Article [13] ST1300 - Brake Maintenance - Avoiding the Pitfalls

jfheath

jfheath

John Heath
Site Supporter
Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Messages
2,994
Age
70
Location
Ilkley, W Yorkshire, UK
Bike
2013 ST1300 A9
2024 Miles
000679
A close hands-on look at the Honda ST1300 braking system. These are personal observations about the things that can go wrong, why they go wrong and what can be done to keep things working sweetly. Updated April 2020 and to address more recent observations, to include information about the SMC and various fluids, lubricants and adhesives related to the braking system.

Edit - 25/03/2024 - I just noticed that on P9, the section dealing with the SMC, a half tube of Ceratec grease has managed to creep onto the page. I never noticed this before. It should not be there. You don't want Ceratec or any other sort of grease anywhere near the SMC hydraulics. Just brake fluid. There should be silicone or rubber grease behind the rubber boot for the main push rod - that is applied by the factory, and a smear of silicone or rubber grease should be used on the slider pins. ​
 

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  • ST1300 Brakes - Avoiding the Pitfalls 2020.pdf
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Re: Avoiding the Pitfalls - ST1300 Brakes

Thanks for the great info, Jay. Made a copy of it for my files and I am hoping to put it to good use helping one of our 1300 riders in the future.
 
[QUOTE;1711254]My rear pads have worn out in 18500 miles, and as a rule dont use the rear much.[/QUOTE]

You use the rears every time you use the fronts. And if you're staying off the pedal, you're not getting as much out of the fronts as you could.

--Mark
 
Re: Avoiding the Pitfalls - ST1300 Brakes

John,
Thank you very much.
This is a really good check sheet while you are doing your brakes.
I also check my brake disc's for temperature, but I really like your sequence on how you do it.:ukflag1:
 
Re: Avoiding the Pitfalls - ST1300 Brakes

Very nice write up and very useful. I downloaded it for future reference! :clap2:
 
OK, I didna usta be stupid but I get more so every day. :eek:: When I click on and try to download the .pdf document it comes up saying it wants to down load a file called "attachment.php" not "BrakePadPitfalls.pdf" like the link says. What am I doing? (Win 8.1, IE11).
 
That's the script that manages attachments. It should download the pdf document.
 
Mellow said:
That's the script that manages attachments. It should download the pdf document.
Click to expand...

Well, I did a right click, save target as, and now I've got a file called attachment.php saved here. 1,236kb in size. If I try to open from the link, or from the saved file on my hd, Windows starts asking me what program I want to use to open this .php file. I don't generally have trouble with this sort of thing. The inbuilt Windows pdf reader is my default and usually pops up. Nobody else seems to be having this issue though. :confused:
 
Strange, never seen that one... looks like it's an IE thing. Works fine in Firefox so I would say use that for now and I'll see if I can track this down.
 
OK, I renamed the attachment.php file I saved to a .pdf and it does open up as the brake pad document. Strange. Never had that happen before. Carry on. :cool:
 
John did PM me this morning saying there was an issue but I didn't see it - he had the fix for IE in the original post, I bolded-red an should be a short term solution - same thing you did.
 
So now, after the technical difficulties, I wanted to thank the OP, jfheath, for the document. Lots of good info there. I'm about to get down to some maintenance stuff and I will be referring to this.
 
Yes! Another excellent contribution from John.
 
Thank you for the well compiled information. I am in the process of going through the 2005 recently purchased and I am at the brakes currently so this will help. Have also been through the posted information regarding the types of pads available and feedback on after market pads available Vs OEM. I do like the feel and stopping performance of the OEM pads and will stick with those...looking forward to doing brakes.
 
An excellent write-up which I will certainly be referring to in the very near future. Many thanks.
 
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