Back After 3 Years - Back Wheel Brake Seized Solid

Hi,
About 3 years ago bought S-Wing (2004) and had a problem with wobbly rear wheel which got solved here on the forum.  Had a great year using the bike but then had some health issues so back dusting off the old machine (S-Wing, not me).

It will need a lot of work - didn't drain fuel so that will cause problems (but for another day).

But simple issues first - rear wheel needs new tyre - but the rear brakes are holding onto it for dear life - how do I get the disks to release their grip of death?  Have tried talking nicely, screaming and shouting ... there is a sledge hammer in the corner but thought I'd ask the experts before resorting to brute force (have already tried ignorance).

P.S.  I'm a 62 y.o. looking forward to a couple of months getting my hands dirty and greasy putting some life back into the machine.

Any help, suggestions greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Remove the brake pads holding pin at the very bottom of the caliper. It's a long 5mm hex head pin hidden behind a straight slot plug screw. Once that pin is extracted one or both pads may fall out --if you're lucky. If not, or in any case you should then spritz the area between the pad and the caliper, with brake cleaner, to clean & lube the caliper pistons and seals. You could then drive something like a wooden wedge between the pad and the rotor to force the pistons back enough so that the pads can be removed. Once the pads are out of the way you can remove the caliper bolts and take the caliper off the rotor. You may have to back off the bleeder screw to allow the piston to move back into the caliper body.

Once the caliper is removed you may need to use a "C" clamp and a old brake pad to force the caliper pistons fully back into the valiper body.

Plan on rebuilding the caliper with new pistons & seals and replacing the brake fluid. While you're going to all the effort --rebuilding is actually not a difficult job-- you might as well replace the front caliper pistons and seals too.

There are a few posts here regarding caliper rebuilding, as well as quite a few YouTube videos showing the basic 'How to' of rebuilding.

The alternative would be to replace the entire caliper(s), or take it to a shop and have them relieve you of your childrens' inheritence.

Tim

That was quick! And on a Sunday :-)

Great instructions - just coming up to 21:00 here - will start tomorrow evening (weather permitting).

Once I get them off - then to YouTube land and start preparing for a rebuild - should be interesting, and I think I'll take your advice and do the front as well.

I'll put the sledge hammer back to bed and save for another day.

Thanks for the help.

cheers for now,

If I may suggest,rebuild one caliper at a time.You can run into a lot of time bleeding the system if you let most of the fluid run out.
Also I like to find a small length of hose (put a small bolt in one end)  and slip it over the brake line to minimize the loss of brake fluid. And of course now is the time to thoroughly flush all of the old fluid out.
Howard

There are 2 brake system's on the rear wheel .Did you dis engage the parking brake.( food for thought.) My parking brake locked up ,and the harder I pull to release ,it would not release until my friend tried a lighter release and the parking brake came off.

Yes,

Had hoped it was the parking brake - but that slipped off no problem.

It is the biggie one that's stuck.

Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions

Well, IT'S OFF!

And now it does need a big restore - most everything is corroded.

Next job - find a manual - I'll post a new thread on that

Thanks for all the support

Let us know how the restore goes.

The last bike I worked on was a Honda 125 back in 1976!!! So this should be enjoyable.

If I get a chance I will video portions of it and post,

I came across the following understatement online when I had to remove the rear wheel a couple of years ago due to a wobble (probably out of a service manual for the Silver Wing)

'Removing the rear wheel, for tire replacement, on the Silver Wing is quite easy. It only requires a few tools and removal of only a few parts.' - yet I spent over an hour yesterday grunting, pulling, pushing and generally wrestling with the exhaust / muffler which was just number 1 of the removal of 'just a few parts'. Brute force won out in the end!

Yes you must have lots of corrosion. Removing the rear wheel should only take 10-15 minutes tops.

Im back too

Not seized solid, one hopes!