About 4 days ago, I decided that, since I haven’t looked at the brakes for my TW200 in a while, I’d take a look. I couldn’t see the pad, meaning I was either at metal-on-metal, or about to be. I ordered in some brake pads, and did the brake job in about 20 minutes. I normally like to rebuild the caliper, with a new piston (or pistons), and new seals, as pushing the pistons back in could lead to all sorts of problems, such as introducing dirt into the inside of the caliper, or not pushing the pistons back in evenly, causing them to slightly push on the brake pads unevenly. I didn’t really have that option with a quick turn around, so I just ordered in some cheap SOK branded pads. I normally go with EBC brakes, and an OEM rebuild kit, which I do have coming in the mail. But for now, I’ll just roll with the cheap pads and non-rebuilt caliper or new sliding hardware.
I greased the pads and the sliding surfaces, and did a quick air bleed. I don’t think I bled all the air out, as the brakes aren’t as firm as they were before. Also I had to drain a little of the brake fluid from the master cylinder, as when I pushed the pistons back in, the master was already full, and the pistons wouldn’t seat all the way back. Below are the pictures of everything I did.
Old pad on the bottom vs new pad on top
Those grooves are due slight imperfections on the rotor (usually caused by dust/debris) causing uneven wear.
Pistons out. The TW200 is interesting as one piston is slightly smaller than the other one.
Pistons pushed in. I sprayed them off with brake cleaner before I pushed them in with my D clamp.
Sliding surfaces greased. I used a Permatex branded brake lubricant.
I grease the edges of the brake pad where they contact the sliding surfaces.of the caliper bracket.
I greased the back of the brake pad after I mounted it to the bracket.
Finally I greased the slide pins, and sprayed the rubber boots on the caliper body with brake cleaner to clear it of any dirt/debris.
I used thread locker on all of the bolts, and did a quick and dirty air bleed. I didn’t have any DOT 4 fluid on hand, so I didn’t go too crazy, as I didn’t want to drain what little I had in the master cylinder. I’m going to do a better bleed today after work.
Lesson: Always have wear parts available on hand for repairs/replacements. I’m normally pretty good about having stuff such as bearings, clutch plates, and brake pads ready to go. The only thing I wait on is tires, as tires do have an expiration date, and I tend not to trust tires older than about 5-6 years old for motorcycles.