Siezed brake calipers on both front disks

[BP_LONDON]

Took the bike in this morning to have new front brake pads put on and was welcomed by the realisation that one caliper per side is siezed. I was able to ride the bike home, but now face having a caliper rebuild done by a triumph dealer on monday. How much is this gonna cost me? I know it's expensive, but can't find any figures on the net.  

[Guest]

Before you pay a dealer. Have look at the pins that the pads slide along. I discovered mine were covered in crap when my brakes felt woolly. I just cleaned them up, cleared any crap out of the calipers and that restored the brakes to full power again. Should only take an hour or so.

[Brock]

The term "Caliper rebuild" sounds frightening, but in reality it isn't. The 2-pot calipers on the Tiger should be easy to remove, strip, clean, and reassemble. Depending on the age of your bike, the problem is usually the pistons seizing in the rubber seals within the bores. Crap and salt builds up in the grooves that the seals sit in, pushing them onto the pistons until they're gripped tightly, causing them to seize. Blacktiger's suggestion is also good, 'cos the retaining pins also get cruddy with time.

I used to strip and clean very similar calipers on other bikes once a year, and it isn't too bad a job...used to take me about three hours, and I'm not a mechanic. Used to take me longer to bleed all the bloody air out of the lines afterwards! My advice? get a firm quote first, and if it's ridiculous, find a mate who knows what they're doing and ask him to help you do the job yourself. The Haynes manual shows you exactly how to do it, and you'll have the satisfaction of a/ SAVING YOUR MONEY and b/ Learning something you can do again when you need to.

If you do it yourself, put aside a whole day so you don't panic, and choose a day that's dry, 'cos brake fluid doesn't like damp atmosphere!

And buy PLENTY of brake cleaner (usually comes in an aerosol can). And get some old toothbrushes and small stiff paintbrushes to help the cleaning bit.

[BP_LONDON]

Thanks for the reply guys!. I could see that there was a lot of crap buildup;salt;mud etc in there. One caliper per side moves freely, but the other one (top one) is stuck firmly. I think I would be able to do it myself, but brakes being so critical to bike safety I'm wondering is I should touch that part at all.

[Chris Canning]

Hi BP



Funny thing when i took my Tiger in for a 12000 service(at 15000!!) i told e'm i only wanted the engine doing and under no circumstances did i want the brakes touched,the only person i trust to do them is me!!!.



Take the calipers off,drop the pins and pads out spray everything in grease(go have a cuppa) and compress the pistons back in with a block of wood and a small 'G' cramp,keep doing it till they free up.



Chris

[Brock]

It's worth mentioning that some greases and oils actually cause rubber to expand, so if you're going the DIY route, make sure the fluids you use are compatable with rubber.

And another thing...if you're DIY'ing, I'd do the back one as well.

[trotts]

Do you teccie Guru's suggest that Calipars s should be stripped and cleaned on a yearly or two yearly basis OR a mileage basis ? On my old Sprint ST I had a sticking Piston at 17K miles ? They had been fine up to then.  I will look in my trumpet user guide but should your dealer clean them on the mega 12K service?

[Chris Canning]

Hi Gents



Brocks right but jesus you'd have to leave it on a long time i can tell you!!,as for cleaning the brakes??,I find that a strange question,drop my pads outs out front and back at least twice  a year and thats in the summer,and so long as i do that it probably takes longer to get the spanners out than it does to do the job,siezed calipers is just bad maintenace!!!,or lack of,when i read about bikers going to the garage to have brakes done and have silencers fitted etc fitted just wonder were bikeings going or maybe i'm just oldfasioned or is that just old!!.



Chris

[Brock]

I'm saying nothin' as I was 50 two days ago!

[BP_LONDON]

Hi Gents



Brocks right but jesus you'd have to leave it on a long time i can tell you!!,as for cleaning the brakes??,I find that a strange question,drop my pads outs out front and back at least twice  a year and thats in the summer,and so long as i do that it probably takes longer to get the spanners out than it does to do the job,siezed calipers is just bad maintenace!!!,or lack of,when i read about bikers going to the garage to have brakes done and have silencers fitted etc fitted just wonder were bikeings going or maybe i'm just oldfasioned or is that just old!!.



Chris

I just dont have the time, tools or space to do much work on my Tiger. If it was an older thumperI'd be more hands on....