Project Z750 part 22

So, on to the last front brake caliper. It needs a wash to get rid of some bicarbonate of soda from where I tried blasting it. Easy enough, just let it soak in a tub of water and wash it over thoroughly. then leave it for a day to dry.

Once it had dried, I started to put the oil seals in. one of the piston oil seals went in easily enough with a bit of fiddling, but the other just didnt want to go.

eventually, I tool the seal out and had a good look at the channel that it sits in, and realised that I hadn't cleaned it out enough. there was still some old road salt in there.

I used an old chopstick to scrape the crap out of the channel. I use a bit of wood as it shouldn't be so tough as to scratch the surface, but should be strong enough to scrape the dirt out.

once I had scrapped the dirt out, I gave it a good wash in brake cleaner, and then tried the oil seal again. This time it went in with just a little bit of fiddling. the dust seals went in easily and then I used brake fluid again to lubricate the pistons and slid them in. I'm getting better at all this :)

the brake pads went on easily as I had already drilled out the hole to go over the caliper slider.

here are a few photos of the finished front brake calipers.

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Project Z750 part 18

I have done a bit of reading on how to clean brake caliper pistons, and found an article that said you could use fine wet and dry to clean corrosion off them [ http://www.motorcyclenews.com/new-rider/choosing-kit/2006/november/jan26-05-how-to-service-brake-calipers/ ]. as it suggested using 1500 grit wet and dry, I decided to be cautious and start with 3000 grit. I cut the wet and dry into strips about an inch in width. I put some wd40 onto a strip and started polishing the rear piston. After quite a while I started to notice the difference. it was getting cleaner. well, it was working, but it was going to take a long time. well, I was patient and I really didn't want to rush it and ruin the pistons. Over the next couple of weeks, I polished all of the pistons using the 3000 grit wet and dry. As it seemed it was going to take the rest of my life using 3000 grit wet and dry, I decided to take a risk and bought some 2000 grit. yep I was really pushing my luck here. I cut the 20...

Project Z750 part 3

I realised that this was going to be a little bit more involved than simply attaching a new battery and firing it up. I guessed that the alarm could be stopping the ignition circuit and that is when I found that the alarm remotes had non-replaceable batteries. I also read that if the alarm sits for extended periods with no power then it can be toast. So my next step was to remove the alarm. another Hmmmmm moment. I have never removed or fitted an alarm. I've never even looked into how they work and what they do, so this was quite a daunting task. I took the insulation off the cables that attach to the alarm. now we've all seen nice electrical systems with all of the different colour wires to make it easy to see what goes where, well this thatcham alarm had a very large bundle of cables and all of them were black. No help there. So I had a look at how they were wired into the bike's loom. there was a bundle of wires going to the rear, which I guessed were for the i...

Project Z750 part 36 - the finalle

I took the bike for a quick test ride round the block and it was fine. it actually cornered now that I had sorted out the tyre pressures. and the brakes all work. I gave the bike a quick look over and noticed that I hadn't marked the rear caliper bolts. (I mark each bolt when I tighten it up to the specified torque so that I can see if it loosens up. so if you look at my bikes you'll see white dots on a lot of the bolts.). As I hadn't marked it, I hadn't tightened it up fully, so I torqued it up and marked it. The bike shop I use managed to fit my in for an MOT before they went off to the Isle of Man Classic TT, so that morning, I got my gear on, wheeled the bike out of the garage, said a quick prayer (I'm not religious, but it can't hurt), and I then put my life in my own hands. I mean that even though I ride every day, I had never before done this much work on a bike. I'd changed braked pads, but never replaced the brake seals, and although I had tor...

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