I took the Cognac bike in to the dealer for a warranty repair on the broken ignition key. On the way there, the brake fluid low light came on, so I asked them to check that out.

Got a call this morning saying the bike wouldn't be ready today as promised because they have to order a new rear caliper. Said the pads were worn down to the point of needing replacement, but they were unable to retract the caliper piston so had to order a new caliper. They also went ahead and replaced the front pads, because supposedly those were thin.

So, for the experts out there, two questions;

1. Does it make sense the front pads would need replacing at 15k miles (this is my wife's bike and she doesn't ride it hard, although we did a couple of trips this past winter towing trailers for about 2k miles)?

2. Does it make sense the rear caliper piston would have seized, making it unable to retract to accommodate new pads? The mechanic said he usually is able to get the piston to retract by releasing the parking brake lever on the caliper (and maybe turning it?), but it wouldn't budge. I have a feeling he didn't know about rotating the piston itself CW, to retract the piston, although when I asked him he said he 'had tried that too' and it didn't move.

The shop is honest and the service manager is easy to work with. He is thinking the caliper will be replaced under warranty, so cost isn't the issue for me at this point anyway (although I'm pissed they replaced the front pads without asking, which I will have to pay about $200 for).

Any thoughts on either of my 2 questions?