Rusty Brake Discs!!

[Jinx]

Has anyone got some handy tips on how to sort my rusty brake discs without taking them apart!!

Bike has been outside all winter and everything is rusty including the chain!!

Usually a wee run sorts the rust out but i want to sort it properly!!

Cheers,
Joan

[Zax]

wee run is the answer but take it easy . unless they are realy bad .

[Shrek]

Noticed the same with the GSXR after 3 months, even in the garage,
caliper bolts and chain a nice shade of brown.

Really should of gave them a spray with oil b4 i put it away

[GOKU]

if your bike has been sitting all winter the very very last thing u want to be doing is startin it up and rideing it around!!

rusty chain use something to ease it up give it a little wipe with a cloth as u do look for any damage that the cold might have caused..cause if u run around with a rusty chain that u havent cleaned prop your gonna end up buying new chain and sproket cause of the damage that the rust will cause.

as for your brakes try and get your hands on a rust treatment for bikes brakes in piticular and follow the instuctions also give your pads a good look at all u need is a torch and a good eye

start the bike up if there has been fule in it all winter leave it a good bit and burn off all that dirty fuel look at the fumes comein out the back look at the colour is it dirty clear or spot on

also check your oil check around your bike for any leaks take a look at the window see if the oil has a metallic colour or if there is flakes of metal in the oil

then perform usual checks on the bike lube (I can't believe it's not butter!) the brake and clutch cables check the throttle for seizing and when i say check the clutch i mean check it..pull it right back and ping it a few times the cold might have take a good grip of any cables on your bike and started eating them

look at the brake fluid tubes and any other esential tubes give them a little bend all the way down to check for cracks and general wear and tear

once your sure u have done everything u think needs done and looked at....sit on your bike..test the brakes test the suspension listen for any rattles or squeaks or any strange noises that it might be makeing check your battery

now u can think about goin for a little run

and when u come back check it all over again because somethin may have been lay dormant or somethin u missed this kind of maintinance might jst save your life...if u jst sit on your bike start it up and drive away..all i can say is good luck

[al]

If that little list doen't convince you to buy some thermal cordura gear and keep riding all year round what will.

I remember Flash's old fairweather bandit being quite rusty compared to my all weather one just cause mine was getting run and burning off all the moisture.

Big Kneed Al (master of the emergency stop & "stand up" comedian).

[Jinx]

Cheers for the replies!

I have been riding my bike thru the winter, just not everyday cos i'm a poor student now! Bike has been running fine only problem being the rust!!

Can i put wd-40 on my discs and then clean the rust off them? Reckon i probably need news ones soon, anyone know of where to get them on the cheap??

I also noticed the other week when i was pulling off i thought i could hear a knocking noise coming from under the bike but obviously when i accelerated i couldn't hear it after that, any idea what that could be?

Cheers,
Joan

[Shrek]

if your bike has been sitting all winter the very very last thing u want to be doing is startin it up and rideing it around!!

rusty chain use something to ease it up give it a little wipe with a cloth as u do look for any damage that the cold might have caused..cause if u run around with a rusty chain that u havent cleaned prop your gonna end up buying new chain and sproket cause of the damage that the rust will cause.

as for your brakes try and get your hands on a rust treatment for bikes brakes in piticular and follow the instuctions also give your pads a good look at all u need is a torch and a good eye

start the bike up if there has been fule in it all winter leave it a good bit and burn off all that dirty fuel look at the fumes comein out the back look at the colour is it dirty clear or spot on

also check your oil check around your bike for any leaks take a look at the window see if the oil has a metallic colour or if there is flakes of metal in the oil

then perform usual checks on the bike lube (I can't believe it's not butter!) the brake and clutch cables check the throttle for seizing and when i say check the clutch i mean check it..pull it right back and ping it a few times the cold might have take a good grip of any cables on your bike and started eating them

look at the brake fluid tubes and any other esential tubes give them a little bend all the way down to check for cracks and general wear and tear

once your sure u have done everything u think needs done and looked at....sit on your bike..test the brakes test the suspension listen for any rattles or squeaks or any strange noises that it might be makeing check your battery

now u can think about goin for a little run

and when u come back check it all over again because somethin may have been lay dormant or somethin u missed this kind of maintinance might jst save your life...if u jst sit on your bike start it up and drive away..all i can say is good luck

Sound advice mate,









Just got to figure out what the hell you are going on about first

[GOKU]

ull understand me soon enough...i dont rip bikes to bits for fun you know I can't believe it's not butter!.

[GOKU]

you could use wd40 bt a very small amount dont soak it in the stuff and wipe it off very well..only prob with wd40 is that its a dirt magnet! it will attract sand a grit an allsorts that will get onto the pads make that screechin noise and scratch the numpty out of your disks hence causeing more rust..as for the knockin noise gimme the year and model of your bike an ill look into it.

[Shrek]

ZXRbabe DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS FOOL!!!

If you was to put WD40 on your discs and it got on to your pads they would be fu*ked and you would be risking your life!!

[GOKU]

its a tried an tested method i do it and i know tons of others that do it aswell if u use the smallest amout poss buff it in and wipe it off the best way to find out if its still there is to spray water on the treated area if it runs off its still there give it more tlc and spray again this method is no diff from usein a rust treatment jst cheaper..

[Shrek]

Well I have been a mechanic for 13 years and I have never heard of anyone spraying WD40 on there discs or pads!!

[GOKU]

welcome to the future!

[GOKU]

or if your uneasy about useing wd40 u can always use petrol or white spirit or again as i siad buy the treatment if you do buy it your also buying a protector for your pads its pretty good stuff.

