Leaking Rear Caliper now siezed

[Rau]

Hi.

After recently lending my bike to a freind for a few days I picked it up on sunday. When Riding home about half way back my rear brake gave out, resembling a complete absence of fluid. I popped in to my local parts guy to pick up some fluid and when I got back checked the resivoir, completely dry. I popped a bit in and began pumping the rear break, when to my disgust I could see fluid quite liturally flowing out of the caliper. Closer examination showed that the pad on one side of the caliper was completely gone.

He did drop the bike (whilst stationary, the berk) damaging the front fairing slightly where it hit a pole. I can't see how this could have done so much damage to the rear caliper.

Is the caliper a complete write off or is it worth me stripping it down to check for a faulty seal?

Cheers guys

[masterofinsanity]

if the pad has gone then the piston would have come out too far hence the loss of fluid, just check the seals for damage and pop it back in.

[RedexRobB]

Guess you wont be lending your bike to him anymore!

How far down is the pad? Hopefully not down to the bare metal!

[Rau]

The pad is gone completly, no trace at all. They where replaced about 4-5 months ago, and the bike is not frequently used enough for it to have worn away completely. Its a mystery. The other pad still has plenty of meat on it.

And no, I certainly won't, very strong words where had!

[masterofinsanity]

i am assuming he's saying the pad is missing? if thats the case where the retaining pin?

[Rau]

The Pin is still in, or at least I think it is. I havn't completely removed the caliper yet, as I didn't have time. And like I stated in the first post, the caliper is completely siezed now. How would I go about unsiezing it?

[masterofinsanity]

sounds like the piston has wedged itself, strip the caliper, pull the piston out with some pliers use a bit of rag or something around them so you dont damage the piston otherwise it will rip the seals, if it wasn't leaking you could use pressure to pop it out., even try tapping the piston back in first before you strip it it just may be not seating properly.

[Rau]

Thats great, thank you.

I'm just waiting on my new pads arriving, which I'm told will be before the weekend, then I guess I'm going to have to get my hand dirty.

Watch this space for further problems!

Thank you so much for all your input

[masterofinsanity]

thats what we're here for mate.

[jake]

At least it was the back brake, not the front....
a friend of mine lost the retaining pin on his front caliper( honda rs125), racing in Ireland...hes ok now but has'nt raced since