I've worked on a lot of different motorcycles over the years, of all different makes. And in those years of dealing with the engineering brilliance of makers I have to admit that most of the time there's good reason for how a bike is put together. There are exceptions to the general rule and I have found to really screw things up beyond all reason and rationale it requires an Engineer. Whoever was resonsible for the design of the rear brake system on the 1600/1700 Thunderbirds must have been under one of two conditions, either they were "in their cups" or alternatively, completely insane. I have never had to remove a rear wheel to replace caliper pads until today. To do that requires removal of the silencers. The caliper carrier rides on a welded bar on the inside of the swingarm. So once you have the wheel out there's nothing preventing the caliper and carrier from falling off the bike and dangling from the hydraulic hose/speed sensor wire.
?? To pull the old pads out you first pull the pin on the grenade, er, caliper R-clip and then drive the pin out with a punch. You'll need no less than 3 hands to do this if you already pulled the wheel. Note to self, drift the pin out as step one. It's easiest if you pull the top hats and rubber grommets that hold the silencers on because it's a straight shot through that frame hole to set the drift punch.
To install the new pads the pistons have to be driven back so there's enough room to wedge the brake rotor between them. I used a compressor tool on one but couldn't fit it for the second so had to use fingers and brute force to retract it. I didn't need those finger nails anyway so no harm done.. Once the new pads are fitted into the caliper slots the pin is then driven back into the caliper (I used a rubber mallet), which ensures the pads fall out of the slots and the anti-rattle spring bounces off the garage floor. Ask anyone, that's handy. Get the pin back out, refit the pads and anti-rattle spring, push the pin in until you see stars dancing in front of your eyes so you don't jar the pads and see if the R-clip will fit into the pin's hole. Get that sorted and you're ready to install the wheel. To make this a simple job the Engineer in charge provided a belt driven cush drive that is not affixed to the wheel with anything more solid than breathable atmosphere. So it becomes a balancing act with trying to fit the caliper over the brake disc on the left side while not simultaneously dropping the cush drive off the right side of the wheel, as you must flex the drive belt over the pulley on the right, and install the carrier on the welded bar on the inside of the swingarm on the left, while lifting the wheel in place to align the rear axle thru swingarm adjusters, wheel breaings, and out the other side, all in one easy motion. What could be simpler? Thank God my son-in-law came over to help, because the simple truth is, done per the manual, it can't be done by one person. Replacing brake pads is a routine maintenance item, it takes an Engineer to make it a chore (bordering on abuse). Got it all back together, belt tensioned, brake pads engaged, and took it for a test ride. It all works like it should. Total time 3 hours X 2 people. Don't expect your dealer to do it on the cheap, folks.
