Parking Brake

I'm fairly new to this forum but I couldn't find much about overhauling the parking brake on my 2001 SW.

It was working but was a bit temperamental and kept slipping 'OFF' at the most inconvenient moment. Also there was no 'clicking' going on so I decided to have a look.

I've just taken it off the bike and was amazed at how easy it was:

Removed the rear exhaust by slackening the two bolts from the pipe end and removing the single bolt holding it to the frame. Wiggled it about a bit and off it slid. Removed the two 12mm bolts holding the caliper to the swinging arm. Lifted off the caliper over the top of the brake disc. Gently moved caliper away in order to remove the cable attachment by turning it through 90 degrees (this needed a bit of WD40 as it seized). Had the caliper free in my hand.

I am now in the process of overhauling the whole thing so I'll post more when I've cleaned it all up.

I read somewhere on this forum that the ratchet mechanism for the parking brake was on the caliper end and not at the operating lever end. Well, on my 2001 it is at the operating lever end. Some WD40 aroung the mechanism soon had it clicking nicely, rather like a car handbrake lever. There are ten clicks.

Hope this is of use to riders with an older SW. Mine has only 16000 miles on it so I figure it's worth the effort despite it showing it's age under the tupperware.

More soon, will be happy to elaborate more if requested.

Hello, Loosebearing,

Thanks for write up on this topic. Please take pictures and post as you venture further into this subject.

Hi DennisB,

Will take pictures during the cleanup, rebuild and refit. It's an ingenious device, and so simple.

BTW, how do I upload pictures?

There's a bunch of good people that can help you uploading pictures. Hang in there and they will help when time comes.

I love the enthusiasm your displaying on this project. Reminds me, of me, back in the day. It's exciting to-do from scratch.

Can you write this repair article in a repair manual format....And place it in the correct forum section. That will make a bunch of people here happy.

When you reinstall the caliper set the parking brake lever to 3 clicks then adjust the caliper so that the wheel just binds (i.e. you can still turn it by hand but it take a good effort) at that point. That way it will be full ON at 4 clicks. It can be a nuisance getting the adjustment right.

Tim

Hi Tim,

Yeah the adjustment is a bit fiddly but you are about right in your item above.

Got the pictures, just need to do some editing and then get them posted as per DennisB.

Cheers for now

Hi you guys,

Got my pics ready. How do I upload them and apply text for all to see?

Our fearless leader created this for all in need of this knowledge.

https://www.silverwing600.com/t850-posting-pictures-in-the-main-forum-in-any-topic

Hi DennisB,

I thought I was good with computers but I'm confused by this method. I don't want to end up with a disjointed selection of pics and text. Can I send you the pics and text in some way?

I was hoping to compile the document complete and upload it as a whole. Is this possible?

Sorry. I've never used a forum in this detail. I guess I'll get the hang of it in time.

Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris,

Copy and past the text body into your new repair heading title.

1. Don't be worried about text size, color, underlining, or font. It will all be the same once you past.

2. Remember that you can always come back later and edit text.

3. Always leave photo location makers in your text. This will help you when start integrating photos. Erase the markers once you get your photos inserted.

Hi All,

I'm afraid I can't figure out how to post my parking brake overhaul.

I'm doing other work on my SW which I would like to post. Can anyone help?

Sorry guys,

I need to re-read the instructions sent on DennisB's post above. I'll give it another go !

The procedure in the MM I have is as follows :
Place on centrestand.
Release park brake.
Pull lever up one notch.
Loosen lock nut.
Turn adjust bolt until resistance is felt while turning the rear wheel.
Hold adjust bolt and tighten locknut.
Release the park brake lever lock and ensure the wheel rotates freely.
Pull the lever slowly on and check the lever stroke.
STANDARD: 3 - 6 notches.
ALL STROKE: 9 notches.
The procedure given by CosmicJumper will arrive at basically the same result.

Thanks for the short form

Could be a crossed wire here folks.

I want to post my recent parking brake overhaul, complete with pictures, but need to re-read the 'how to' bit. I can't figure it out.

BTW ericclapham, you have a CX650E? Wow...I had one of those...what a bike. Wish I still had it.

Here is link to JeffR's (Our Fearless Leader) pictorial "How to Post a Picture". I hope this helps:
https://www.silverwing600.com/download.forum?id=466

When I got my silverwing a couple of years ago my parking brake did very little. I initially adjusted it and then a short while later whilst stripping the rear caliper and replacing the seals and pads I decided to do the parking brake too. When finished everything worked perfectly except there was still no 'click' on the parking brake. It adjusts easily, the warning light comes on and off but no clicking! Has my click fallen off. Has somebody whilst servicing it in the past left it off, or when the bike was built did Mr Honda forget to put it in in the first place?

So many questions, my light would not come on, the micro switch was clicking but not working, I dealt it a good dose of ACF50 and then gradually it sprang into life. Not surprising the ratchet and springs don't work either, it lives in a water trap just above the hot radiator. Try ACF50 its a good penetrating oil and electrical contact cleaner, you may have to find the clicker pawl and get it loosened off by hand. That area needs a good spray up each year to prevent future problems.

nighthawk250 seems to have it right. My 'clicking' was non-existant until I sprayed WD-40 right in there. HORNBLOWER should try it. If there's still no clicking after that, then maybe some numpty has forgotten to put the 'clicker' back in during a re-assembly. It looks a bit awkward to remove the 'clicking' assembly though, Maybe I'll have a go in the future, just to have a look.

