GS500 Front brakes

[Shay HTFC]

Alright, I feel like a right twerp. I've been giving my front calipers a tidy up and am now at the stage where I have the pistons fully seated, but can't get the pads into any position where they seem right.
I stupidly forgot how they were placed in the calliper before and am now just trying them in all sorts of positions not knowing if they are right.

I'll try and get photos up in a bit, but does anyone know how they fit in with relation to the pad spring and the outer pad guides? I have a Haynes, but the exploded diagram just shows the pads floating about and the written explanation just says "replace brake pads" and doesn't explain the position of them.

I'm getting a bit tired of it all now because I need them to be working tonight really.

Cheers guys

P.S. Its a GS500E '95
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95

[Shay HTFC]

This is what I think is what it should be like.

The bottom pad needs to slide down in the direction of the red arrows, but the pad seems to be too wide for the 2 blocks/guides on either side (circled in green).

I tried reattaching it to the bike, but it didn't exactly slide on.

Is that right? Does it just need bleeding and then pumping the brake a bit until the pad is forced into place?
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95

[T1z3R]

youve got them in the right place/position but the smaller pad closest to the pistons doesnt look like its sitting down on the pistons?

https://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/T1z3R/gs500/piezas26.jpg
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duck my sick!

[Shay HTFC]

Cheers for the image T1z3R

It's not sitting on the pistons because it can't. The number 10's on that picture (one is circled in green on my photo) are just slightly too close together it seems, so the pad doesn't sit snugly between them. If you can see on my diagram, there is a little metal clip that sticks out just a notch below the brake pad on either side. It seems to suggest that the pad should sit on top of those notches.

I was going to keep them in the same place as in the photo, attach it to the wheel/disc, then bleed the brakes and see if a bit of force would push them down. I tried the old pads and they wouldn't fit in there easily either, so it's not as if my new pads are too big. But obviously if they are not supposed to be seated like that, then I don't want to force them into breaking.
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95

[T1z3R]

i see what you mean.

ive stripped my GS caliper a number of times and never had the same problem. is that the metal clip thats been attached to the caliper which is circled in green in your first pic?

i have no such clip on mine but it looks as though it should be there from the parts fiche. it looks as though it should compress to allow the pad to almost clip into place.

edit : ive just checked the sevice manual and those are spring clips and are meant to be there (maybe i should find some for mine then ) so the pad should be pressed into them to locate.
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duck my sick!

[Shay HTFC]

Yeah, I tried pushing really hard, but just can't get them to click.
That's why I thought about reattaching it all to the disc, then using the brake to see if the force would pop it into place.

Could you maybe do me one favour? When I was looking at how I thought it worked I couldn't figure it out.
On your diagram, the big pad is 'attached' to the horse shoe shaped piece of metal (#11) by sliding over the 2 thick rods. If the small pad clips in between the metal clips, then surely which ever way the horseshoe piece of metal moves, both clips will move with it?

Could you see which way the horse shoe piece of metal moves? (you could test it by seeing which way those 2 rods move. I still can't picture how it works if both the pads are supposed to close in on each other.

The only thing I could think of was if piece #11 moved left and the pistons push to the right, then the pads will close together. But by having the smaller pad clipped into piece #11, I don't see how it will move in one direction whilst the thing it is seated in moves the other way?

Unless the pad doesn't actually clip in between those 2 bits of metal, but rather slides up and down between them?!

I'm confused!
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95

[hmmmnz]

did you get your pads from wemoto?? i had the same mine, i ended up whipping out my trusty file, and giving the edge of the metal part of the pad a good file
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the humans are dead
I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[Shay HTFC]

[Shay HTFC]

Update:

I gave the pads a file at the edges (where they sit between the guides) and they slotted in nicely.

I now have working brakes after bleeding them.
Only problem is that they seem to be binding a bit. The disk is hot after riding and it sort of feels like I can feel the resistance slowing me down.

I reused the existing seals before, so I think I will order some new seals, take the pistons out and give them a hell of a good clean and scrape any crap off with some wet 'n' dry and reassemble them.
Will be 10x quicker than this weekend now that I know the process!
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95

[DidierD]

I'll take some vintage instead of petrol money for all the ferrying you about i did this weekend then ey
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Bike - '98 Yamaha YZF600 Thundercat Pics

31st March 2008 - Fully converted from four wheels to 2 sets of two wheels

[Shay HTFC]

My payments and returns of favours work in mysterious ways
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Full Motorbike License - GS500E '95