I took a look at my 1995 H1 today and the front brake set up is strange to me. Does anyone know what kinda setup that is and how to change the brake pads? Are the rear brakes the same way?

 

The front brakes are easy, and they are standard disk brakes -- you will need to remove the rotor bolts to free up the inboard end of the halfshaft. There are two 9/16" bolts that hold the brake caliper in place, which you will need to remove those so that can swivel the assembly downward and pull the rotor and brake pads out. The top bolt that holds the caliper is a PITA to get to, so a long t-handled 9/16" ratcheting wrench is a nice tool to help out. Don't line you face up underneath the rotor while you are removing it, in case it slips out of your hands and drops onto your nose (don't ask me how I know this.) And make sure you don't stress your brake lines too much, since they are all hard lines -- I often use coathanger wire to hang the caliper up while it isn't bolted in, so that it won't twist or fall excessively.

You can use a standard disk-brake compression tool or even a pair of big channel lock pliers to to push the piston back into the caliper before installing the new pads. Then put it back together...

For the rears, you first have to pull a small pin and retaining clip on the e-brake cables and pull those off the brake assembly before you can get the inboard side of the halfshaft out of the way. Also, you can't just push the piston back into the caliper assembly, you need to turn it and push at the same time -- you can do this with a standard brake compression tool and a pair of channel locks, but if you are planning to do your brakes in the future as well, you may want to invest in some tools made for the task - they save a lot of time and effort.

Dave Breggin at BlueHummer.com has put together a couple of nice sets of H1 brake tools; I would recommend getting this:
BlueHummer Brake Tool Kit

(I have no affiliation with BlueHummer except as a customer - but feel free to mention to Dave that Manny sent you over...)

When you are done, be sure to bleed the lines if there is any "soft" feel in the pedal. Gravity bleeding seems to work best on the H1, so I usually just crack the bleeders and leave the cap off the master cylinder, and let the air bubble out overnight until I get a slow solid dribble of fluid - then top it off and seal things up.

 

u are the man. thanks alot.

 

Oh yeah, one more thing - on the non-ABS equipped H1's the brake fluid is DOT 5... not real common, but any auto parts store that carries motorcycle, old car or custom hot rod parts should have it in stock... otherwise you may have to have them order some for you.

Make sure you don't top off with DOT 3 or 4 fluid.