Brake caliper dust seals

[rockster]

Evening all,

I've been browsing this forum for a couple of months now but this is my first post - mainly because I've already found answers to everything I've wanted to know on here!

Passed my test in September and bought a K3 naked with about 20k on the clock and would welcome your views on a problem I have with the caliper.

Basically it started to bind last week - figured it wast just crudded up and needed a bit of a clean. I took the front right caliper apart tonight and found that I can see a bit of piston dust seal peeking out beyond the caliper body.

So, a couple of questions:
- I bought the bike from a dealer with a full service history in October - do you think I should raise this with the dealer? Or is this the sort of thing that can happen even if a bike is properly maintained?
- I've seen a post on here recently (but can't find it now) that suggests dropping the seal in some boiling water will return it to it's original shape. Is it worth trying this or am I best to just get some replacement seals? I'd probably be happier just buying the seals as I don't really want to take chances with brakes.

Thanks for any advice

Cheers

[Ceri JC]

How many miles have you done on it since you got it and in what sort of weather?

As to not taking a chance, with seals, if you don't want to risk it, new ones are not very expensive. I opted for buying new ones, as if the old ones were FUBAR, I'd not be tempted to use them, or have the bike of the road whilst waiting for new ones. The old ones look fine though, following a dip in boiling water, so I covered them with red rubber grease and kept them as spares.

[Viney]

Ok. In reality the calipers need a full clean and you would have to do this to remove the dust seals. But yes drop them in some hot water (Recently boiled is good) and they will regain thier shape. I would spaek to the dealer 1st though to see what they say. If they are worth thier salt then they should do them for you for free, or at least parts only!

Welcome to the site by the way

[rockster]

Thanks for the replies folks. I've done about 1500 miles since i got it, and there's been a fair amount of salt around so i'm not surprised it's a mess, just wasn't expecting the seal to be hanging out!

I'll chat to the dealer and see what they say, although i suppose it would be good experience to sort it out myself and replace all the seals anyway.

Any views on whether it's worth the extra few quid to get the rebuild kit from wemoto instead of just the piston seals?

Cheers

[yorkie_chris]

Nah just get dust seals, chances are the fluid seals are fine.

One mod which is good, if pricey, is stainless pistons.

[rockster]

Thanks Chris - tempted to go for the stainless pistons as the existing ones are taking a bit of work to clean up. I'll persevere for a bit though.

Quick question - can anyone tell me whether there should be two copper washers on the banjo bolt attached to the caliper or just one? Didn't pay enough attention when I took it off and now I can only find one.

Cheers

[yorkie_chris]

There should be one either side of the banjo.

[thefallenangel]

I cleaned my calipers out about 2/3 times this winter doing less than 1k mileage and they are just terrible for it.

Get hold of some 6mm stainless bar if you can to replace the pins too. shouldn't be too expensive.

But as always money + time are the determining factors.