When you 6 potted ???

[Suncoast]

I'm about to join the 6 pot club and have gatheresd together a set of calipers and a M/C from a zx6, I'm wondering if you guys that have done it found it easier to take the M/C and calipers off of your bike together with the lines and then do the swap on the bench then re-install on the bike or just do it on the bike??? Also I don't have a dealer locally and haven't been able to pick up any new washers for the lines, is it necessary to replace the washers with new ones?
Thanks again

[Seattleducati]

Just do the whole thing with the parts on the bike. Take one caliper off replace with the 6 pot, then move onto the next one. I didn't change my washers and everything came out fine. One word of the *now* wise, be careful with the reservoir/lever. If you spill brake fluid onto any painted bits, say bye bye to the paint, ask me how I know.

[KitNYC]

I haven't done it on the Sprint yet, but I did it back in March or April on the Trident. I left the lines on the bike, & I think that's the best way to go. I'd hate to try routing the brake line up the front with a master cylinder attached....

There are pretty much 3 options with the washers:

1: Get new ones. That's the best idea. They're 10mm or 3/8" copper crush washers. You could use aluminum as well. (Or does it have to be aluminium for the Trumpys? ) Copper is best, though, & they're generic parts. Any auto shop will have them, though if the auto shops near you are like the ones around here the employees may not know where (or what) they are.

2: Anneal your existing crush washers. *Do not* try this with aluminum; it only works for copper. DAMHIK. Re-annealing copper washers is simple. Get a hot heat source, like a torch or a gas oven, & a coffee can or other metal container full of cold (ish, lukewarm is just fine) water. Heat the washer to cherry red, then immediately dump it into the water. That will make the copper soft & crushable again.

3: Just re-use your washers as they are. The worst idea, but it often works just fine. I've done this with my oil drain bolt crush washer many times, but I don't do it with my brakes much....

Really, best bet is to buy new ones. 6 should do you if you leave the lines on; buy 8 if you're like me & lose things.

Cheers,
-Kit

[2wheeljunkie]

Just did mine. First thing i did was to drain all the brake fluid from the system. i reused the crush washers. Bleed the brakes and all is well. Its about a 1 hour job. Hardest part is getting the fluid to start through the dry system.

[Stlakid]

Did mine on the bike. Easier to see how to route the lines and such.
Triumph and the donor Suzuki use aluminum. I resused mine.

To 'Anneal' copper you would NOT drop them into water, you would let them air cool slowly which would probably take less than a minute on such a small item anyway.

[KitNYC]

Okay, I don't particularly like to be wrong, but what I really hate is not knowing The Answer so I googled it....

Copper, in particular, can be annealed by heating to a dull red glow & then cooling. The rate of cooling really doesn't matter. (Well, it does, but you would have to try very, very hard to cool it too quickly.) Again, this applies only to copper! Here's a good link I found about annealing copper.

Speaking of good links, here's one I found about annealing crush washers! Sounds like my aluminum washers exploded because I overheated them, not because I quenched them.

Well, I learned something.

Cheers,
-Kit