What no Red Rubber Grease??

[yamaha1300rider]

I have read the fjrtech.com article:

Brake Pad Change

and also Warchild's excellent pics+ write up about his Blackbird ("Front Brakes" - can't find the link just now although I printed it off September 05).

Both suggest the caliper's pistons are cleaned and inserted *dry*.

Now I've recently seen some UK magazine articles which recommend coating the piston area exposed (without making them pop out) with Red Rubber Grease.

So you tech guys out there, what's the heads up on the advantages and disadvantages of using this grease?

FYI I'm about to clean my calipers as the bike's only done 21k miles in nearly 5 years and the brake pads are only half worn on the front and hardly used on the rear, so probably best not to wait another 5 years before cleaning calipers??

 

[radman]

They do a lot of odd things in the UK, like have Queens as both a monarch and a rock group. To be honest, I've never heard of it, and don't really see a benefit-I'm assuming it's applied to the pad side of the piston where it resides within the caliper, and acts as a sort of protective boot where none exists. Any grease like material there is gonna collect pad dust and grit like TDub collects transexual web sites. Guess I'll have to look into it more. The grease that is.

 

[radman]

Ahhh, it is for use packing boots as an assembly lube and such, not as I first surmised. Brake fluid has worked fine for me when assembling components that would be in contact with it-I use Sil-Glyde for the pins, boots, etc that do not come into contact with the fluid.

And yes, a cleaning is a good idea. With 17000 miles, I've already had a front caliper start sticking due to dirty pistons-I simply expose as much of the piston as is practible and with a old toothbrush and brake clean tidy the pistons up, and the rest gets a good scrubbing too. Complete disassembly is not necessary if fluid is changed yearly, unless a problem presents itself that requires a full teardown. If this is the case, new seals etc should be installed.

 

[Warchild]

and also Warchild's excellent pics+ write up about his Blackbird ("Front Brakes" - can't find the link just now although I printed it off September 05).

Here's the article:

Disassembling/cleaning XX calipers

 

[yamaha1300rider]

Here's an extract from Castrol's factsheet on Red Rubber Grease:

_______________________________________________________________________

Red Rubber Grease

________________________________________________________________________________

Rubber Compatible Grease

DESCRIPTION

Castrol Red Rubber Grease is a medium consistency grease based on a vegetable oil and a synthetic gelling agent. It is fortified with additives to improve its resistance to oxidation and corrosion.

APPLICATION

Castrol Red Rubber Grease is formulated for rubber to rubber lubrication where any effects such as hardening or swelling of the rubber must be avoided. It can therefore be used on automotive hydraulic brake and clutch components where compatibility with natural rubber and SBR seals is involved. It may also be used to assist assembly of natural and synthetic rubber components for automotive brake and clutch systems and suspension units