rear brake pad replacement

[Tom M]

Actually, Harbor Freight.. has a vacuum pump system that is better than a Mighty Vac. You can find it on sale occasionally for under 20 bux. Made out of metal and all that. Works well. That said, I prefer a syringe, and fill the master cylinder from the bleed nipple.

What I can't figure out is why the rear brake gets so hot?? When I got Rosie, the rear rotor was toast. The brake line had apparently got into the exhaust, so I figured that was the problem. I'm going through her getting ready for the Kentucky rally, and noticed the plastic cover over the pads had partially melted. (!!) I seldom use the rear brake, and certainly not enough to get it hot. When I originally went through the rear brakes, I put a new caliper, rotor, and line on it. Rebuilt the master cylinder. Made sure I had play at the pedal.

What's going on?

 

On my bike the rear brake gets hot when the pistons stick from the buildup of pad/rotor material and dirt due to the low caliper location. I remove the caliper and clean the pistons about every 5k miles, or when the brake doesn't feel right and the disk is hot after a short ride, which has happened in as little as 3k miles.

 

I've had good luck using a Mityvac for bleeding calipers and the clutch.