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Broke down tonight :( brakes on solid ?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:37 pm
by 400_Rider
Howdy guys.

I took the RVF out tonight, first real run, got all leathered up and put some fuel in, arranged to meet a mate.

Got 5 mins away, in 3rd gear, givin the bike some saurus 6k rpm and it felt like it was slowing down, now I know theres a flat spot around 6-7k so I gave it more gas, no good, so I went down a gear more gas and smoke started bellowing from the front of the bike :(

I pulled in, braked locked on solid, not good :(

What should I do now ? strip calipers completley ? is this common ?

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers :up: going to sulk now :(

Re: Broke down tonight :( brakes on solid ?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:46 pm
by CMSMJ1
Take some fluid out the reservoir - I'll bet it was topped to the max?

Getting hotter and the fluid then locks the brakjes on. I run mine a few mm from the lower and top it up when the pads get thin

Might be worth a shot matey!

Re: Broke down tonight :( brakes on solid ?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:52 pm
by 400_Rider
Wow ya right mine was mega full :grin:

But I did take a lot out before I went for me run :( so it was only showin half full.

So what do you recommend I do now then ? re-bleed em ? and not do it so full this time ?

I have brand new pads in there too, the pads didnt come with those metal things on the back but I had some metal shim things on a set of old pads and they fit fine, are they ok to use on the back of the pads ? I did grease em too where the piston pushes against the pad.

Re: Broke down tonight :( brakes on solid ?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:00 pm
by CMSMJ1
push the pads right back, then take some fluid out the top of the res. this should help.

Why it was binding to start with is the problem - you sure them shims are needed? Not all pads come with them...might be causing the pads to rub, get hot, lock the brakes and smoky joe and no go is the result!

Re: Broke down tonight :( brakes on solid ?

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:07 pm
by 400_Rider
Awesome thank you so much mate.

Tomorrow I'll take calipers off, take those shim things off the pads, push pistons right back in and re-bleed the system and try again, its about all one can do eh.

I'll keep ya posted.

Oh lucky I did brake down tonight on way to meet me mate, I managed to limp bike home and then took car to meet him, I was late, we decided to go to pub for a chat and as we pulled off just 2 corners away he came off :o diesel spill in the road :o that would so have been me on the RVF if I'd have made it there.

Aprilia falco was pretty mashed up, just plastics, levers and can really, but still not nice to see ya mate go down.

Thanks for the tips keep ya posted :up:

Re: Broke down tonight :( brakes on solid ?

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:00 pm
by nemesis
Does the brake lever have a screw in aduster between it and the piston ? ( like a lot of yams i've owned) If so back that off a little , I've had Yam brakes do the same coz the aduster was reet tight upto the piston ! NOT GOOD ! lol

And , its a silly question , but I have seen it done ! are the pads in the right way ? I had to butcher a set of pads off an old cb900 coz the person had put em in backwards and they welded themselves to the discs !!!

Re: Broke down tonight :( brakes on solid ?

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:30 am
by Neosophist
I have the brakefluid 1/2 way between min / max, this alows room for expansion when hot!

Do everyting CMSMJ1 has said.

When your checking the pads, make sure everythings 'free' and the pads arn't catching on anything.

Since there not sliding calipers theres not really a lot that can go wrong!