Re: [ST] bleeding brakes

[John Ulizzi <jaulizzi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tony,

What Woovis is refering to are not "stuck" calipers.
Triumph uses Nissin calipers, but they are built to
Triumph's spec. They uses a square O-ring rather than
a round one to seal the piston/ caliper interface. As
your pads wear, the distance from the pad surface to
the rotor surface increases, hence greater piston
travel, hence greater lever travel and to an extent
sponginess. The ring design prevents the pistons from
fully self adjusting. Small price to pay for the
superb braking power of a Triumph. So, all you do is
pull the caliper, extend the pistons a little, and get
in there with a toothbrush and some brake cleaner,
clean out the gunk and reassemble. It is no more work
than chnging pads, should be done when changing pads,
and prolly a few times in between. Wont take more than
an hour start to finish. I do mine once in the spring,
and maybe once more if it needs it...

John
--- Antonio Bird <abird4@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Would that be a limiting factor in even getting the
> brakes to work at
> this point (ie pistons stuck?)  Does this involve
> taking the calipers off
> the bike?  Tony
> 
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: "Bil Swartz"
>   To: ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>   Subject: Re: [ST] bleeding brakes
>   Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 22:32:41 -0400
> 
> 
>   Antonio Bird wrote:
>   > I have had a 2001 Sprint RS since the end of
> last year. Like it a
>   lot,
>   > but have had a bit of a bit of a problem with
> the front brake
>   getting
>   > spongy/long lever travel.
> 
>   Tony,
> 
>   I suspect you could do with the commonly known
> solution of a piston
>   cleaning.
>   I'm not sure if we have any ready reference to
> point you to, but it
>   generally
>   means displacing the calipers, placing something
> between the pads
>   to prevent too
>   much displacement such as a paint stirring stick,
> squeezing the pots
>   out a bit
>   but not too much, cleaning the pots with brake
> cleaner and maybe an
>   old
>   toothbrush, then reassembling.
> 
>   Don't get too crazy with the cleaning, it doesn't
> take much. All
>   you are after
>   is getting rid of the crud that stops the pistons
> from moving
>   in/out optimally,
>   and it really doesn't take much. Once done, you'll
> enjoy firm
>   brakes for a few
>   thousand miles.
> 
>   HIH,
> 
>   --
> 
>   ._O_. '03 Sprint ST
>   -Bil- /_\o/_\ '98 Thunderbird Sport /~\
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