Fellow inmates! I have approx 12,000 km on my bike, I changed the rear pads out at about 10,000 km since I was heading out on a trip, andthey were almost worn down. After the trip the pads are worn down again. WTF?:eek1 Anyone experienced this? I'm wondering if the ABS is locking up and causing this? I wheeled the bike in to the garage after a ride today and the rear brake was dragging something awful, the disk was really hot.
Check the pin(s) on the mount on which the calipers float- they have little rubber accordian boots around them. They can lose their lube and stick. I had one stick so badly (steel inside aluminum) I had to replace the caliper.
Check for free play on the rod that pushes up into the master cylinder - there has to be some play. Check for overfilled reservoir - the fluid needs space to go when it warms up. Check for clear breather slots in the reservoir cap. Check for stiff piston/pins by pushing agaist the caliper with your knee - it should slide across and push the piston in without too much effort. If its difficult take out the rear wheel and pads and pull the caliper off the carrier and grease the pins with silicon grease. If the piston is sticking, pump them out and carefully dig out the seals, clean the crud out the groove where the seals go and reassemble. No need for new seals, use brake fluid to lubricate as you assemble. Check that you are not riding with your toe touching the brake.....
Thanks guys, I'll check these out today. I know my right toe is not the problem, as I always ride on the balls .... of my feet!
Just a follow-up on my issue with the dragging rear brake. I followed the suggestions from you guys and ended up removing the caliper and cleaning the pistons, since I was installing new pads and a new Warp9 rotor. Put it all back together and went for a ride. Still dragging! :huh My next thought was that I had packed too much silicon grease in the bellows around the sliding pins, and somehow hydraulic pressure was causing the problems. After cleaning these up I noticed that the caliper was still not centred , turns out that the brake line was "pulling" the entire caliper to the outside. This was causing the inside pad to be pulled against the rotor, causing the dragging and wear. The line connected to the banjo bolt was misaligned, I estimate by less than 5 degrees. I loosened the bolt slightly and aligned the caliper, rotating the line towards the bike. This stopped the pulling and now the caliper remains centred. Hopefully this is an end to this saga; something to check on your next brake job!
I have since removed the brake line clip nearest to the caliper, this will allow flexibility in movement of the brakeline as the pads wear down and caliper self adjusts. Tied the ABS cable to the brakeline with cable tie as well.
