&#039;ll have trouble down the line.<br /><br />

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Not actually using grease on the pistons. I guess the better terminology would have been to clean and lubricate the pistons to make sure that nothing will stick. <br /><br />

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QUOTE:
<br />Not actually using grease on the pistons. I guess the better terminology would have been to clean and lubricate the pistons to make sure that nothing will stick. <br /><br /><br />

<br /><br />Ahh - my mistake.&nbsp; BTW, if you ever own a Harley FS series bike, you&#039;ll understand why its much easier to simply pull the pads versus dropping the caliper, especially for the rear brake.

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Well they are done... ;D<br /><br />Air ended up in the line though and I had to bleed the brakes.&nbsp; I was surprised how long it took to get any sort o pressure back at all, I refilled the bowl 3 times before it was fully bled...but it&#039;s done so woohoo!!!

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Good for you...

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BTW, there was a pretty good article in the August RoadBike with clear pictures on how to change brake pads.&nbsp; Worth reading.

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