Willy Gonnason sent in this text and photos describing how to swap the brake pads on the FJR1300. On 11/30/02 Willy wrote:
The Brake pad swap on the FJR1300 is fairly straightforward.
There are a few things to keep in mind, however. First, and most
important:
If you're not comfortable working on assemblies which have a DIRECT
effect on the safety of yourself and other people on the highway, by
all means take the job to a qualified mechanic. If you're still with
us, remember you do this at your own peril... 'Nuff said.
Tools Needed: The main tool required for the brake pad swap
is a set of needle-nose pliers.
Now, on to the swap. Note there is a metallic brass colored shield
covering the brake pads, and on this shield is an arrow that indicates
the direction of the front wheel rotation. This shield must be
replaced with the arrow pointing in the same direction as it did
originally. Finally, note that the retaining clips are pretty small, and easy
to lose. Be sure to hang onto them, and don't lose track of them!
Don't forget to put these back in when you're finished, or you could
find yourself with no brakes! (see death warning above).
The photo above shows one of the
brakes mounted on the bike. The first thing to remove is the pin
retaining clips, by pulling them out in the direction shown by the blue
arrows. You may have
to rotate the pin to be able to pull the clips straight out --
needle-nose pliers are pretty much a requirement here. Once you pull the clips out, pull the main retaining pin out, in
the direction of the red arrow shown in the photo above.
Again, needle-nose pliers will be needed here.
After these steps, you can remove brass colored cover plate, and
you should be faced with something that looks like the photo above
-- the brakes with the cover
plate off. The pads can be removed by pulling up on them in the
direction indicated by the green arrow. Insert the new pads in the place of the old pads. Be sure to
orient the pads so that the brake material mates with the rotor!
Otherwise, you'll have no braking power (see death warning above). Next, snap the brass covered cover back in place, being sure to
orient the arrow on the cover (indicated by the red circle in the photo
below) towards the front of the
bike. Then, replace the retaining pin to hold the cover in place.
Finally, put the pin retaining clips back in place. If you lose one,
DON'T ignore it - get a replacement before riding the bike! Remember,
these are your BRAKES. Note that the various parts mentioned above are shown in the photo
below. The items circled in blue
are the retaining clips, about half an inch long in real life. The
pin between the two clips is the retaining pin, which fits through the
holes in the top of the brake pads, and through the holes in the brake
frame itself. The brass colored cover is shown at the right side of
figure 3, with the orientation arrow circled in red.
Once the pins are replaced, you're almost done. Be sure to pump up
the brakes now BEFORE you get on the bike. This is important - the
brake fluid may have been displaced back into the master cylinder when
you're getting the pads out, and it may take a few pumps of the brake
handle to refill the brakes. In the meantime, you could find yourself
moving at speed with no brakes. I can't
emphasize this last point enough... Finally, enjoy the new brake pads!
Copyright © 2002, by Willy Gonnason. All rights reserved.