Guest Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Hey all,I noticed an issue with my brakes this morning and hopefully one of you may be able to help me... I noticed that when slowing from speed the front brakes work as normal, but just before I come to a standstill I feel a slight shuddering through the handle bars. I checked the pads when I had new tyres fitted a few weeks ago (also the rears - they definitely need changing very soon) and they were worn, but still had some life. When I got to work I looked at the front pads/discs and noticed that the right hand side (when sat on the bike) disc has a darker band (maybe 10mm thick) just past midway to the outer edge of the disk. This is on both sides.Any advice? I will be servicing the rear brakes soon (new pads, caliper clean and bleeding) so can attend the the front if needs be.Thanks,Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 a damn good service on the calipers if the pads are wearing un even also check the steering head bearings ps moved to pitstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Thanks for moving Stu Steering head bearings... I checked those when I first bought the bike but raising the front, grabbing the bottom of the forks and pushing/pulling... no play at all. I'm guessing when these go you'll feel it very easily through the bars not just when slowing down, but over bumps etc. If/when these go are they easy to change?Regarding servicing the front calipers... is just removal, strip, clean and re-fit with new pads all that is required?Must buy myself a haynes manual for the bike soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Bought a complete set of Carbone Lorraine Sintered pads and spent the best part of today servicing the brakes... just thought I'd let you all know how I got on.I started at the rear... removed the old pads and oh my god... how bad? There was around 1mm left and the backing to the pads had rusted bad. Inside the caliper was loads of crud so spent ages removing it, using lots of brake cleaner (that stuff is marvellous) and a toothbrush. When it was clean and pumped the pistons out slightly, cleaned them and greased 'em up before pushing them back in... removing excess fluid at the same time. I fitted the new pads, copper greased the back, and bled the system replacing the old with new brake fluid... this took ages. I've left a heavy weight on the pedal overnight hopefully to force all the air to the master cylinder, and I'll do a final few bleeds tomorrow.The fronts were much easier to service... a lot less crud... but again, the pads really needed to be replaced. Again I took Stu's advice and cleaned the calipers thoroughly before installing new pads (with shims this time, and sprayed the back with some copper grease). I replaced most of the fluid, bled both calipers and have left the brake lever depressed against the throttle to force air out. I measured all the discs to check they were still within service limits... the fronts were, on average 3.8mm and 3.85 mm (service limit 3.5mm) and the rear was 4.9mm (service limit 4.5mm). So all is good... they don't appear warped and there is no bad scoring. The only issue is the darker band mentioned above, but I imagine this will fade with the new pads Before I parked the bike up I went for a test run... massive improvement with no more shuddering as I come to a stop. Looks like the major service and new pads did the trick. I would say the rear was slightly spongy, so hopefully the bleeding tomorrow will sort that out.I also, at the same time, changed all plugs, engine oil, permanently fitted my scottoiler against the swingarm and removed the downpipes for another clean and paint (I did them two months ago and they needed a freshen up for the new year... I know they will look crap again in 2 months, but I like to keep on top of it as much as I can). All in all a very busy day... I'll sleep well tonight.Cheers,Rick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 sounds like you had fun and a top job done on another note though keeping the leavers pressed doesnt let the air out once you pull that brake lever its a sealed unit so no air can escape all it does is compress the air it is a myth that the air comes out or goes to the top also it can distort the seals keeping the pressure on if you think their is air in there get an easy bleed nipple and remove the calipers while pumping fluid through move the calipers about to free any trapped air and tap the calipers and lines lightly also get the caliper as high as possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Ahhh I was wondering whether that trick worked or not... nevertheless I finished the bleeding today (bloody cold though!) and front and rear are rock solid. Looking forward to trying them out again tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Looking forward to trying them out again tomorrow go steady in this weather top job well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 if new pads remember to bed them in gently and as stu says take it easy in this weather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Yeah will do don't worry I'm an all year biker and loving every minute of it... and yes, I'll be careful Where abouts in West Wales are you? I lived in Welshpool for many years and commuted to Aberystwyth every day which was a fantastic journey. Love that part of the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Yeah will do don't worry I'm an all year biker and loving every minute of it... and yes, I'll be careful Where abouts in West Wales are you? I lived in Welshpool for many years and commuted to Aberystwyth every day which was a fantastic journey. Love that part of the world south of aberystwyth near cardigan ..and yes that road from aber to welshpool in the dry unwindy days is a brilliant ride ( even in the wet windy ones its fun ) and hope to get a tmbf meet set up this way later in the year and do some of the roads ...... or iw ill just ride them by myself i dont care lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Even though I'm based in B'ham I'll definitely be up for a meet over there... I know loads of B&B's I've used (and family) over the years The roads are just amazing... well, never biked them but loved driving them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 First decent mileage this year and after sorting out my brakes. The rear is a little spongy so I'll bleed it this weekend, but the fronts are great. One problem I've noticed with the front though is that both bleed nipples are weeping slightly after my ride to work this morning. Not a lot, mainly from around the thread. Also when I got the bike out this morning (oh btw the optimate 4 worked a treat) there was a slight dribble of fluid from the master cylinder cover. I made sure not to overfill it when I serviced the brakes...Any advice appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rennie Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 a lot of people put a wrist band or something around master cyl reservoir to keep any drips off paint/ bodywork.you could try a bit of ptfe tape on nipple threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 The leaking has stopped now... i'm guessing there was some fluid in the nipple so to speak, and its all gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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