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Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on replacing the rear brake pads. I have the BMW style callipers on a 2005 1100S and everywhere I read it seems to state that there should be a retaining pin or clip that needs to be removed to allow removal of the pads. But for the life of me on mine I can’t see a bloody thing. All I can see is the end of the retaining pin poking out of the calliper. Before I get carried away with the twatting stick and try and drift out the pin am I missing something as my manual is for the Brembo style callipers.
FYI the pads were last replaced by Vines about 6 months ago. I hate to think that I may have been using the bike all this time with the rear pads not secured properly.
Any help would be gratefully received.

Cheers

Mark...

Just had a quick look at mine which is a 2003

No pin but does have a small retaining circlip that can be pulled off with pliers allowing the retaining pin to be driven out

Lemme know if you want a piccy of the clip?

Thanks for that Soggy, on further investigation I can see the small groove at the top of the retaining pin (Was covered in grunge!!) that a small circlip should be fitted in. God knows where that went or even if it was re-fitted.
Any hoo decided to take the calliper off and refit the new pads.. This is where one of the easiest jobs turns into a nightmare.
Tried to undo the calliper bolts with my old and trusted T45 socket.. Nothing.. they wouldn’t budge. Tried more and more pressure on said poor old socket when.. BANG!!! the socket explodes and the bolt still hasn’t budged..
Right soak both bolts with a can of WD40 and let it sit while I take a quick trip to Halfrauds to obtain another socket.
I return with high hopes and after a few more pushes on the new socket… WHAP!! The Torx head on the bolt strips My socket dives to the ground at a high rate of speed and is only stopped from hitting the nasty tarmac by my Knuckles!!. So it’s Calliper Bolt 2.. Knuckles 1 and the bolt still hasn’t budged.
Not to sure what to do know as I’ve stated the bolt head has stripped and a socket will no longer fit. (Shouldn’t be so ham fisted I suppose!) Looks like I may have to drill this sod out.
Anyway I’ve had enough for the moment so I’m going to have a think about this one over a few pints of a certain Irish Cider tonight.

Why is it always the simplest of jobs..?

Keep it out of the dirt..

Those are BIG bolts too - they must have welded themselves to the brake carrier. I guess it's because the carrier is a big lump of fur loving aluminium that loves to form a tight bond with those bolts.

I've shagged one of the threads in the carrier before by cross threading The good news is, at least on my 2000 and I guess it'll be the same on yours, is that if you bugger the carrier (by drilling out the bolts), that you CAN just replace the carrier. It comes apart from the actual (expensive!) caliper section so you can sort it out pretty cheaply and without disturbing the brakes and having to bleed them or anything. Having said that, getting the carrier off the caliper can be a fun job too, even though it is just one small bolt. I had a serious twatting and swearing session with mine to get it appart. Same happed on the GS too - the caliper is supposed to slide on the carrier, but mine had seized. I even had to break out my 'twatting GOD' lump hammer to get the two to part.

Always the easy jobs like you say! This morning I had to remove the entire rear subframe just to get the feckin rear shock off

I believe you can change the pads without taking the caliper off... so at least you can still change the pads.... not so easy to clean the calipers though?

Stuart