Z250SL caliper clear out

Get a new bike, they said. You won't have to fix it all the time, they said. Liars! I knew the brakes were sticky after the long, looong winter of 2017/18 but we also then had the best, driest summer in 2018. Nevertheless, after coming back from the annual Germany trip on the TRX I found that the Kawasaki's brakes had taken much umbrage at sitting still for so long and the bike barely rolled. Oh joy, a mere 10K on the clock and another year before it needs an MOT and here we go already.. the front caliper can be my first victim..

It didn't look too bad in there considering how well the brake was sticking on, but clearly the dust seals are being pushed out of their grooves. Of course I find it so very fun that my ancient BMW K100 has dust seals that extend with the piston, covering it all just like a caliper from a car, while this here 2016 model is the same as all the normal crap. Pluck the seals out with dentistry tools..

Lovely stuff. Scrapey scrape, grease grease, pop seals back in (they're practically new!), pop the pistons in (eventually, I wouldn't mind a bit more chamfer if you're listening out there Kawasaki!)..

The pistons slide in and out easily, just as they should. You all know the game that follows this bit.

It took so long..

What does that hairy bloke from the 90s shout, DONE DONE ON TO THE NEXT ONE? Hello rear.

This was actually disgusting, quite a lot worse than the front. No wonder it was getting difficult to spin the rear wheel by hand! Of course if it had drum brakes that wouldn't happen, they could even by hydraulic like a car and use the cast wheel as a heatsink just like Bill Fowler was banging on about way back in the 80s but never mind, here we are in 2016 with nothing changed or improved. Yay.

Look at this.

That is a pin that the pads sit on, and rattle around on, and basically bite into. What a terrible design. Thankfully it can be replaced but all the other calipers I've seen don't have this "feature". Anyway, where are those dentistry tools I was just using..

Look at what I managed to scrape out, and this doesn't include what I freed from the body of the caliper - this is just the seal grooves!

Grease the seals, pop them in, lightly grease the pistons, pop them in, put it back on the bike, play the game.. You know how it goes. The result is a bike transformed, it rolls, stops better, goes better, handles better with freer moving suspension, more economical.. Seriously can we get those hydraulic drum brakes yet, they'd be like this almost all the time. And don't tell me it'd be heavier than a caliper and great big disc.

Satisfaction/transformation rating: Super.
Engineering rating: Pathetic.

See you again next year, seal grooves.

:(