Alloy And Allen's

[RiderInBlack]

I've been "Allenised" No it's not Frosty's son buggering my bike. I was trying the get the retaining pin undone on "Roxanne's" back brake caliper and have damaged the allen key drive in the pin Dam thing always seizers-up (probably the steel reacting with the alloy). Usually I can free it by tapping the the alley key with a hammer while turning it. No go this time. Have ground one of my larger allen keys to tapper fit the damaged drive. Fits snung but the pin will still not turn. Have used CRC, but not heat at the moment (concerned about applying heat to the alloy and loseing it's temper). Advice from experienced mechanics please.

[FROSTY:Me]

Ill second speedmedic.--You'll need a socket type allen key and then a impact driver.
In this case heat I don't think is gonna help. Cold might help though.
I'd use a decent penatrating oil and really soak it in then if the part comes off the bike.toss it in the freezer (i think steel shrinks further than alloy.)
When its really cold then try again.
My gut feeling here mate is that the thread is fucked im sorry to say.
ya may just hafta accept that -remove the bolt and use a helicoil insert to repair the thread.
if the bitch is ridable ill be happy to look at it for ya

[Bonez]

Next time you fit one put some greese on the thead when you get it sorted. I've used copper coat or a graphite based gease for years without issues like yours.

[RiderInBlack]

Next time you fit one put some greese on the thead when you get it sorted. I've used copper coat or a graphite based gease for years without issues like yours.

My thoughts exactly. Should have done that last time Will have another shot at it over the weekend. If that fails, then it's the Wreckers for another caliper.

[Sensei]

Fixed one the other day Take brake of bike , put allen key into head & put a small Tig weld round the allenkey & out she come's, have a bit of water handy so you don't get the caliper to hot . You wont need to fully weld head just in two corner's. Oyea once you have bolt out you can weld right round allen key & cut it off with about 6mm left so you can put it back in & out using a 6mm Ring & open ender DONE SENSEI

[RiderInBlack]

Fixed one the other day Take brake of bike , put allen key into head & put a small Tig weld round the allenkey & out she come's, have a bit of water handy so you don't get the caliper to hot . You wont need to fully weld head just in two corner's. Oyea once you have bolt out you can weld right round allen key & cut it off with about 6mm left so you can put it back in & out using a 6mm Ring & open ender DONE SENSEI

It's countersunk 5mm+ with a slotted grub screw lock nut. If I did this I might endup mig-ing the caliper housing trying to get the allen.

[Motu]

Dumbfucks law of marine fittings - don't put metals of the same colour together,the Suzuki motorcycle designers should spend some time in the outboard shop.Go for heat on the caliper mount,alloy expands 3 times that of steel...but you may have to do a few cycles to break it away.I don't think a caliper is any special tempered casting.Your idea of grinding down the next size up is good,also find an SAE set to see if you can get one closer,some sets like air con have half mm sizes too,they are also longer.Finally drill the head out and pull the caliper over the shank.

[Sensei]

Yea so was the one I just done 5mm into the caliper .Just have to have the right welder & know what you are doing . It can be done . PZ6500 Tig wire wont weld to alloy . These Pin's are made of hard Tool steel so drilling is not to good .Are you able to grip the rod where it go's thou the brake pad ??
SENSEI

[RiderInBlack]

Dumbfucks law of marine fittings - don't put metals of the same colour together,the Suzuki motorcycle designers should spend some time in the outboard shop.

So should fu*ken Honda. Thank for that Motu. You'll hear the swearing all the way to AK when I give it a try this Weekend. Fun thing is, horse give me all sorts of shit shoeing them and I don't loose it. Try the same thing on anything mechanical and I end-up wanting to smash something (which usually ends up being something that is hard to replace and is really expensive), go figure.

[RiderInBlack]

These Pin's are made of hard Tool steel so drilling is not to good .Are you able to grip the rod where it go's thou the brake pad ??
SENSEI

Yep, no sweet. By the way I've already tried the Vise grips on the rod shaft trick with no luck. She's frozen/jammed in there hard.

[RiderInBlack]

Done the dirty deed. The bitch just would not budge. Drill the fu*ker. The pin's steel was fairly soft. Found a tap of about the right size (well at least the thread was a very close match, but the tap was marked 3/4 UNF and the thread would have been metric), and retaped the thread. Made a replacement pin from an allen key bolt (ground the head to slide inside the thread). Put a piece of plastic pipe on the bolt shift to give it the same head size as the original pin, and screwed the retaining grub screw behind it to keep it in place. That will have to do until I can get a replacement pin or get a whole second-hand brake caliper (which ever is the cheaper and eazier to get hold of).