GSX1200S Oil-Cooled Katana – Suspension, Brake Outsourcing, and More

Well, well, well! Bike blogs don’t get many hits, do they?
This year I’m on a quest to find explosive viral content—it’s important!

It looks like this back-and-forth juggling act will continue for a while.
The front caliper needs some work, so I’m going to disassemble it.

It’s a nice 3034 racing caliper, so it should be reliable?

It’s been maintained very well, so the work should progress smoothly.

The brake dust buildup is intense.

First I’ll rinse it with water,
then soften the black baked-on brake dust with chemicals before cleaning it up.

Overhaul of a machined brake caliper is easy in some ways.
But it’s also tedious in others, you know?

Since it’s an anodized caliper, there’s no corrosion buildup,
but removing the brake dust is quite a hassle.

Brembo cracks easily… oh no.

It might be hard to see, but I’m pretty sure there’s a crack.
Brembo tends to crack easily along the grain direction of the material.
Can you see how there’s a crack running between the two bolt holes?

With a banjo bolt, it would seep,
but with a “union” fitting, it won’t leak until the taper itself cracks.
That said,
it’s unlikely the hydraulic pressure would suddenly drop to zero, but since it’s the front brake, it’s a bit scary, you know?

So this issue is on hold for now.
Only the left caliper has a crack—think about it (*´ω｀*)

Work isn’t progressing smoothly, and I’m really feeling how expensive bikes can be.