Front brake pad replacement 1978 GS1000

[jskellington]

. . . single-disc model. Bike was rescued from an eighteen-year layup. The front brake pads, or to be more exact, the pad next to the piston, has become fused to the surrounding caliper body.

I tried squeezing the brake lever to see if piston action would dislodge the old pad. Then I tried to rap it loose with a rubber mallet and a small dowel. No luck.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks,

Jack

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I have two ideas. I don't know how much work you were planning on, but I
would be replacing the piston seal anyways, so I would blow the piston out the regular way, with compressed air. Of course, I've never tried it with a stuck pad in the way, but it still may work. Make sure you put some electrical tape or rag, etc, on the edges so the piston does not get scratched. Remove the nipple and pop the piston out. The seal may be OK, but I would still replace it. It may help to apply some lubricant and let it sit overnight before doing this.
If it's still stuck and soaking in some other kind of lube does'nt work, you could try carefully cutting a notch into the pad to accept a large flat screwdriver tip. Make the notch as deep as possible using the other pad as a reference. I think a series of 1/8" dia. or so holes run into each other using a drill bit will work. You can then twist the pad to break it loose, if the pad material does'nt chip out.
Either way, you'll have to replace the pad. Soaking in a lubricant will damage the pad also. I would try the compressed air first.
Just don't get too forceful trying to pound the pad loose. You might damage the piston.

[Anonymous]

i second the above directions. if you end up damaging your caliper i have the single disc brake assy. whole assy mastercyl hose and caliper for 5 bucks.

[Don Lobacz]

Hydraulic pressure is much stronger than pneumatic pressure. You probably need to rebuild the master cylinder anyway, so I would do that first. Once the master cylinder is generating pressure (bled out), it will definitely be able to push out the piston and pad.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Good mod to do would be to add stainless brake lines and get rid of the rubber hoses, which probably need replacement anyway