New XJ 650 Front brake pads don't fit?

My brother and I were working on putting new front brake pads on my bike, and it seems as they don't fit. Do the brake pads need to be grinded down before being installed? When trying to run the bolt through when the brake pads are around the bike, the bolt will not fit, or if you were to put the bolt through first and try to fit the brake pads, they are too big to fit around the bike.

I took this picture to show the bolt and how it won't feed through properly when the brake pads are on.



anybody know the problem?

 

Did you figure this out yet?
Try removing some fluid from the master cylinder then compressing the caliper piston with a C-clamp. Also, compare the new pad plates size and shape with the old ones.

 

I had the same issue when I did my front brakes. I needed to pull the piston back out of the caliper and really lube it well with clean fluid. I re-installed and used a C clamp to compress it down. Slipped right on perfectly. I just didn't have the piston down far enough.

 

This is pretty common. Since your old pads wore thinner, the caliper compressed to a point where the old worn pads would still be responsive. Since you have replaced them with pads that are now thicker (by a few mm), the caliper now is too tight to allow the pads to fit over the disc of the brake. You need to compress the caliper to recover the space now taken by the new pads.

If you are instead talking about the caliper not bolting back up to the fork tube, make sure the tabs at the top of the pads are lined up perfectly with that channel. Sometimes it takes a bit of work, but it SHOULD be a tight fit.
It took me a few tries, and what I ultimately did was get the bolt started, position the caliper and pads in place and slide them up so those tabs fit into the slot on the fork tube. This is where a second set of hands comes in handy (no pun intended). Once you get the caliper and pads in place, have your assistant hold it there while you tighten the bolt to keep the caliper in place. Make sure you get the sleeve and washers that go on that bolt in place and in the right order, and torque it to spec and you'll be good to go!