X9 500 SL - Front Caliper R/h)

[okonski]

I've just had a shock (from my dealer) my trusty X9 - which I've had from new in 2002 - has issues with corrosion of the piston on the R/h hand Brembo calliper, causing it to 'snatch'.  According to my local dealer, Piaggio no longer source these as spares, and although he can get 'refurb' kits, at around a tenner, these only contain seals, not  replacement piston - so I'm in great danger of not passing my upcoming MoT with no (easy) way for resolving the problem.

Can anyone advise whether the caliper assembly's on the 500 are the same as on the 125/250...?   I  see a 225 X9 caliper (front R/h) on eBay that looks if it will do the trick, but I'm unsire whetherthese are the same spec.... does the team know?   Or any other possible solution to the problem that I might have overlooked...?

Cheers!

[julian]

The 500s have completely different brakes.

[jimc]

The 500's have very standard calipers.  You should be able to source some from a breakers very cheaply.

[Dave Milnes]

Have a look on the EBC brake pad application chart as to what other bikes use the same pads and conversely similar callipers. The Evo is different to the SL I think.

[okonski]

Thanks, I will.   I came across a breaker selling a Front R/h caliper assembly from a 125 Evo, but I'l assuming this will be a non-starter for a 500SL....   

[Dave Milnes]

I have some info at home on the different fittings. I'll have a look tonight.

[julian]

Yes, the 125s and 250s have different braking systems from the 500s.

[okonski]

Why am I not surprised!      Certainly, visually the pannern looks identical, but there's no indication of scale.    I've had a mooch round EBS, confusinly (I think this is a consipiracy!) that the standard rear pads can fit a wide range of calipers - not all X9 compat sowhilst I'm in the ball-park, there's still the risk of an own goal with a not fitting replacement!

According to the dealer, because of the climate/winder and salt spray, Piaggio's calipers are prone to rustinting and deterioration in this way.... which is a BIG help!

[Derek]

According to the dealer, because of the climate/winder and salt spray, Piaggio's calipers are prone to rustinting and deterioration in this way.... which is a BIG help!

That's a load of codswallop. The X9 was probably the only bike that I rode all year round without having to rebuild the calipers over the winter months.

[Mr.Chips]

I thought Brembo callipers were state-of-the-art bits of kit, fitted to many makes and sizes of bikes.
It's the same as saying 'Piaggio' tyres are prone to so-and-so. Piaggio don't make tyres!

 

[unchained]

Have you tried elsewhere to see if you can get a caliper?
Suttons are still listing one for the 500 but it does depend on the model.
Try:
http://www.piaggiospares.co.uk/sparesPiaggio/epc2.asp?ModelID=1262&pageID=T40

Bob

[Dave Milnes]

Aren't all 3 callipers exactly the same on both the 500SL and 250SL?
The rear calliper on an Evo 500 is also the same.
I can't run my parts catalogue as I've 'upgraded' to XP 64bit and it won't install. Back to 32 bit methinks.

[okonski]

From what my inexperienced eye tells me on the X9 500 SL, the Brembo calipers are basically the same on all three (two front, one rear).  The front FH has the same as the rear.  However, the front RH is the reverse, with a (it appears) swap on the cable inlet and the nipple.  Thether it is possible to source any similar (say, rear or LH) caliper, then modify it by reversing the cable entry and nipple would work, I'm not sure....

[okonski]

That's a load of codswallop. The X9 was probably the only bike that I rode all year round without having to rebuild the calipers over the winter months.

I'm inclined to agree - as other worldly statement's he's come up with were similarly suspect!  The reason why I took it as plausible, is that I use my X9 year round, and this will be its 8th year without any major upset, so I couldn;t understand why the problem was only affecting the RH front, when the LH front was working as it should!

Having had the MoT, I got an advisory on the 'snatching', not a fail - so I'm OK for the moment and the pressure is off. The £120 odd price for a replacement caliper is a bit steep as all I really need is the pistons. The refurb kit (according to the dealer) only includes the seals, not piston - can anyone know for sure?

[okonski]

I can't run my parts catalogue as I've 'upgraded' to XP 64bit and it won't install. Back to 32 bit methinks.

BTDT - It hacked me off the amount of s/w that wouldn;t run, so I went back to 32 and removed a go-faster stripe from my tower case!

[julian]

Did the SL 500s really only have single pot calipers like the 250s? The brakes on the 500 Evo are much more effective than the ones on the 250s I have ridden.

[jimc]

500 SL's are all single piston caliper - all the same single-hole pads, very reliable.

The ones to watch are the 250 EVO front calipers - the two allen-keyed holding pins seize very quickly unless properly coppa-greased and moved a tad every so often.

Don't know about 500 EVOs.

[okonski]

Hmm.  The service guy kept referring to them in plural, so I had assumed they were two-up (to give redundancy) in case of problems.  If the 500's only have a single piston, that will match up with the PiaggioSpares picture of a rubberseal and what looked linke a single piston... which would be ideal since that's only the issue I have at the moment...!

Actually, I tell a lie.  One just happened - running on sidelights, everythng is OK, switch to headlamps, and everything illuminated dies - side, dash-light, rainbow tell-tales.  I've never had this before.  Does this point to a requirement for a replacement bulb?  I would have thought it might have been a fuse issue, before I start stripping down the fairing to get to the bulbs!   

[Dave Milnes]

SLs are a single piston with one each side rather than the Evo twin piston single side with sliders.
The Evo ones are highly reliable and robust but I don't think they are that brilliantly efficient.

Back on 32 bit now so will get the parts catalogue back up tonight.

[okonski]

Ta muchly!

[Dave Milnes]

According to the EPC all three callipers on the 500SL have sequential part numbers the last digit being the only difference but the seal repair kit is quoted as requiring 3 off therefore I would assume the callipers are physically the same as far as the piston goes. The 250 SL lists exactly the same part numbers as the 500SL.
Is the RH calliper just a LH one mounted upside down or is it truly handed? The Evo is handed as the pivot pin is in the same place on both sided but the SL callipers have the pin centrally above the pad rather than at one end.

[okonski]

Thanks for that Dave - very useful.  The only difference I can see in the 500 SL's LH/RH orientation is the swapping of the cable port and the nipple, otherwise they're identical in every respect.   The Piaggioparts site lists the Piston and Seal for £9 plus VAT and carriage, and it makes no distinction between the caliper part numbers, so as you suggest, this looks like a universal repair of any of the S00 SL's brake calipers - which is kinda comforting as £20 is a lot more palatable than £140 for a replacement unit.

I'll order one up and give it a whirl, and let you know what transpires!

Many thanks!

[okonski]

Dave - sorry to be a pain, what is the part number of the R/H caliper for the 500 SL..?

[Dave Milnes]

CM067901 RH front caliper
Repair kit is 494967

[okonski]

Great, thanks!

On PiaggioSpares, the repair kt includes ONLY the seal and the pin - NOT the piston     I wonder if a search for brembo will pull up yj pison on its own?