Holding up calipers

Probably nothing new but found a easy way to hold up the calipers while the front wheel is off. BTW this is the first tire change on the front of the 14 and the OEM BT023. 9,300 miles and not much change in the handling characteristics. Also those calipers are a bear to get off without scratching the black wheels. Gotta make sure that the pads are pushed all the way in and slowly work them off.

I do pretty much the same thing on the Gen I. A word of caution with those black rims. You may want to taco-wrap the brake caliper in a cloth when removing it and installing it to avoid scratching the wheel. On mine there is not much clearance, and I suspect it is not a lot more on the 14.

Good tip.

I always protect painted parts, (tank, fairing etc), with a couple of towels or old sweatshirts*. Also, I prefer to use braided cord or similar for such tasks, as I don't trust bungee cords which have a tendency to break at an inopportune moment.

* sleeves cut from that old sweatshirt make excellent muffler blankets when working on the rear of the bike.

If you "rock " the caliper sideways against the rotor so as to squeeze the pads and pistons back into the caliper you can gain a little wiggle room....

Just pull the pads out. Takes two minutes and

you'll have plenty of room to maneuver the calipers.

blue painters tape

Remove the front fender and brake line guides / holders. +1 on wiggling the calipers sideways to push the pads in.

With practice the job's not too bad...

--G

escapefjrtist said:

Remove the front fender and brake line guides / holders. +1 on wiggling the calipers sideways to push the pads in.
With practice the job's not too bad...

--G

Click to expand...

+ 1 one the above. Covered the wheel with shop rags as well. Like the idea of removing the pads too.

Yes, yes, yes... Not needed on the rear, but the front rotors are much bigger and put the calipers closer to the painted rim. I managed a couple of chips spooning my new rear tire on already. Who the heck thought that black paint was a great idea?

Sounds like a layer or two of blue painters tape on the rim behind the caliper would work awesomely.

Ive always let them hang, bike and truck never with an issue

s.ga.rider said:

Ive always let them hang, bike and truck never with an issue

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Ahhh ... someone finally said it

If those brake hoses aren't strong enough to carry the weight of a caliper for a little while, then we have a much more serious issue.

Just make sure they don't bang into expensive painted stuff.

s.ga.rider said:

Ive always let them hang, bike and truck never with an issue

Click to expand...

Me too.

Twigg said:

s.ga.rider said:

Ive always let them hang, bike and truck never with an issue

Click to expand...

Ahhh ... someone finally said it

If those brake hoses aren't strong enough to carry the weight of a caliper for a little while, then we have a much more serious issue.

Just make sure they don't bang into expensive painted stuff.

Click to expand...

Yep, them lines should oughta be sufficiently robust to take the weight. I like to hang them to keep them out of the way.

The point of this post was to hold the calipers away from the easily scratched front wheel, not that the hoses would suffer damage. Sheesh, you would have thought that the collective would have figured that out!

redneckj said:

blue painters tape

Click to expand...

That is an excellent idea!

Never scratched my black wheel by letting the calipers hang. I guess I don't over-think this procedure enough.

lnewlf said:

If you "rock " the caliper sideways against the rotor so as to squeeze the pads and pistons back into the caliper you can gain a little wiggle room....

Click to expand...

Ding ding ding! This is the ticket. Unbolt the caliper, gently rock or twist the caliper in order to press the pistons in a little and easy as can be to remove. Tape on the rim is also a good idea, that paint does nick easily if you still have it. My edges are polished so not a problem.

Oh for heaven's sake! This thread kinda sucks now that it's aged a month.