G'day Fellers Holiday season meant long rides so fitted new tyre, disc and pads to rear. Had long rides (yippee) now the front tyre is well worn and needs doing as well. So undid bolts holding wheel, undid bolts holding calipers, guess what? Wheel no come off. Calipers jam between wheel rim and disc with no room to remove. (This is a 1990 model with 17in front wheel) So I thought okay, remove discs. First bolt I attempted stripped out. #$&*% that. Put it back together and kept riding. Consulted mates...some say heat bolts remove discs,, others say remove pads, remove calipers, wheel come free. Either method will work I think although I imagine some difficulty in refitting pads. Of course third (and maybe smarter) method is to take to tyre fitter and say here fit one on that. Anyone got one and what is your preferred method?

that caliper should clear the rim with a bit of wiggling, and yes it is a tight fit. you should not have to remove the discs first. At least on my '85

Hi ZeeBob this part of the forum is titled How to - Article from you telling others how to do a specific job, it is not the place to ask a question. We are hoping that this section will be where members can go to get proven "how to" advice from the really technically clued up members.
Regards,
K-BIKE

This post has been moved to the proper forum.
Thanks K-Bike.
Bert

This post has been moved to the proper forum.
Thanks K-Bike.
Bert

Found it...I think your 85 is fitted with a different rim. No way can the caliper clear the rim with out removing either discs or pads. Seems there is not too many of the 4V models around. Anyone?

Check this out for a photo and you will see what I mean https://servimg.com/view/14908911/69

Hi ZeeBob. I believe that your wheel, calipers and discs are identical to the K1100RS. Do you know anyone locally who has this model that could give you a bit of practical help?
According to the K1100 manual you should be able to unclamp the axle, unbolt the calipers and let them hang out of the way (ho ho). Easy.
I'm assuming that you can remove the axle ok and that its the calipers that are causing the problem?
Have a personal interest in this, as I am in the process of changing the wheels and front brakes of my '89 K100LT over to K1100RS items for the better brakes and radial tyres.
How do you find the handling with the more modern tyres?

ZeeBob. Just had another thought about your front wheel.
You say that you unbolted the wheel then unbolted the calipers. Was reading the manual again and it says to unbolt and remove the calipers first.
Because theres not much clearance it may be easier to jiggle the calipers off the discs and out of the wheels while the wheel is still in place.
Sometimes its the simple things...
Hope that helps.

Thanks CJ I will give it a try. As for handling etc. yes...no doubt the brakes are much better and the tyres make a difference too but not as much as you may think. I used to ride an 86 RT which I loved and had enormous confidence when riding hard. The hardest thing I've found with the RS is the different way it handles as it has the smaller front wheel it rides much more like a sports bike and it took me a while to get used to its willingness to turn. Kept feeling like it was going to fall over. I persisted and got used to it and now enjoy it immensely. I have also fitted a shorter rear shock and lowered the front so it is a gem to punt hard through nice twisties. However it doesn't like rough roads too much and I have found for long rides it is better to re fit the longer shock and raise the front. but round town and on the immediate outskirts...whoo hoo! I have a mate with a K1100 but his front wheel is 18" so doesn't have the clearance problem. I'll try what you suggested and if necessary will just remove the pads and wrestle with them later. I want to check them any way. Also re the mate with the K1100 he has fitted radials front and rear and raves about the improved handling. In fact he fitted a rear from a later model K1200 which he has to remove the exhaust to get on and off but it is a big fat bastard of a thing and he lays it waaay over now. so go for it...

I have a 4 Valve and found the best solution is to retract the pads fully into the callipers that gives enough movement to be able to wiggle the callipers off. One tip is to put masking tape onto the rim to stop scratching of the paint with the calliper whilst wiggling them off. Persevere they will come off but the piston retraction is the key.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Sounds like a plan. Forgot to mention the tape. The manual also suggests it.
Suppose removing the pads would work too.

Aha he cried...why didn't I think of that. Will have a nother go at it. Cheers

A mate of mine is trying to do this job on his 1990 K100RS-16V. On my 1985 K100 it was a simple job with plenty of space between the caliper and the rim. Is it easier to remove the disc in order to take off the front wheel?

I have been doing this a few times over the past week on my 4V and found the best way for me was to remove the pin from the brake pads, remove the calliper bolts, remove brake pads and then the callipers are easy to manoeuvre past the disc/rotor. I have not tried removing disc/rotor from wheel. I found it much easier to refit the pads before tightening the calliper bolts.

Ringfad wrote:I have been doing this a few times over the past week on my 4V and found the best way for me was to remove the pin from the brake pads, remove the calliper bolts, remove brake pads and then the callipers are easy to manoeuvre past the disc/rotor. I have not tried removing disc/rotor from wheel. I found it much easier to refit the pads before tightening the calliper bolts.

Many thanks for that. I will pass it on.

K-BIKE wrote:I have a 4 Valve and found the best solution is to retract the pads fully into the callipers that gives enough movement to be able to wiggle the callipers off. One tip is to put masking tape onto the rim to stop scratching of the paint with the calliper whilst wiggling them off. Persevere they will come off but the piston retraction is the key.
Regards,
K-BIKE

+1. this is exactly what I do on my 4V RS. It is a pig and my rims are a bit scratched even with using tape. It seems like they willl never come and then with persistence they do. Getting back on is also a pig but as K-BIKE says pushing the pads right back will help.

Cheers
Dave

After jacking the front of the bike under the sump to raise the front wheel, I place a small block of wood under the wheel so that when it's released it doesn't drop too far.



I mask the calliper instead of the wheel (this means that the protection for the wheel is always where it's needed).



Then force the calliper pistons back by rocking the calliper against the disc.

Now roll the wheel back towards the engine a little on the wooden block. This will give enough room for the calliper to pass the wheel rim and the disc.



A point to note is that if the calliper is kept in the same alignment as it is when it's attached to the fork leg, it will slip over the disc easily. If it's angled or tilted it will foul the rim. The part that needs to clear first is the hose and banjo bolt, after that the calliper will clear quite easily.

With the callipers suspended on bungees or similar to relieve the hoses of the weight, you can roll the wheel out to the front.

The block of wood means that you don't need to lift the wheel for the disc bobbins to pass between the fork tubes as they will be in line with the two recesses there for that purpose.

Great stuff Mike, thanks. A couple of pointers to apply the next time.

Cheers
Dave

Further to the above would it make sense to remove the ABS sensor whilst jiggling everything about to avoid the possibility of damage? Or would it be more of a nuisance to have to reset the gap afterwards?

You don't  need to remove this sensor when removing wheel but they do corrode into the fork leg so are worth removing for cleaning purposes. They do seem to be fairly sturdy.

Thank you, I left the sensor in place as there seemed to be plenty of clearance and the job was fairly easy using Mike's method above. That said, my brake pads are more than half worn and I imagine it may be more of a struggle with thicker ones.