What o2s said...
When I got my tired eBay Valkyrie, I changed the pads. I just mashed the pistons
in a little (boy was it hard!) to make room for the new pads. Not long after that,
I rode to work. I was trying to roll back and forth a little to get square in my
parking place, and it was like my brakes were on! They were. I put some spit
on my finger and touched the rotor, and it sizzled.
It was kind of intimidating the first time I drained the system and took
the calipers off, but they're dirt simple. There's nothing in them except the
pistons and the seals.
There's a way to clean the pistons without draining out all the fluid, though
I've never done it that way. With the caliper off and the pads out, jam something the
right thickness in where the rotor goes and mash the brakes down. The pistons will
come out far enough to expose all the crud without coming out far enough
to spew out the fluid...
Nothin beats a nicely refurbished caliper, though
-Mike
