Need help!

[sandman53]

Changed my tire today, and I can't get my brake pads on the rotor! Any help/ideas?

[Chupaca]

did anyone apply the brakes while the wheel was off..?? You need to insert a blade of sorts and push the pads apart to where the disc will slide between them. This should be easy enough unless the brake pistons have been pushed to far out and are not lined up to retract. Then it get a bit harder. Try seperating the pads enough to get the disc in...

[Bob Denman]

I have a honkin'-big screwdriver that I use just for this sort of thing...
I slide it in between the pads, and give it a twist...
Anything that can bridge that span between them ought to do the trick.

EDIT: which year bike are we talking about??
As I think about this; I seem to recall some of the Brembo-equipped bikes, giving folks fits with this.

[cognaccruiser]

Is your Spyder a 14 or newer? This happened with my 14 when I changed to rear tire the second time I removed it. (long story). For some reason mine came out a small fraction of an inch. Probably about 1/16th. I have no recollection of touching the brake. It was enough to stop me from being able to slide the calliper back on the disk. The piston on 14's can't just be pushed back in like the older models. There are 2 small holes in the face of the piston. The piston must be turned to get it to retract. A pair of needle nose pliers should work. At the time I didn't want to screw around with it and my dealer picked up the Spyder and took it in and it took a matter of minutes for the tech to fix it. They didn't charge me anything for the pick up or the fix. Knowing this now I'm sure I could get it done myself. Take a look and give it a try.
Hope this helps.

Gary

[jtoro1]

Is your Spyder a 14 or newer? This happened with my 14 when I changed to rear tire the second time I removed it. (long story). For some reason mine came out a small fraction of an inch. Probably about 1/16th. I have no recollection of touching the brake. It was enough to stop me from being able to slide the calliper back on the disk. The piston on 14's can't just be pushed back in like the older models. There are 2 small holes in the face of the piston. The piston must be turned to get it to retract. A pair of needle nose pliers should work. At the time I didn't want to screw around with it and my dealer picked up the Spyder and took it in and it took a matter of minutes for the tech to fix it. They didn't charge me anything for the pick up or the fix. Knowing this now I'm sure I could get it done myself. Take a look and give it a try.
Hope this helps.

Gary

Same with 2013 and up

[SpyderAnn01]

Is your Spyder a 14 or newer? There are 2 small holes in the face of the piston. The piston must be turned to get it to retract. A pair of needle nose pliers should work.

Gary

That is the trick!

[Bob Denman]

There are 2 small holes in the face of the piston. The piston must be turned to get it to retract. A pair of needle nose pliers should work.

Just the same way that you'd screw a bolt into a threaded hunk of metal?

[cognaccruiser]

Just the same way that you'd screw a bolt into a threaded hunk of metal?

Pretty much.

[Bob Denman]

Thanks!
(A Wintertime project, will be to look over the condition of my Brake pads...)

[KJWEB]

A trick I learned when taking the break calipers off the rotors is, I used a folded up piece of cardboard and slid it between the pads

[sandman53]

I screwed up. I put the brake on while I had the bike off the ground. Next time I will think first. Took it all apart and learned alot. Now I can change my own brake pads. Thanks for all your comments!

[jerpinoy]

Rear brakes on my Lexus have the same way turning the piston to retract.

[rbob]

Rear brakes on my Lexus have the same way turning the piston to retract.

Yes, any calliper that is also used for the emergency brake, like the spider, requires the piston to rotate as it is pushed back. My C clamp with a moveable head to push the piston back simply rotates with the piston as it pushes the piston back. My pads were paper thin when I changed the second tire at 35000 km. The front pads still had 40 % thickness left.

Bob

[brerrabbit]

When I did mine, I removed the emergency brake cable and pulled the emergency brake lever as far forward as possible and screwed the piston in without any clamps. Not sure if pulling the lever released the brake fluid but after close to three hours messing with it, it was sure nice to get it to move. It moved very easily. I think the parking brake will move the piston in when the brake is set and that is probably what closes the gap on most of us.

=bob=