Brake rotor R&R

[Lucky Duck]

I need to replace the rear rotor on my '98 Std and I have one that came off a triked Interstate that has almost no wear on it. The Interstate rotor has a lot of surface rust on the contact area, what is the best way to clean it up before installing it. My thought is to use a Brillo pad or steel wool but I've been told that that may create an uneven surface. Thoughts??

THANKS!

[Momz]

Brillo, Scotchbrite, whatever works for you.
Buy I'd replace your pads with high quality replacements (OEM, Dunlopads, etc.).
Brake gently at first to bed the pads in properly.

[Anthony]

if it is only on the contact area :
just mount it and go for a 5 min ride.
it will be clean fast enough.

Anthony

[Lucky Duck]

I have new OEM pads to put on and I thought about letting the new pads rub the surface rust off, I'd just rather start with the rotor clean.  I've seen surface rust on cars that sat out for a while with no use and that rust rubs off easily just by using the brakes. I think this rotor has enough rust on it that the new pads may be damaged by doing that.

A friend loaned me a diegrinder with some scotchbright pads, gonna try that tonight.

Thanks much for the replies!

[Chrisj CMA]

I have new OEM pads to put on and I thought about letting the new pads rub the surface rust off, I'd just rather start with the rotor clean.  I've seen surface rust on cars that sat out for a while with no use and that rust rubs off easily just by using the brakes. I think this rotor has enough rust on it that the new pads may be damaged by doing that.

A friend loaned me a diegrinder with some scotchbright pads, gonna try that tonight.

Thanks much for the replies!

try it by hand before you go nuclear with a grinder....these are stainless steel, any rust wont be hard to remove by hand

[wizard -vrccds#125]

ooo steel wool it will even take mrust off chrome with out scratching. You are right, don't need rust imbedding into new pads ! You may have an alinment issue with the I/S rotor. I know you have to shim a std rotor if it goes on an I/S (w/ 4mm washer), not sure the other way around ?

[GOOSE]

0000 steel wool, NOT 000 steel wool.  000 will leave small scratches.

[gordonv]

I would suggest a wire wheel/brush on an electric drill, to knock down the rust. Then just mount and apply the brakes a few times will take the rest off.

Like you mentioned, you see rust on rotors on vehicles that have been parked for a little while, and they come off easily.

[Lucky Duck]

Got'er done!
I hit it with a scotchbright pad, couple rounds on each side, then finished with 0000 steelwool. My biggest concern was to get the rust w/out taking any metal off the rotor. Turns out that this rotor is better than I thought, if you look close, you can see some of the mill marks that are still on the contact area.

As was mentioned above,  the Interstate rotor is different than the Std rotor. I haven't done any measuring yet but it looks like the Interstate rotor sits to the outside a little further than the Std rotor. I'll go to the archives and do some studying on that problem. Shouldn't be to difficult.

Thanks! It helps to bounce an idea sometimes

[gordonv]

Save you some time. I cut/pasted this over a year ago before I even got my Valk.

*****
Standard     1997 - 1999  Rear Brake Rotor is 43251-MT8-000
Standard     2000 - 2003  Rear Brake Rotor is 43251-MBY-671

Tourer       1997 - 1999  Rear Brake Rotor is 43251-MT8-000
Tourer       2000         Rear Brake Rotor is 43251-MBY-671

Interstate   1999 - 2001  Rear Brake Rotor is 43251-MBY-671


I/S wheels won't work unless ya take the disc and the caliper with it.

The wheels are all interchangeable. Differences: In 2000 and later, the rotor was different and the alignment with the caliper was off a bit. In 2001, all the wheels were polished and the area behind the rotors were just a cast surface. If you use your old rotor on the new wheel, you'll be fine.
If your bike is a '97-'99, use the old style rotor and bolts.  '00-'03, use the new style.

But the old wheel has a 1J in front of the wheel size part# located on the rough casting of rotor side, where as the newer wheels have a 2J to start. Just a note! a ST1300 rotor will fit the old wheel also. 99 Int has the new wheel.

I'm pretty sure no matter what year wheel! if you have the oem rotor for the wheel it will fit fine on any!

No.  The rotor has to match the year of the bike.  For example, if you try to install an '01 wheel on a '97 with the '01 rotor, you will have to shim the rotor so it won't hit the caliper mount.  If you install a '97 rotor on the '01 wheel, you won't have a problem.

The wheel rims are all the same. THE rotor year must match the year of the bike for the rear wheel.

Read Sandy's post above.  The match of bike year to wheel year isn't important, the bike year to rotor year is.