Where do I start...Ok my second bike is an ER5 which has a floating front caliper....altho I have taken apart and cleaned brake calipers before I can not figure out how to get this one apart even after looking at the haynes manual for the bike. when doing the calipers on the VFR the calipers were held together by pins that had allen key heads but on the ER5 theres no heads or anything on the pins.......I know it will be something simple which is why I won't go to a garage to have it done so I'm sure someone here knows...........your help will be appreciated. Thanks                                                                                                                                                                              

good question - no idea of the answer tho lol.   Is there nothing hidden on the inside which requires u to take it off the bike?                                                                                                                                                                             

the floating system is simply to keep the caliper located in line with the disc - you may be able to simply pull them apart, they often stick a little if they've never been apart before.   I'd give it a try but don't try too hard ....... lol                                                                                                                                                                             

surely if they could be pulled apart, then they would just split apart if you pressed the brake? (Pressure against the disk of the piston, pushing back outwards)                                                                                                                                                                             

no, the caliper is one item which holds both pads. It floats on the mount that bolts to the fork legs and moves left and right accordingly as the piston moves in and out.                                                                                                                                                                             

I hear what you're saying Geoff but like Matt says there must be something that stops em falling apart when on the disk surely ...sorry for being thick                                                                                                                                                                              

The reason I need to get it apart is to replace the seals and clean the pistons...ta                                                                                                                                                                              

caliper dosent come apart on these take the pads out then just pump the pistons out or use an airline if its off the bike                                                                                                                                                                              

If they're similar to my old CX, its actually the disc itself that stops them from falling off.                                                                                                                                                                             

If it's owt like my gpz600r it may be a fixed set of pins,easier to explain my removal process,start by removing front wheel(or rear) to remove disc from caliper, push caliper inwards and slide rear pad along pins and the rear pad should fall off the pins then remove caliper mounting bracket off the stantion,with the caliper in hand remove moving pad off the end of the piston take care not to lose the anti-squeal device then the piston can be pumped out to replace seals,hope it gives you a clue,                                                                                                                                                                             

Ok all thanks for your input but alas it has been no help whatsoever....unless you actually see the er5 front caliper then it's hard to imagine....First off..there is no need to take the wheel off as the caliper is bolted to the fork and comes off the disk no probs when bolts are released...secondly..if I could get the pads out then it would be problem solved but I can't nor can I slide the pads to the end of the pins as the ends look as tho they are inside the caliper body. Once again thanks anyway ..but will continue to pull my hair out                                                                                                                                                                              

Hi Herne, apparently they pivot out on sliders, so I am told but I found this for you: ER5 & ER6 Kawaski Owners Club Technical Questions link:   www.bikersoracle.com/er5/forum/showthread.php?p=11214   Hope this helps Allen?   Best wishes Rose                                                                                                                                                                             

The pins on the backplate should just slide out of the caliper body. However, they often get stuck because of corrosion, ER-5s are notorious for it.

To remove the pads you need to remove an R-clip from the narrower pin. it's tucked right behind the caliper body and difficult to see if the caliper is dirty. Then you pull the pin out and swing the pads up and slide them off the other pin.

There's no easy solution to splitting the backplate from the caliper, you have to basically be very forceful yet careful when you pull the backplate pins out of the caliper body. You will need the caliper off the bike and preferably in a vice when you do it. Don't whack it full of heat cos you'll wreck the rubber boots. Once you've got the backplate off you'll need to clean up the pins, then remove the rubber sleeve that one of the pins slides into. The hole that sleeve fits into will probably be corroded to hell, which squeezes the pin so the caliper won't slide. A bit of emery cloth sorts that, and then some red rubber grease will help keep corrosion at bay afterwards. Same goes for the hole in the caliper body that the other pins slides in, clean that out with emery and use red rubber grease in there too. Don't use coppaslip in the rubber bits, it attacks the rubbers and makes the pins stick when they swell, same goes for fitting the brake seals.

Doing the pistons and seals is easy, if you can get the piston out. I usually pump it out after removing the pads. You may have to reassemble the caliper and stick it on the bike, then bleed the system to pump them out. Time consuming but worth it to save damaging the caliper or pistons. I'm lucky, I have a spare master cylinder, lever and hose rigged up on a bracket bolted to my bench, and hold the caliper in the vice to pump pistons out. Once each piston is out and the seals removed you'll find all manner of corrosion in the seal grooves. I use small pick to scrape the worst of it out, then a brass brush in a Dremel to get the rest out and do the final clean up, then use red rubber grease again to fit the seals.

I've done literally hundreds of these types of caliper, they are a time consuming job, but you can't take half measures with brakes.

Hope this helps.

Thanks DM you certainly have helped...will do the job this coming weekend....as for the pistons etc theres no prob me doing them as we have airlines etc at work ....I owe you a pint mate ...thanks once again. Thanks also Rose....I am already a member of the site you gave the link to...and they were no help really ..but DMs the man lol                                                                                                                                                                             

Oh good, glad DM got you sorted Herne, all the best hun x                                                                                                                                                                             

I have similar calipers on my Honda CBR750, Nissin two pot sliders. As Dm says the hardest part can be splitting the caliper from its backing plate. The good news is that once you have cleaned them up and sorted them out its just then a general case of keeping ontop of them. I have to strip and clean mine a few times a year....I think this year they will be treated to a full refurb kit including master cylinder seals etc.   Make sure you replace any rubber sleeves around the sliding pins, its tempting to leave them off sometimes but the holes will fill with water and come freezing time it becomes interesting!                                                                                                                                                                             

Have you got it sorted now then Allen?                                                                                                                                                                             

  Daytona_man's instructions seemed pretty clear, I think Herne would have sorted it, even I understood them.   I wish D M wrote bike manuals then I'd understand those too, it's not so much the instruction really but the INDEX I can never fathom how to find what I'm looking for                                                                                                                                                                               

Nah I haven't sorted it out  first of all I couldn't find the R clip and I didn't want to force it apart incase I bust something.....will just have to take it into a garage ..it grieves me tho cos I have done hundreds of the other type of calipers.   oh well it's only money                                                                                                                                                                              

I know it's changing the subject but when am I gonna get to meet your princess Rose. ***********BUMP************