Back up TT's advice on copper grease, its the worst thing for barke backplates and guides, just attracts crud until it builds up into a gooey mass.
Woof, woof!
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Seriously though, any kind of "grease" can attract road crud.
The real issue with the vast majority of copper greases is that they are specifically NOT a lubricant - they are just an anti-sieze assembly compound, which is find stuff that doesn't need to 'move', such as exhaust bolts, or road wheel bolts and the likes. But brake pads do need to be able to move in the calipers to work. Another problem with some, but not all copper greases, is down to the physical size of the actual particles of copper. Some are large enough to actually be an abrasive, and can actually wear the grooves in the calipers where the pad hammer heads slide (obviously, this is not a 'quick' process) and I have often witnessed 'steps' in the caliper grooves - which will then result in serious in-efficiencies of the free movement of the pad, hence less efficient braking effect.
One final, crucially important, but often overlooked problem with copper grease - is that it can react in an adverse way with certain alloys in some calipers. I actually think that Brembo, Alcon and AP Racing prohibit the use of copper grease - and I reckon calipers like Tarox and ECS would also be the same. For these, it is safe to use a nickel or aluminium based anti-seize and
lubricating compound, or they may recommend a very specialised ultra high temp silicone or lithium based lubricant.
There is only ONE copper grease I would ever formally recommend for use on brake calipers - the original and best, made by MolySlip, called "Copaslip" (hard to get, but Cromwell Industrial Supplies stock it). The reason I recommend Bostick Never-Seze NSN165 Pure Nickel Special is simply because not only does it have superb anti-seize properties, but it also has very good lubricating properties (due to the ultra fine size of the particles - 50 microns, and the fact that nickel is similar to graphite or molybdenum disulphide, in that it has 'natural' lubricating properties, wheres copper doesn't). It also has a much higher temperature tollerance compared to any copper grease (up to 1315 deg C, whereas most pure copper greases struggle to reach 1000 deg C, and copper/complex greases can only reach 1100 deg C).
Due to the Japs mentality of thinking that motorcycles are only ridden on warm sunny days, the calipers are very prone to this issue, and TT's advice is spot on, on a bike I find I have to remove the pads and clean everything twice a winter. Bit easier as access is simple.
Ahhhh, another of the big problems of Jap bikes is due to the fact that the pistons in the calipers don't have any outer dust seals - which causes the pistons to seize up too. Add that to the fact that motorcycle brake components are seriously light in weight, if you happen to apply the brake hard when the pad edges have seized, you basically end up actually bending the pad backplate.
BTW, what thread sealant do you use on the caliper retaining bolts? And does your Blade have radial caliper mounts?
Another product I have used and found good results is Plastilube, available from your local BMW dealer or online, a tube lasts years, manufactured by ATE
Just a slight pedantic correction
- plastilube
® {small leading 'p' due to the trademark
} is actually made by Henkel KGaA (who own the Loctite company), and is then licensed to ATE and is made available in ATE-branded tubes.
Nerd mode over, what size tubes do you get it in from BMW? Because you can also get it from any VAG stealer (or TPS) in small 35ml tubes (part number 111 999 319) for £3.19 retail +vat. And where do you get it online? I did try previously, but drew a blank, so gave up! :embarassed:
