Roadholder 364 - April 2018

28 experiences reconditioning the standard commando front disc calliper Andy Heathwood I recently reconditioned the standard front brake calliper on my 1972 Commando Roadster. I hadn't planned to write an article but thought as this was the first time I was tackling this job, that I'd share some tips which might help newer owners. The brake works reasonably well but I'm planning some further upgrades. Before starting these I decided to make sure that all the standard set-up was working OK. I'd already put new seals in the master cylinder. The only upgrade so far has been to change the brake lever to Part No. 050429 (from RGM) that improves leverage, and it does make it easier to hold my bike on a slope since fitting. Turning to the front calliper, I followed the advice in the workshop manual to check that I could undo the end plug (Part No. 062185) first whilst the calliper was still fitted to the bike. Following guidance on the web, I made up an improvised peg spanner using the exhaust 'C' wrench and a couple of bolts. This was the result when using it! And the end plug hadn't budged. There are various special tools on the market with varying prices. I decided to go the low cost route and obtained the one made by Laser Tools (Id: 5459) for just under a tenner including delivery from eBay. I used this with a 1 1 / 8 " AF socket and my 1/2" drive torque wrench to give additional leverage. I used this with the wheel still fitted to brace the fork legs. This tool arrangement did the trick. Moving on to removing the calliper pistons, I knew that the outer piston was moving as it should, but the inner one was sticking. I jacked the bike up and removed the front wheel and the brake pads, making a note of which pad was inner and which outer. Again, keeping the calliper on the bike, I used a 2mm-thick metal plate to stop the outer piston moving too far and wedged this in place with some large washers around the calliper body edge like this: