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Next up, brake caliper rebuild

N4teTheGreat

N4teTheGreat

FknN8
Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
2012 DRZ 400s, 2018 Ducati Hypermotard SP, 2008 KTM 950 SM
Name
Nathan
Decided to clean the front brake calipers and check the pads. On side looked fine with slightly more wear on the wheel side pads, but the other caliper had one set of pads down to about 2mm of material and the other side with plenty of material. Check piston movement and the worn side pistons moved freely with a little lever squeeze while the other side didn't seem to move much at all. Swapped pads around to buy some time, but I probably should do the work before I go rail on this thing as this seems like a bit too much drag... I will also confirm that the front wheel is installed correctly because the internet says there's a particular way the KTM 950 front axle is supposed to be installed to keep things centered....

 
How much for a new caliper?

And much is your time worth + parts to rebuild?

Which one costs less?
 
Make sure you can get parts first
Check eBay for a used one, which may or may not be in better shape

Be real careful getting the stuck pistons out. If you use compressed air do t fool yourself into thinking you can use your hands to prevent the pistons from shooting out. Blocks of wood are your friends
 
Lucy knows I'm dumb enough to do this stuff myself. I guess if parts are and issue a used set of brembo M50s would do the trick. Put a set of those in my Hyper and they're fantastic.
 
Also, it's not leaking and the pistons didn't show any pitting when I was cleaning things. As I understand it, sometimes just getting the pistons out and cleaning up the seals really well is all that is needed, if I can't find new seals I may attempt a good cleaning and see how it goes...

Or I could just buy these for 150 and call it done :laughing
 
N4teTheGreat said:
Also, it's not leaking and the pistons didn't show any pitting when I was cleaning things. As I understand it, sometimes just getting the pistons out and cleaning up the seals really well is all that is needed, if I can't find new seals I may attempt a good cleaning and see how it goes...

Or I could just buy these for 150 and call it done :laughing
Click to expand...
Yes cleaning things can solve it all.. be sure to watch out which orientation the seals go in. Sometimes there is an tiny lip or parallelograming of the seal that makes a difference


The used calipers almost definitely cost less than a complete set of seals
 
I think I'll do both, but the used calipers to get the bike back on.the road sooner and then rebuild the current calipers for resale / learning
 
By the way, new seals is easy. We just get them directly from Brembo. But if everything’s beautiful and there’s no pitting even on the seals, then I wouldn’t be afraid to put it back together again. On a customer’s bike I would usually already have the seals in hand. I try not to take apart the caliper halves unless I have the inside O-ring to replace.

We used to take the dust seals off the race bikes to prevent drag, but they’re useful on the street

Happy braking!
 
I have a 2013 RSV4 with M50s, a 2012 KTM RC8R that I upgraded to Stylemas, a Husky 2011 TE630 that uses a Stylema on the supermoto setup I put together for it, and a 2025 Panigale V4S with Hypures. I just changed the seals on all of them at the start of this season. The M50, Stylema and Hypure use the same seal kit, and the best, cheapest way to get them is from an OEM KTM parts distributor.
I got them at Motosport, currently $32.06 each:
Each unit is for one caliper, and has the instructions, seals and assembly lube in the Brembo packaging.
It takes about 30 minutes per caliper after you remove them from the forks. I just clean them in the kitchen sink with hot water and soap.
 
Well, the motion pro tool didn't work, maybe I need to separate the caliper halves? I have a compressor just can't run it in the garage for fear of blowing out a breaker I don't have access too. Am I gonna be able to blast those out with the calipers intact or would I still need to separate them?

1000013175.jpg
 
peterhively said:
These tools make it a lot easier, and less likely to eff things up


Click to expand...
That's a great tool tip, I was wondering how to blow out monobloc caliper pistons. The answer is not to.
Arsey said:
I have a 2013 RSV4 with M50s, a 2012 KTM RC8R that I upgraded to Stylemas, a Husky 2011 TE630 that uses a Stylema on the supermoto setup I put together for it, and a 2025 Panigale V4S with Hypures. I just changed the seals on all of them at the start of this season. The M50, Stylema and Hypure use the same seal kit, and the best, cheapest way to get them is from an OEM KTM parts distributor.
I got them at Motosport, currently $32.06 each:
Each unit is for one caliper, and has the instructions, seals and assembly lube in the Brembo packaging.
It takes about 30 minutes per caliper after you remove them from the forks. I just clean them in the kitchen sink with hot water and soap.
Click to expand...
The M50 is one diameter piston? Because the Ducati MTS M50s have a listed seal kit price of $95 minimum. For a few dollars more they can provide new pistons. My ten year old bike needs a refresh, the brakes are not as they were, and test driving a newer bike with the same hardware just made it more obvious.
 
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