front brake pads

Decided to change the front brake pads on my silver wing as the brakes weren't what they used to be, back one still had meat on them as had a look when i changed the rear tyre a couple of weeks ago. That was brilliant only seized bolt was exhaust clamp, angle grinder took care of that.

Using 12v electric impact driver, brilliant tool for £20, all bolts were removed to llow caliper to swing free, except for allen key pad pin, impact driver wouldnt shift it, 1/4 drive t-bar resulted in allen key socket slipping out. Tried heat and after 2 minutes my gas blowtorch ran out of gas! Friday night at 9.00 had to call it a draw. Got a new cannister this morning and heated up the pin, had to heat it so hot that had to hold the caliper with a towel! Already had vice grips clamped on pin and tried using a lump hammer, all that happened was the grips slipped off, tightened the grips more and using 2 hands and a towel managed to put it back on. Half an hour later and it finally started to move.

Now you can change the pads on a silver wing leaving the caliper in situ, removing the pad pin and the pads drop out, this is what i think the dealers did the last time they were changed, when i took the caliper off there was corrosion everywhere and the pistons were rusty. Split the caliper and cleaned up as much as possible, rebuilt it and copperslipped where neccesary. Tried the front brake and pumped it up, got a lever but spongy, Looks like the fluid cooked while i was heating up the caliper, got a bleed tool this afternoon and tonight using a flood light flushed the fluid through, back seems ok (abs linked braking system), front still a little spongy. Only time and a road test will tell.

What this story says is dont trust dealers to do the best job, quickest and cheapest for them, dearest charged to you.