Brake pad switch/brake fluid question

So I was riding home from work the other night, and another rider comes up to me at a stop light.
He told me my rear brake was glowing red and there were sparks flying from it when i was riding!
I knew i needed new pads, but was putting it off... not anymore.

So after getting the caliper off, i was looking at advice on how to get the piston back in. I went with the C clamp technique and literally minutes after reading "don't look into bleeder valve, as it might spray you in the face" I sprayed myself directly in the eyes with brake fluid.
Awesome.
After I got that whole thing sorted out (my eyes are still kinda burning and I did this yesterday) i'm ready to replace the pads.
Does anyone have any experience with the ones from Z1enterprises?
These ones
or if not do you have recommendations for a 82 kz100?

And as a side question, as I've never done brake work before, if the brake fluid looks like water thats been sitting in a rusty bucket for 10 years should i flush and replace all the fluid? It's like a murky rust color right now. I can find tutorials for the flushing and have a friend to help.

Waiting so long to take care of the brakes will likely greatly increase the cost and could have killed you.

If the rotor was glowing and sparking, it is likely that there is pretty extensive damage, the rotor could be badly grooved and warped. There could also be damage to the piston and caliper. That brake fluid should have been changed a long time ago. Are the front brakes any less dangerous?

You are going to need to spend some quality time with the factory service manual for your bike as you carefully inspect all the brake components for damage and wear. With fluid that bad, there could be pitting and corrosion in the calipers and master cylinders, necessitating rebuild or replacement of those components.
The pads you mention should be fine, though I prefer the factory pads.

Whatever you do, do not ride that machine again until ALL the brakes are properly serviced.

+1 +1 +1 +1

Apparently routine maintenance has been sorely neglected on your bike. If you continue to neglect normal, routine maintenance on your motorcycle you may find yourself waking up in the hospital or not waking up at all. Since the brakes were so badly neglected, and since you didn't notice the metal on metal shrieking when the pads were gone, I would urge you to go over the complete maintenance list in the Kawasaki Service Manual and perform all maintenance (brakes and everything else) before you attempt to ride it again. Not trying to preach; just trying to keep you from getting hurt. Ed

Thanks guys,
I should have paid more attention. I only got the bike a couple months back and since the breaks felt fine i didn't think much of it, other than "i should check those soon".
I will be looking for a manual, hopefully i can find one online and I'll go over the steps to check them.

If you have a 1982 KZ1000, then I should be able to send you a PDF copy via Dropbox.
You can pm me your email address if you want it.

Yeah i do have an 82 kz1000LTD
I'd really appreciate it if you could send me that file.

The front brakes look a lot better, but I think I'll replace them all at once, and do all the fluid too. The front looks 10 times better than the rear fluid but it's still way passed due.
Thanks for the help guys

You should pop the pistons out of the caliper and clean/inspect everything carefully. Quite likely there is corrosion pitting in the pistons and there is sure to be brown jello chunks in the caliper, master cylinder, and brake line. Best to replace the lines and all the seals, and replace any pistons that are pitted. Consider this work the cost of owning a 33 year old motorcycle that's been neglected.

BTW, hope you have checked the valve clearances. Failing to do so will damage the engine.

Good luck

I don't mind too much, as this is all new stuff for me and I enjoy the learning process. the problem is the money :lol:
I think I can handle pads, fluid and maybe lines.
If it's more serious and its gonna cost over a couple hundred, my bike's gonna be sitting for a while...


And speaking of valve clearances, is that something i can do with limited experience? or if i need a mechanic whats a rough estimate on cost?