I was wondering how hard is it to change the brake pads on my bike and if anyone has a write up on how to do it....I just got new pads but I dont know if I should try myself or have a shop do it????

 

its not hard at all. think it took me 20 minutes to do.

 

oh ok thanks.....Im gonna give it a shot

 

yea if your mechanically inclined at all you should be fine 8)

 

If this isyour first time doing brakes, I'll take the time and type it out for you... there are some tricks you will need to know otherwise you will sit there scratching your head for a long time.

You will need: Socket set, flat head screwdriver, needle nose pliers, maybe a small C-Clamp.

First start by removing any bolts that hold the brake lines in place(not the banjo bolts that hold the brake lines onto the calipers, do not disconnect the lines from the caliper!) then remove the bolts that hold the caliper in place. For the front brakes you have 2 calipers, one per rotor. Do the brakes one side at a time.

Lift the caliper up and back off of the rotor and support it by using some wire or string so that it's not hanging from the brake line.

Look down the top of the caliper and you will see 2 tiny cotter pins at both ends of the metal rod that goes through caliper and pads. Remove these 2 pins with your pliers and remove the rod.

Now you can remove the little bracket and the 2 pads will fall out of the bottom.

Inspect the pistons which are the circular things inside of the calipers that push the brake pads, if they're all dirty and gunky get some brake cleaner and spiff them up, you can also wipe down the rotors.

Before you can install the new pads in the reverse order of removal you must first compress the pistons (because the new pads are thicker there is less room) to do this if you have a small enough clamp you can put one of your old pads over the piston and clamp it down compressing the piston. If the clamp does not fit, put the old brake pad over the piston and use your flat-head screwdriver to pry it open by putting the head against the pad and the shaft against the edge of the caliper and levering it.

Once you have opened thepistons up, install the new pads, bracket, rod, cotter pins and put everything back in place and move on to the other side.

I strongly recommend bleeding your brake fluid after you replace your pads.

To do this you will need: Asecondset of hands,Phillips screwdriver, DOT-4 brake fluid (do NOT use dot-3 or dot-5), a small hose, and a crescent (adjustable) wrench.

First open the brakefluid resevoir on your right handlebar and remember how thepieces inside come out so you can put them back properly.(if you have a centerstand it's easiest to do all of this up on the stand,if not, just position the handlebars so that the fluid sits level inside the resevoir)

Remove the rubber cover on the bleeder nipple on the top of your caliper (do one side at a time again, the second side will take less time) and put the small hose over the end, not covering the surface your wrench will be on.

Get your helper to hold the crescent wrench on the bleeder nipple keeping it closed while you pump the brake lever until you feel that it is firm. Keep pressure on the brake lever and get your helper to open the bleeder, the brake lever will come all the way down to the handlebar and fluid will drain from the hose that you put over the bleeder. Get the helper to close the bleeder and repeat the process.

It is imperative that youwatch the fluid level in the resevoir to be sure that it does not become empty, or else you will draw air into the lines and you will be screwed, so keep topping it up as you go.

Watch the fluid that comes out of the hose as you are bleeding, continue bleeding until the fluid coming out is the same color as the fluid you're adding (new fluid is a light honey color, old fluid is gray and nasty)

Because your front calipers do not have seperate lines for each side (It goes from 1 line from the handlebar down to the calipers where it splits into 2 lines) you only need to bleed the second caliper for a short period of time because you are only bleeding a small secti

 

nice post. but i remove the pad out the top. I use a big screwdriver to push on the old pads to compress the calipar. then remove the pins n pull the pads out. slid the new pad in n reassemble in the reverse of the disassembly. Not saying the above method is wrong, I just do it diff. 8)

 

I did mine in about 1/2 hour and that was with bleeding the brakes.....if you have any common sense you should be able to do brakes without a problem

 

nice thaks for the writeup someone should put this in the maintence sticky