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I’m not sure if it is a widely known fact that I am a motorcycle rider. I have been for nearly 15 years now. I am no stranger to wrenching on my own bike, but today was the first time I had ever taken the front wheel off a bike. I had to procure an assortment of tools to help out, but I’m extremely glad I did since it saved me a lot of work on what was already a big task.
That task, specifically, was to replace my front brake rotors.
The quick TL;DR is - my rotors were starting to grind and I needed to replaced the front pads anyway. So I figured I might as well take the opportunity to do the rotors too. (The bike has approximately 84k miles on it)
So last week when my brakes started getting rough and grindy I knew I was in for some much needed maintenance. However, until I took off the calipers and looked at the pads, I had no idea just how dangerously close I was to a really bad accident waiting to happen. But let’s start at the beginning.
1. This is all the stuff I had on tap for today’s maintenance: new set of front rotors; chain cleaning; oil change; new front brake pads L & R; new headlight bulbs lo and hi; and the accessories needed to remove my front wheel (breaker bar and torque wrench).
2. Oil change was uneventful. Fresh oil is the color of light honey, as opposed to the dark coffee color of the used oil.
3. Existing rotors. You can kind of see where there were some pretty cruddy grooves scored into the rotors from 84k miles of wear and tear.
4. This is just one side of the pile of caked on gunk that I scraped off the back wheel. I’m a little lazy in keeping the road grime and accumulated grease from building up.
5. Front wheel removed and about to break loose the mounting bolts for the first rotor. It was a slog, but I could not have done it without the breaker bar (not without a lot of muscle pain and sweat).
6. These are the set of old pads that were grinding. The shiny is the backing plate of the brake pad. THERE IS NO MATERIAL THERE!!! Metal on metal is really bad news and I am extremely lucky nothing more than a little grinding happened. This could have ended up in countless catastrophic possibilities.
7. Side view of the leftover pad. As you can see there is just a faint layer of material there.
8. New(-ish) replacement rotors installed and wheel mounted. The surface is shiny and barely marred compared to the old plates. Ready to put another 50k miles on them!
I accomplished the whole job in just about four hours. I still have to put all the fairings back on the bike, since the light ran out on the day. But I was able to putter around the parking lot and gently do a little bit of bedding on the brake pads. Tomorrow, I’ll go out for a proper ride and shakedown. The brake job is not perfect, there is a little bit of pulse on one side of the brakes, probably from some minute misalignment. But I’ll gladly take that over grinding metal plates. If it persists I can always take it over to the bike shop and see if they can do some adjustments. It’s time for a new set of tires anyways.
That task, specifically, was to replace my front brake rotors.
The quick TL;DR is - my rotors were starting to grind and I needed to replaced the front pads anyway. So I figured I might as well take the opportunity to do the rotors too. (The bike has approximately 84k miles on it)
So last week when my brakes started getting rough and grindy I knew I was in for some much needed maintenance. However, until I took off the calipers and looked at the pads, I had no idea just how dangerously close I was to a really bad accident waiting to happen. But let’s start at the beginning.
1. This is all the stuff I had on tap for today’s maintenance: new set of front rotors; chain cleaning; oil change; new front brake pads L & R; new headlight bulbs lo and hi; and the accessories needed to remove my front wheel (breaker bar and torque wrench).
2. Oil change was uneventful. Fresh oil is the color of light honey, as opposed to the dark coffee color of the used oil.
3. Existing rotors. You can kind of see where there were some pretty cruddy grooves scored into the rotors from 84k miles of wear and tear.
4. This is just one side of the pile of caked on gunk that I scraped off the back wheel. I’m a little lazy in keeping the road grime and accumulated grease from building up.
5. Front wheel removed and about to break loose the mounting bolts for the first rotor. It was a slog, but I could not have done it without the breaker bar (not without a lot of muscle pain and sweat).
6. These are the set of old pads that were grinding. The shiny is the backing plate of the brake pad. THERE IS NO MATERIAL THERE!!! Metal on metal is really bad news and I am extremely lucky nothing more than a little grinding happened. This could have ended up in countless catastrophic possibilities.
7. Side view of the leftover pad. As you can see there is just a faint layer of material there.
8. New(-ish) replacement rotors installed and wheel mounted. The surface is shiny and barely marred compared to the old plates. Ready to put another 50k miles on them!
