WHOS HAD A ZZR!?

[handyandy24]

Hey guys. Ive just picked up a zzr600 for my younger brother and am getting it road worthy for him.

Now the brakes didnt work at all and the guy reckoned could have been seized. Managed to pump the pistons out of the right front caliper and have stripped cleaned and thats now working, but the other front caliper the pistons wont pump out, i know there is pressure as one of the pistons looks like its trying but just wont budge, and the other 3 are all fully in and no sign of movement. Im doing this by attaching it to my braided hoses which i know work bleading fully, then pumping the break and out they come. My question is, is compressed air way better for doing this? could it do the job that brake fluid and pressure cant? He doesnt have much money and id rather salvage this one than buying fresh. Or any other tips for getting the pistons to pop out?

Secondly his rear caliper as some may know if u had this bike is a big single piston one with the slider thing

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LOOK-KAWASAKI-ZZR ... 240%3A1318

Now you cant see from that angle. but like the front it has a little bolt through the brake pads then the r clip stopping it coming out and keeping the pads in place. This thing is rusted up big time btw. I got the rclip out but the little bolt just wont budge at all. Ive read the haynes on it and it simply says remove the rclip and bolt and remove brake pads. Any ideas?

now yesterday my dad brought home a zzr1100 93 stating i would fix it for him and we get half the profits lol. The exhaust is blowing and i know where from. its a small hole about 1.5cm long and .5 cm wide. Can these be welded or filled somehow. Or do the downpipes need replacing?

[Stu]

sounds like you still have air in the caliper as the fluid will push it out

fluid is better then air

as for the rear caliper

stick it in a bag and spray loads of WD40 in there and leave overnight you will need to replace the brake pads if that doesnt work try giving the area a tap not too hard as its cast and can crack to get the bolt out attach it back to the bike to get some leaverage on it

[Guest]

I will back up what Stu said. Fluid is most definately better than air. fluid won't compress like air or gas.

As for the caliper (front?) worst case scenario you can always completely take it apart if you are that way inclined....complete strip and rebuild sorta thing..

[handyandy24]

def no air in the caliper i double checked and bled top bottom and caliper whole system, each time only fluid coming out when bleeding. Even stripped down the zzr caliper is in two parts with no access to the pistons ie. you need them pumped out just a bit so you can pull them out. This has 3 of the pistons fully in with no way of grabbing them.

Its not a case of leverage to the get the bolt out that goes thu the pads. i dont think i used the right word. its like a long thin cylinder shape that goes thru the 2 holes at the top of the pad. Think ill jus av to wd40 its ass and hope for the best.

Im getting sick of getting brake fluid all over my new tools

can an exhaust be welded?

[cyberwolf]

what year is the bike?

[Stu]

Its not a case of leverage to the get the bolt out that goes thu the pads. i dont think i used the right word. its like a long thin cylinder shape that goes thru the 2 holes at the top of the pad. Think ill jus av to wd40 its ass and hope for the best.

 

i know exactly what you mean with the pin like i say attach it to the bike so you can get leaverage on it

its easier to get out while its on the bike then on the floor or in your hand and less chance of damaging it

yes an exhaust can be welded if you have something to weld to you will probably find that around the area is really thin

[cyberwolf]

don't know what year the bike is so i'm guessing its 93 to 2000 ?

i use to have zzr600e one of the most common problems on the zzr was calipers seizing up and can be very costly to get them services infact everything about the zzr was costly the engine is a git to work on, i was told by a mechanic the zzr was his worst nightmare as they are gits to work on!

you can split the front caliper unlike the back caliper

as for the back caliper do everything stu says if you can't get the pin out then you have to get a other caliper i had the same problem i ended up getting a 2nd hand caliper for £38 a new one would cost £149

[handyandy24]

ye its a 93 still cant get the clip out my bro is gona take it into workshop tomz. rear ones dont seem too expensive on ebay but font ones do. one of the front 600 calipers the pistons seem stuck inside, seized or woteva. the 1100 all the pistons move altho i pumped one out to see the state of the inside and seals and the top seal was fooked. those seal kits are a rip off

[Voodoo]

I had a ZZR1100 for about 12 years and in all that time the front brakes were rubbish. I must have bled them at least 100-200 times, and it wasn't just me that bled them either, I had a bike shop do it too. I replaced all the seals, pistons and even the master cylinder piston and none of it made any difference. The owner after me ended up replacing the calipers with ones from another bike, a ZXR I think. Well worth thinking about if you can find some cheap from a breaker's, they bolt straight on by the way.

[rollazuki]

pump the pistons out using hydraulic pressure, clamp off with a g clamp when they are maybe 5-6 mm out so the others get pushed out.

Remove the pistons by gripping them with vice grips or similar(on the edge), or use a proprietary brake piston removal tool.

From the description so far, throw the pistons away.

Buy a piston kit, and a caliper seal kit.

Using a pick of some variety, remove A L L the corrosion from the tiny grooves where the seals sit. there will be a lot, it must be 100% clean.

Fit new seals using rubber grease(not copper slip) then rubber grease the pistons and slide em in. rebuild the caliper halves using new sealing washer between the halves. thoroughly copper slip all the surfaces in the caliper(you did clean them didnt you) and fit the new pads using new pins, and anti squeal shims and rattle clips.

refit the calipers and bleed them up.

Id say so far that with the questions you are asking, you should let someone more experienced do the job, and as for buying old bikes and doing em up to sell.......Id do em up to ride mate. If you get the brakes wrong and kill someone, bad things are gonna happen. At least if its you riding and the brakes let go, then its on your own head.

Not being harsh, but there are many shade tree mechanics playing with brakes and suspension etc, that make a dangerous job of it.

Rolla

[handyandy24]

Ye i agree rollazuki. Thats why I have a mate who happens to be a mechanic doing this with me

questions due to him being away this weekend and me wanting to seem partially usefull

[Guest]

master cylinder seals are prone to going weak with these as well and reduces the front braking ability (loads of travel on lever before brake acts efficently)

but as said above ^

[rosszx9r]

i rebuilt a bike a few years back and used a foot pump to get the caliper cylenders out...

it worked but it came out with an almighty bang!

the cylinder flew past my left ear, bounced off the wall and landed 20m from where i was sat now holding my ears!!!

never recomend it... use break fluid but wrap the caliper in lots of rags so the fluid doesn't get on any paintwork...