Thanks for the 'How To' link JeffR. I'll give it a go.

Safe, happy riding all. Summer is coming (such as it is) so lots of miles to clock up.

Any UK-based SWing riders know if the parking brake is an MOT feature and must pass?

Rog

I'd say yes based on gov website

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/motorcycle-parts-checked-at-an-mot/motorcycle-parts-checked-at-an-mot

OK thanks Scootypuff. MOT's not due til next March and at some point soon the whole front end is coming off for a refurb so I'll look into it then. Better to have everything functioning as it should even if I don't use it.

Hello again all,

I've been trying to post my parking brake overhaul with pictures but I cannot log into serving.com to host the pics.

It keeps telling me that my email or password is incorrect even though I copy and paste the password which has been sent to me.

Any ideas?

My parking brake on my 2001 SW was a bit random in it's operation and would slip 'off' when in use. It felt to me as though there were only two clicks on the ratchet, one at half travel and one at full travel. It would reach full travel with little effort. I decided to have a look. I only remembered to take pics during the rebuild so I've also used some of  these to demonstrate the dismantling. Basically, if it looks like it will come off, take it off, apart from the tiny circlip on the top of the piston. If you try to remove this it will 'ping' off and you will never see it again. I don't think it is neccessary to take the piston off its stem unless you are changing the piston.
1. I removed the exhaust muffler. Loosen the two bolts at the clamp to the pipe. Remove the bolt holding the top of the muffler to the bike, (you may need to use a 12mm ring spanner to hold the nut on the inside of the bracket to stop the whole thing turning). Gently wiggle and twist the muffler rearwards until it all lets go, watchout, it's heavier than it looks.
2. Remove the bolt holding the small clamp for the parking brake cable guide to the swinging arm. This will make life a bit easier when unclipping and reclipping the cable end. Now remove the two bolts holding the caliper bracket to the swinging arm. Lift the caliper up over the disc and hold away from the bike while you pull the cable out of its stay (forwards) and then remove the round nipple from its holder by turning it through 90 degrees and out through the little gap. (mine needed some WD40 here as it had seized). You now have the caliper, still attached to its bracket, in your hand. Undo the two bolts holding the caliper to its bracket and begin dismantling the caliper. As I said, if it looks like it comes off, take it off.

Remove these two brake pad retaining pins by unsecrewing them. Remove the brake pads. I found these pads to have quite a bit of life left in them but now is the time to consider replacement if required.

. Remove the piston (along with its stem) from its bore by unscrewing it from its wormgear using the screw head in the top. Remember, unless you are removing the piston from its stem, don't attempt to remove the circlip under the screw head.

. Turn the caliper over and flip off the rubber dust seal and remove the piston wormgear by turning the nut anticlockwise. You can do this by hand.

Here is the wormgear and the dust seal removed.

Inside the pad housing you can pop out the tensioning clip and clean it if you like.

Here is the rear of the piston. I didn't interfere with this as there appeared to be plenty of grease in there and it looked fine.

At this point I just cleaned up all the parts and got ready for reassembly.

Refit the piston applying a tiny amount of grease for lubrication
. This part is mechanical and there is no risk of contamination.

This is the piston back in its housing. No need to overtighten it in position

Pop the rubber seal back over the wormgear and screw it back into its housing, by hand. You can apply gease at this point.

Wormgear and seal back in place.

Put back the spring clip. Note orientation.

Reinsert brake pads and insert locating pins. Tighten these to specified torque or by feel. I used an allen key until they felt firm.

Reattach the caliper to its support bracket. This bolt requires a ring spanner or socket as shown. You can tighten this to torque settings if you put the caliper in a vice or similar. Once again I used 'feel'.
Your choice.

The other bolt which attaches the caliper to the support bracket will require an open ended spanner. Ditto to previous bolt regarding torque settings.

Now we can reattach the whole caliper and bracket to the bike. Slide the pads over the disk and locate the bolt holes and reinsert the bolts, tighten to specific torque. (Sorry I don't have the torques to hand).

Now we can reattach the brake cable. First locate the cable outer into position. Pull the rubber gromett and spring clear so as to slide the cable through its gap and then settle the cable outer into its seat.

Now pull back the spring so as to clear the nipple and locate the nipple into its hole, push the cable through the 'gap' and rotate it to secure it.

Loctate the lever arm onto the nut into a comfortable position, I found the 11 'o' clock position would do for now, until final adjustment. Replace the securing nut over the top and hand tighten for now.

Locate the cable stay and replace the securing bolt. Do not overtighten !

Well, that's it. See the articles above to check how to reset the adjustment for the parking brake. Please check relevant torque settings, I don't have the workshop manual and generally use 'feel' for the smaller stuff.

I hope this has been of some help. Maybe by just seeing the parts up close gives an idea of what to expect before you attempt the job. Any omissions or corrections would be welcome.

Please PM me if you have any questions. The parking brake is a useful gadget so keep it in good working order. I now count ten clicks on the operating lever after lubrication and it feels more like a car handbrake, as it should I guess.

Happy riding