Front brake pad shim and "little bleeder"

[Austin]

During part 2 of my 32,000 service yesterday (Sunday) I looked at the front brake pads and discovered horrors or horrors they were worn out - friction material thinner than a thin thing. After a few frantic calls I sourced some EBC pads for £14 a pair which seemed OK to me.

Anyway I got them fitted alright but when tidying up and looking at the old pads I noticed under all the crud that the non-piston side had a sort of shim thing attached to the back of the pad. Does anyone know what this does and does it matter that it is not fitted now?

I also changed the hydraulic fluid using a motrax "Little Bleeder". I was a bit unimpressed - lengths of hose all too small and no proper instructions - specifically the valve has an arrow on it so its obviously sided but which way to point the arrow - i decided away from the caliper but either the little bleeder wasn't working or I had an awful lot of air in the system (unlikely). The tied up brake lever tyrick semed to improve matters this morning, but the EBC pads seem pretty crap as a first impression (50miles so far but hopefully better after a 1,000 or so)

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Hi Austin, I'm pretty sure that the little shim thinggy is just there to help to prevent brake squeal.

Dunno about the little bleeder, I normally use a bit of clear plastic pipe going upwards for about a foot before curling into an old jamjar.
But bleeding bike brakes alway's seems a hit or miss affair!

Phil

[Austin]

Originally Posted by piguglyshandydrinker

Hi Austin, I'm pretty sure that the little shim thinggy is just there to help to prevent brake squeal.

Dunno about the little bleeder, I normally use a bit of clear plastic pipe going upwards for about a foot before curling into an old jamjar.
But bleeding bike brakes alway's seems a hit or miss affair!

Phil

Thanks Phil, as regards the shim, yeah that's what I thought.

The little bleeder was a cheapo out of a bargain bucket - damaged packet. I had hoped it would makes things easier as you just need to pump away at the brake lever and no air is supposed to get sucked in at the caliper end. I went for belt and braces approach and shoved the end of the tube in a jam jar of fluid as well. But lots of bubbles anyway.

After 100 miles today (motorway admitedly) the brakes still seem crap and doing a search on EBC on here gets some pretty bad posts especially from the AT owners. Honda originals could be on order soon.

[Born To Hula]

Hi Austin

'Bleeding brakes' eh? The clue is in the title...
Whenever I have this particular gun pointed at my head, I have found that:
a) Keep the 'little shim thingy' and add a dab of Copaslip. Keeps the squeal and corrosion at bay...
b) Get a bungee cord-thing and wrap it tightly around a well-pulled in brake lever and handlebar, and leave overnight. This can help alleviate any spongy-ness...

Good luck!

Kev