mcatrophy
Privileged to ride a 2018 FJR1300AS
A little story for your general amusement
Going to Spain for a week, catching a ferry this Sunday. Last week I decided my rear tyre only had about 1000 miles of legality left, I needed a new one. Go to a local Honda rip-off merchant with my rear wheel Monday, get a T30 mounted, popped the wheel back on. So far, so good.
I always like to take the bike for a ride to check the wheel has been balanced, so I set off along a nearby fast dual carriageway, and when free of traffic I opened her up to something like mach 1.1, and found that it started struggling to go any faster.
"What's wrong now?" thought I. Anyway, turned off the main road, and meandered back along slower roads. At one point I wound the engine up to the limiter, no problem at all in second gear.
Slowed gradually to a roundabout, traffic lights on its entry are red, visible from a long way back, so I coasted to a stop. Changed into neutral so I could rev the engine to check it's still reving ok (no clutch lever on my AS). Seemed very normal.
Lights go green, I need the brake on to select 1st gear. Pull the brake lever, it goes straight back to the handlebar "WTF?" - bike won't engage gear. Put on hazard lights, foot the bike to the side, seems like hard work, but then it always does.
Pull the brake lever a few times, it pumps up a bit, then I can select 1st gear, now it is operating the brake-light switch (yes, I could have used the rear brake, but it's possible I wasn't thinking too clearly).
So I gingerly ride it home, using rear brake only, riding like a granny on an underpowered moped.
Get home, the front brake very soggy. Unusual smell as I remove my helmet. Lick finger, touch front right disc.
"Pfffft".
Hmm. Things are beginning to make some sort of sense. Brake binding = sluggish performance, boiling brake fluid = no fluid pressure.
Put the bike on its centre-stand, blocks of wood under the headers to lift the front. The front wheel will turn by hand, but not easily. Start to look at the pads. Used a screwdriver to slacken them off, the two inside ones on the right side won't budge. Undo the pins that hold the pads, start pulling the pads out. Those right-hand inner ones looked a bit torn up.
(Click on image for larger view)
Wife calls out of the window, "What's wrong now?" "Dunno, brakes wonky." "You're going to catch a ferry on Sunday, ring the dealer."
(Don't you just hate it when they immediately home in on the best way forward?)
So I ring my dealer. "Sorry, there's no way we can look at it this week." (That somewhat simplifies our conversation, me pleading, him asking his boss, this going on for several minutes). Then, "Let me ring our Loughborough branch, see if they can do something for you."
Half an hour later I get a phone call from them, I explain the situation, then "Ok, we'll send a van out and pick it up, we can look at it today."
My relief knows no bounds, at least I've a chance.
2:00 pm, their van turns up. They load the bike in, and off they go.
His parting words: "We'll look at it as soon as we get back, we'll let you know what we find."
They're about an hour from base, so they can't start looking at it until 3:00 earliest.
5:15 I get a call. "Where have you been riding? Have you been going through farm-yards? It looks like you've got baked-on cow muck and straw, held together with fired clay, the pads couldn't move. We've taken them out, freed the pistons, cleaned it all up, they can now all move in and out freely. But the brake is still spongy. We're closing now, I'm not in tomorrow, but I'll leave instructions for a technician to bleed them thoroughly."
Well, my riding habits haven't changed significantly, but the weather's been a lot drier recently. I guess it hasn't washed as much off as usual.
So, now I sit and wait for a call tomorrow. If it's ok to pick up, I will probably have to catch a train (wife's out of action with a new hip). That means a mile walk at each end carrying my kit. That's going to be fun. That's if the technician's efforts are successful.
Report on the outcome tomorrow, meanwhile I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Going to Spain for a week, catching a ferry this Sunday. Last week I decided my rear tyre only had about 1000 miles of legality left, I needed a new one. Go to a local Honda rip-off merchant with my rear wheel Monday, get a T30 mounted, popped the wheel back on. So far, so good.
I always like to take the bike for a ride to check the wheel has been balanced, so I set off along a nearby fast dual carriageway, and when free of traffic I opened her up to something like mach 1.1, and found that it started struggling to go any faster.
"What's wrong now?" thought I. Anyway, turned off the main road, and meandered back along slower roads. At one point I wound the engine up to the limiter, no problem at all in second gear.
Slowed gradually to a roundabout, traffic lights on its entry are red, visible from a long way back, so I coasted to a stop. Changed into neutral so I could rev the engine to check it's still reving ok (no clutch lever on my AS). Seemed very normal.
Lights go green, I need the brake on to select 1st gear. Pull the brake lever, it goes straight back to the handlebar "WTF?" - bike won't engage gear. Put on hazard lights, foot the bike to the side, seems like hard work, but then it always does.
Pull the brake lever a few times, it pumps up a bit, then I can select 1st gear, now it is operating the brake-light switch (yes, I could have used the rear brake, but it's possible I wasn't thinking too clearly).
So I gingerly ride it home, using rear brake only, riding like a granny on an underpowered moped.
Get home, the front brake very soggy. Unusual smell as I remove my helmet. Lick finger, touch front right disc.
"Pfffft".
Hmm. Things are beginning to make some sort of sense. Brake binding = sluggish performance, boiling brake fluid = no fluid pressure.
Put the bike on its centre-stand, blocks of wood under the headers to lift the front. The front wheel will turn by hand, but not easily. Start to look at the pads. Used a screwdriver to slacken them off, the two inside ones on the right side won't budge. Undo the pins that hold the pads, start pulling the pads out. Those right-hand inner ones looked a bit torn up.
(Click on image for larger view)
Wife calls out of the window, "What's wrong now?" "Dunno, brakes wonky." "You're going to catch a ferry on Sunday, ring the dealer."
(Don't you just hate it when they immediately home in on the best way forward?)
So I ring my dealer. "Sorry, there's no way we can look at it this week." (That somewhat simplifies our conversation, me pleading, him asking his boss, this going on for several minutes). