Unshakeable! Tokico 6P caliper teardown. Bandit 1200 caliper OH to aluminum piston conversion with part 59301-33861 (*´ω｀*)

Before I knew it, the GPZ 550 blog had been posted repeatedly.
I wasn’t slacking off—our shop is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so regular posts just weren’t happening.

If all goes well, the GPZ 550 should be registered next week, so I’m looking forward to that.

Now let me write a bit about work.
This is the Tokico 6P caliper used on the Bandit 1200 and others.
Its reputation is pretty rough—it completely lost feel, so the customer brought it in by itself.

A caliper piston that won’t budge at all? The mystery deepens.

It just wouldn’t move—I was pretty surprised, actually quite surprised.
Air pressure alone wouldn’t budge it, so I used a bearing puller for the first time.

I tried something new, but it seems like it could be useful in other situations.
A handle you can grip with your hands would be super convenient if attached.

The inside of the dust seal was all corroded.

This caliper body isn’t anodized.
Calipers without anodizing typically end up corroded like this,
so if you’re replacing one, I’d recommend choosing an anodized caliper if possible.

I’ll do some prep work with a Nakanishi rotary tool.
The corrosion won’t come off even with wet blasting, so
cleaning the grooves first with a disc brush makes the work go much faster.

Equipment and tools are really important for everything—saving time and getting a beautiful finish is what we’re after.

Wet blasting helps prevent corrosion.

Interestingly, a somewhat matte finish resists corrosion better.
What’s not recommended is polishing it to a high shine.

Buffed aluminum clouds up easily, and it’s the same with calipers.

I’ll dry the caliper body thoroughly in an oven before assembly.
Air blowing alone might leave moisture inside.

If water stays in the body, it could corrode again, so let’s remove as much as we can.

I’ll clean the threads so the torque stays consistent and stable.

59301-33861 aluminum piston conversion! Tokico 6P caliper OH

With this Tokico aluminum piston, the dimensions are pretty much the same, so that’s reassuring.
Since there’s an aluminum piston model with the same body, there’s no doubt about it.

It costs a bit more per caliper, but it’s definitely an item worth using.

I can’t stress this enough: always inspect your parts.

If you skip inspection and install a defective part, the person doing the work bears responsibility too, I believe.

When people are involved, mistakes never reach zero.
If the person working carefully checks everything, the chance of machine or work trouble drops significantly.

In fact, I’ve had Suzuki OEM brake caliper seals with the wrong ones mixed in.
In such cases, since we’ve already opened the package, the manufacturer won’t help much.
So we just end up ordering another set.

Don’t assume it’s fine just because it’s new!
Trust your own eyes first, and work with confidence.

And that’s how it’s all done! (*´ω｀*)

The piston slides in smoothly and easily.
With this condition, the feel should come right back and you’ll get nice, responsive braking.

And that’s the finish! (*´ω｀*)