Front Brake Caliper Problem

[BlindPugh]

Hi All,

Just started on what I thought would be a nice simple job over the holiday period - strip front calipers and clean, new sets of seals and pads and away we go.
Seems like the LH caliper has been nibbled by the caliper eating monster around the seal retainer so one of the piston dust seals was hanging out in 3 places - that explains the brakes binding

The RH caliper looks OK - at least the dust seal retaining lip is all there.

So my question is has anybody changed the calipers for a set of Transalp XLV650 calipers? This has been mentioned in a previous thread and I just want to confirm this before I go off searching for a pair. It also seems like the earlier NX650 Dominator caliper is the identical to AT - this is another option as the Dommie disc is on the LH side.

TIA

[BlindPugh]

Answering my own posts - how sad is that! But it might save somebody time and effort when the crumbling caliper disease starts.

Now solved the problem of my slightly knackered left caliper with a second hand set of Transalp calipers - the ones I sourced were Nissin with very low mileage but I think the later Brembo Transalp XL650V calipers should also fit as the disk and fork legs are unchanged and they also use the same pads.



This is the state of my original LH caliper body after 8 years of all weather riding.


With the amount of dust seal that was exposed causing the brake to bind. I think I was lucky to get away without warping the disc.



One cylinder is completely b**gered and the other one has some small fractures present too.

RH caliper was in a lot better shape with only some very minor chips in the seal retaining lip - so I will rebuild this one and keep it safe for later use. Which usually means I know it will be in the garage somewhere and only take half a day to find it!

[YEN_POWELL]

Bloody hell, I'd heard people talking about this problem but I didn't know it was as bad as that. My 6 year old ones are unmarked in that area, must be the lack of hosing/jetwashing. All I used to do was clean the pistons after pushing them out a bit, clean the sliding pins, coppaslip exposed bits and that was it. The seals were ready to be replaced but everything else was fine. Now my wheels were a different matter, looked like Neil Armstrong's old stamping ground.

[Chad]

the calipers on the @ look very similar to ones used on quite a few hondas so in the future these other bike are going to become a usefull source for brak calipers.

so have you found a set

[Lord Stig]

Sorry - didn't see your original post until today. I also changed for the 650 TA items without problems, and I had the same problem as you. Yen - no jet washing for me either. I think it must have been the salt on the A3 for two and a half years. Seriously not impressed!

Stig

[Maverick]

Just replaced my front brake pads this weekend and the left caliper on mine is also in a bad shape. The discs is definitely worn to a point of replacement and will need to find a set or spare calipers in the near future.

[YEN_POWELL]

Sorry - didn't see your original post until today. I also changed for the 650 TA items without problems, and I had the same problem as you. Yen - no jet washing for me either. I think it must have been the salt on the A3 for two and a half years. Seriously not impressed!

Stig

I go through lots of salt too, so it looks more like a quality control thing, praps it depends what day of the week they were casting and how long they spent in the 'plub' at lunchtime.

[Lord Stig]

Yes, I suspected that too - lots of discussion on the 'Alien Caliper Eating Monster' thread. I suspect the left might be more vulnerable because it's lower when the bikes on the side stand - water finds its own level and the caliper and salt stay damp. The silver TA items don't seem to be as affected as the gold AT items. Good news is there are quite a few TAs around. The bad news (for us) is most of them are still running, not in breakers yards. I got my 3,000 mile salt free calipers for the £70 mark - very pleased!!

Stig

[icenian]

Any ideas why TA calipers would suffer less corrosion? Surely the only difference is the silver paint rather than the alloy used..?

Do want to annoy anyone but I suspect we're working with a small sample size?

[Lord Stig]

'Tiz odd, I agree. But so far I've yet to hear of the problem with the silver calipers, which have been fitted to the TA since the twin disc 600. Maybe the problem is just as bad but TA owners don't moan....

Maybe it's something to do with electrolysis or something - sacrificial anodes (silver or gold paint?!?), who knows? Maybe it's fluke. Maybe it's something to do with the way the plastic fork shrouds on an AT (absent on the TA) direct crud at the calipers, or keep them damp. Again, who knows?

One thing we can be sure of is that, though some ATs never have the problem, many do. Whether the numbers affected are 'significant' is open to question. Not many of these bikes were sold per year - I don't have a clue what the figures actually are, but I would guess no more than a hundred or so towards the end. It also depends on all the other factors - winter use, garaged etc. to see if the calipers will develop the same problem, and unless you are the original owner it might be difficult to find some of this out. Given that many owners don't visit our forum, our experiences are sure to be an underestimate.