I accomplished the whole job in just about four hours. I still have to put all the fairings back on the bike, since the light ran out on the day. But I was able to putter around the parking lot and gently do a little bit of bedding on the brake pads. Tomorrow, I’ll go out for a proper ride and shakedown. The brake job is not perfect, there is a little bit of pulse on one side of the brakes, probably from some minute misalignment. But I’ll gladly take that over grinding metal plates. If it persists I can always take it over to the bike shop and see if they can do some adjustments. It’s time for a new set of tires anyways.
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 916 x 616px
File Size 1.08 MB
Impressive. Nice 'how and why' tutorial overview, too.
I've gotten to the point where I won't wrench on my own car anymore. My brother was a mechanic for years and talked me through a number of oil changes and other maintenance, and a few major repairs, but I'm just getting to old for that stuff. To say nothing of modern cars being more fussy computer than machine.
I've gotten to the point where I won't wrench on my own car anymore. My brother was a mechanic for years and talked me through a number of oil changes and other maintenance, and a few major repairs, but I'm just getting to old for that stuff. To say nothing of modern cars being more fussy computer than machine.
Thanks! I suppose I really could have turned this into a how-to if I put a little more into the presentation.
Indeed, modern cars (and motorcycles) are almost more computer than machine at this point. I mean self-adjusting timing? My bike does that, and it's just a piddly little 649cc engine. I am not averse to wrenching on my vehicles, but having the right tools (which makes ALL the difference), and space to work is increasingly hard to manage when you live in an apartment. I can mostly get away with it when it comes to the bike, but for big jobs like this thankfully the stars aligned and I was able to take care of it in one afternoon.
Indeed, modern cars (and motorcycles) are almost more computer than machine at this point. I mean self-adjusting timing? My bike does that, and it's just a piddly little 649cc engine. I am not averse to wrenching on my vehicles, but having the right tools (which makes ALL the difference), and space to work is increasingly hard to manage when you live in an apartment. I can mostly get away with it when it comes to the bike, but for big jobs like this thankfully the stars aligned and I was able to take care of it in one afternoon.
When I sold my house in 1989, I swore I was never going to wrench on a vehicle again.
Having a VERY limited income said otherwise.
At least, being VERY anal about my tools, I'd kept all of them.
Bunners
Having a VERY limited income said otherwise.
At least, being VERY anal about my tools, I'd kept all of them.
Bunners
'Tools' and 'toys' have always been almost synonymous to me. It doesn't seem to matter if it's Dad's 85-year-old wrenches, modern sockets (I have several complete S&K socket sets for reasons I still can't fathom) or... cooking utensils. Yeah, I cook. It takes specialized tools. Although you can stir eggs with a Phillips screwdriver and tenderize steak with a ball peen hammer, it's nice to have the right equipment.
My very short-lived time with my motorcycle was rife with mechanical issues. This degree of know-how and confidence in tackling it all is impressive. And the photos make everything really easy to see and understand. Sometimes I think you'd be a good teacher, or be really good at making instruction manuals for all the details you deal with like this.
Oh, trust me. I've had plenty of frustrating experiences when it comes to doing my own wrench time. But the BIG thing I've learned is that having the *correct* tools to perform the task makes the all the difference in the world. The 'whatever you got laying around' tools can turn a 15 minute task into a 2 hour cursing marathon full of blood, sweat and tears.
I almost took the photos as an afterthought since I just wanted to document some of the stuff I was doing. If I had more prep time, I could have totally gone into tutorial mode. But that was not really my goal with this. Maybe one of these days.
And yeah, you are not the first person to mention the whole "you'd make a good teacher" thing. I suppose on occasion I can slip into that mode, but for the most part I don't see myself in that light. Go figure. :D
I almost took the photos as an afterthought since I just wanted to document some of the stuff I was doing. If I had more prep time, I could have totally gone into tutorial mode. But that was not really my goal with this. Maybe one of these days.
And yeah, you are not the first person to mention the whole "you'd make a good teacher" thing. I suppose on occasion I can slip into that mode, but for the most part I don't see myself in that light. Go figure. :D
Honestly, I think anyone who can have a good conversation and is passionate about something has propensity for teaching. I don't see myself as the teaching sort either, but when I start explaining music production, even I have to admit my perspective of myself changes in that regard.
I appreciate motorcycles and drove one down here for some seven years - finger of God that it was stolen and I got it back in pieces. In driving a car, I realized what a death trap the roads are down here, and since my wife was pregnant with our first, I gave a small salute and said, 'You got it, God! Thank you!'
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