Brake caliper question

[war69]

I had two new tires put on my gixer 1000 09. I took the wheels to them. Put them back on and put about 200 miles on them and when I came home One bolt was missing and the other 3 were loose. Do you know if I have to use semiperminant lock tite on these bolts. These are the 4 bolts that hold the two front calipers on. I freeked when I saw this.

 

[RussellJ]

I have lost one once in my beginner year of do-it-yourself maintenance. It is best to use some blue loctite and tighten them down really good.

 

[Tufbusa]

NO!

No loctite on the caliper bolts. Use a torque wrench and call it good. If you have a mental barrier after this experience then use regular blue silicone on the threads then proper torque.

 

[The Big Red One]

NO!

No loctite on the caliper bolts. Use a torque wrench and call it good. If you have a mental barrier after this experience then use regular blue silicone on the threads then proper torque.

A torque wrench and proper torque is the fix to this problem If you're going to wrench yourself, there are some things you can't skimp on, especially on 2 wheels where your life is on the line. Anything having to do with the moving parts of your bike (wheels, brakes, sprockets, steering, suspension etc) need to be properly tightened or you can die....so get a torque wrench and use it
And if you don't have a good feel for bolt tightening an inch-lb torque wrench is very handy for engine case bolts (clutch cover, oil pan, water pump etc), they're easy to snap off or strip if you're not careful.
And of course a torque wrench and 16.5 ft-lbs on the oil drain plug will save you huge hassles

 

[war69]

Ive been fixing my own things for many years and I do own a torque wrench lol. 23 ft lbs of toqure is what the book says and that is what they got. This is why I dont know why they all came loose. I have talk to a friend that works on bikes at a shop. He said a dab of blue lock tight is ok. Did that yesterday and all seems fine now.

 

[Tufbusa]

Ive been fixing my own things for many years and I do own a torque wrench lol. 23 ft lbs of toqure is what the book says and that is what they got. This is why I dont know why they all came loose. I have talk to a friend that works on bikes at a shop. He said a dab of blue lock tight is ok. Did that yesterday and all seems fine now.

What you actually did was forget to torque your caliper bolts. Happens more often than one would think. I did the same thing once. Why would you suggest such a silly thing you ask! Well, both sides were loose, that should be the first clue!

 

[war69]

I guess your right.