What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pads?

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tanto
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What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pads?

Post by tanto »

Stupidly I left a piece of insulating tape on the LHD fork while doing some wiring, rode the bike, and the tape has damaged the oil seal. Cleared the worst of it out with a feeler gauge but there´s still a slight leak. Worse, fork oil found it´s way onto the LHD brake disk. What is the best way to clean the oil off the disk and the pads? Or should I change the pads?
Last edited by tanto on Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - US Army manual of preventive maintenance.
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bikemonkey
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Re: What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pad

Post by bikemonkey »

Brake cleaner if you want to risk it, I'd change the pads myself.
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tanto
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Re: What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pad

Post by tanto »

Not sure I can find brake cleaner here. Any idea what is it made of? Given the lack of brake cleaner, when I over-hauled the callipers I soaked them in Coke for a couple of days. That´s probably not going to work for the pads. :smile:
"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - US Army manual of preventive maintenance.
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Re: What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pad

Post by bikemonkey »

http://www.ehow.co.uk/list_5985776_brak ... ients.html

Quite a few ingredients..... Wouldn't want to mess with them neat myself, but I'd say Tetrachloroethylene is the most active ingredient. Not that I'm saying you should go messing with it, could be quite toxic.
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Re: What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pad

Post by speedy231278 »

I'd show the pads the nearest skip. Depending on your preference, they can be had fairly cheaply, and at least you'll not have any nagging doubts about having managed to get rid of the contamination.
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Re: What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pad

Post by Neosophist »

What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pads?
Throw them away.

you might be able to soak them in something and get some out but once its on there it tends to soak in and always affect the perofmance.

For the difference of stopping just before a lorry or being under it its not worth the risk
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Re: What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pad

Post by tanto »

Neosophist wrote:
What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pads?
Throw them away.

you might be able to soak them in something and get some out but once its on there it tends to soak in and always affect the perofmance.

For the difference of stopping just before a lorry or being under it its not worth the risk
Thanks for the advice, lads. The bike stops, but won´t stoppie. The brakes are definitely missing some bite. Order for pads and fork seal to Rick O. ...
"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - US Army manual of preventive maintenance.
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Re: What to use for cleaning fork oil from front caliper pad

Post by NGneer »

Wise move in my humble opinion ;)

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