[Dickie]

Use paraffin / kerosene to clean your chain. I did mine a couple of weeks ago, came up fine. Got the Paraffin from Homebase, they stock it as fuel for greenhouse heaters, rather than for cleaning.

GOKU, you do what you like, but I would put WD40 on my brakes just as soon as hell freezes over.

[Shrek]

Yeah the paraffin / kerosene works well, I remember something in a magazine about mixing it with something else. Think it might have been washing up liquid but it works ok the way it is especially if you use your other half’s toothbrush to get in to them hard to reach places

Makes a cu*ting splattery mess of white wheels though

[Dickie]

I remember Bike magazine had an article on how to make your own degreaser, basically mix paraffin with washing-up liquid. I think it's to keep your hands Fairy soft.

Does the '04 GSXR have white wheels too?

[al]

Well I have been a mechanic for 13 years and I have never heard of anyone spraying WD40 on there discs or pads!!

Inzibard does it!

In theory the resedue it leaves will burn off but you'll have very little stopping farce untill it does and you'll probably have to ride with the brakes full on to try and generate the heat in the first place.

If you don't want to ride the bike to buff the surface rust off the disks and you're felling like some exercise you could always push the bike then drag the brakes for a while.

Brakes wise what I would do would be to make sure all the pistons in your callipers are free to move. You can clean the sides of them with cotton buds dipped in brake fluid. If your brake levers feel spongey then the first the first thing to check would be the pistons.

Check your pads at the same time cause you may as well change them if they are more than 50% worn. ( that figure is my own rule of thumb before anyone jumps down my throat ).

The surface rust should polish off your disks with gentle braking.

As for your chain you could try what Dickie suggested to clean it. If you have sticky links then in my experience you're looking at a new chain. Again that's a personal thing but having a chain snapping on me is someting I don't want to happen to me again!

Appart from that the rest is common sence and was covered in Missile Bob's post on another thread somewhere.

Big Kneed Al (master of the emergency stop & "stand up" comedian).

[Shrek]

Any sort of oil or grease contamination on your pads is not good, if I even get a finger print of copper slip on pads or shoes when fitting them I’d get the emery out and sand it off.


Pad … discs…… grippy

Oil…. Grease…… slippy

[Zathos]

Put wd40 on the wife's old bike when I winterised it one year. Disks were nice and shiny but ended up replacing the pads cos they were f*cked.

Try poping the bike onto a paddock stand, start engine, engage first, give it a bit of revs and ride the back break.
Not too much pressure but you should be able to clean up the back brake and function check the chain at the same time.

Alternatively, buy a Honda :I can't believe it's not butter!

[Backs 400]

Scotchbrite..thats what ya want :) The ZXR is prone to rusty discs, but a bit of elbow grease (wipe it off if you drop some on the disc ) and a scotchbrite pad will have them gleaming in no time..including the heads of bolts.

Rumours have it that the Scotoil stuff is good..but since it is water soluble and washes off in the rain, its a constant job to re-apply. I used it on the CBR and Cassies TRX, but, well, WD40 did a better job of preventing rust after things were cleaned. (NOT sprayed onto the discs btw).

A brass headed brush (soft metal bristles) is good for more stubbon rust..but..remember, once all the rust is off, you need to apply either a metal polish/laquer or WD40 to stop is comming back again.

Good luck..it takes a wee while to do!

[Cossackmannie]

Scotchbrite pads are brilliant for cleaning discs.I bought an old BM R80 that had been sitting out in all weathers for 3 years and was going to replace the disc but had a go at cleaning it with Scotchbrites and petrol. The surface came up pretty good but as it was a floating type disc, it took a fair amount of time to strip and clean the bobbins and carrier. After all the parts were scrubbed, I waited till the wife was out and popped them in the dishwasher(good for degreasing old engine cases too!).The carrier was treated to a respray and reassembled with a light coating of Coppaslip on the bobbin faces. Good as new.
As mentioned earlier, it's a perfect opportunity to check discs for wear,cracks etc.
An old mate used to stash the bike away for winter under a cover(no shed/garage) and he would take the wheels off,remove the discs and store them inside the house,then remove the pads and push the brake pistons all the way in,spray with WD40 and seal the calipers in sandwich bags with a sachet of silica gel in each bag.
A bit extreme but he had no garage. He used an old MT500 Armstrong for winter.His bike was always in good working order and always got a good price when selling.

[Jinx]

Where do i get scotchbrite pads from? Is that the pads you get for scrubbing pans?

Thanks for all the comments will try the parrafin for my chain but i reckon i'll probably need a new chain coz its minging! Do you have to get new sprockets when you get a chain or will the old ones do? Remember i'm on a student budget!!

As for the rust it does go when i take the bike out but its rusting within a couple of days again so was just wanting a longer term solution!!

I'll give the wd-40 a miss coz knowing my driving i would forget and end up in the back of the car in front!!!

Cheers

[Dickie]

If your sprockets are the same age as the chain, you would be better just changing the whole lot. If you fit a new chain to worn sprockets it'll be knackered in no time.

Do you know the size of chain and sprockets (teeth, front and rear) you need? I've got a mate with a trade account who can get stuff cheap(er).

That offer stands for anyone who need parts. E-mail me with what you need and I'll try to get you a price. This is mainly consumables, but there's no harm in trying for anything else.

Keith.

[silverburn]

Accidentally got WD40 on one of my front discs once during cleaning.

Thank god that roundabout didn't have any traffic on it that day... I even learned you can get round it at 60 instead of 40...