How To Change Your Brake Pads

[Nice Goat]

I intended to go riding today, but plans changed.  My daughter twisted her ankle last night while playing basketball, so I needed to stay home with her while the wife went grocery shopping.  I was going to change brake pads tomorrow at Kevin's house when we change the tires, but I was concerned that it would take too long to do everything and I don't want to impose too much on my friend.  Plus, I don't like mixing too many jobs at once, and also it looked like the forum needed a "How To" on this.  So here we go...

Bought these brake pads several months ago, and they have been sitting in a box awaiting their day.  EBC pads HH sintered, FA158HH for the front and FA174HH for the rear.



Started with the rear.  I'll give a warning now... the service manual does not require you to remove the rear wheel, but I decided to remove it because I wanted to clean the swingarm and up under the subframe.

First, remove the exhaust using a 6mm Allen and a 14mm wrench for the upper bolt, and use a 10mm wrench for the exhaust clamp.  After removing those two bolts, twist the exhaust gently while pulling it off.





Make sure to note the position of your alignment blocks.





Next remove the safety pin from the rear axle nut, and then remove the nut using a 27mm wrench or socket.





Use a 12mm open end wrench to loosen the alignment bolt stop nut, then run the bolt all the way in.  Do this on both sides.





Support the weight of the rear wheel while you remove the rear axle.  Push the wheel forward a little and you can unseat the chain from the sprocket.  Then pull the rear wheel out.  Support the rear caliper with a wire or zip tie.

[Nice Goat]

Your swingarm is probably dirty, so now is a good time to clean it.





Use a large flat head screwdriver to pry open the pads/pistons.  The caliper floats on the bracket, so make sure that it is all the way in, so that it is easy to swap the brake pads.



Using a small flat head screwdriver, remove the cap for the brake pads retainer pin.  The metal is soft, so make sure you don't slip.



Use a 5mm Allen to remove the pad retainer pin.





Remove the old brake pads from the caliper.  Remove the stainless and nylon backers from the old pads.  Clean the backers with brake cleaner.



Clean the retaining pin really well, removing any deposits.  Use a scouring pad if you need to.  Put a light coating of waterproof grease on the retainer pin.



Put a little grease on the caliper carriage block also (inside right swingarm).



Clean inside the brake caliper also.  You can remove the two stainless clips from the caliper to clean them, them reinstall in the same orientation.

[Nice Goat]

Install the new pads into the caliper and re-install the retainer pin and the safety cap.



Clean the wheel spacers and the axle really well.  Put a coating of grease on the axle.  Re-assemble the rear wheel in reverse order.  Make sure that the rear axle is fully seated in the alignment block before tightening the axle.  Make sure that the alignment blocks are positioned as they were before you started.  Tighten the alignment bolts and the stop nuts before tightening the rear axle.





The rear axle nut should be tightened to 81 foot-pounds.



Don't forget the safety pin.



My rear pads were a little more than half gone.  I could have used them longer, but pads are cheap and I am impatient...

[Nice Goat]

The front pads are easier to change.  Simply remove the two caliper mounting bolts and slide the caliper off the disc.



Make sure the pry open the pads/pistons before removing the pads.



The 5mm retainer pin is not covered by a cap in the front.  Remove the pin, and the pads will come right out. 



Clean really well inside the caliper.  If you want, you can remove the stainless spring plate on top using a 3mm Allen wrench.





Clean the retainer pin really well also, using a scouring pad to remove deposits.  Apply a light coat of grease to the pin.  Insert the new pads into the caliper, and re-install the retaining pin.  Re-install the caliper on the disc and tighten the caliper mounting bolts to 18 foot-pounds.



The procedure is the same for the left front caliper, but be careful with the ABS sensor.  I like to zip tie it out of the way until I am ready to re install it.





Once you have completed the work, make sure to pump the front and rear brakes several times until the pads are touching the discs.  Then you can take a test ride.

All told, I spent maybe two hours on this job, but I was taking my time, cleaning everything really well, and taking photographs.  So it is not a difficult job to perform on your own.

Hope you enjoyed it.  Let me know if you have any questions.

[Shepcam]

Nice write up. I just changed the fronts on the Connie and went the same EBC pads, I like them so far. Fortunately I was able to install without having to remove the calipers!

[Hammerdown77]

Do you normally back off the rear axle adjusters all the way whenever you remove the wheel? I don't know how it is on Kawis, but on my V-Strom you don't have to mess with those unless you are changing chain/sprockets or are just wanting to adjust the chain. The wheel comes out and goes back in without having to move the adjusters.

[Nice Goat]

I didn't have enough chain slack without pushing the wheel forward, and the adjustment blocks would only go forward a small amount.  I wanted to remove the chain from the sprocket before removing the axle, because I am not a competent juggler.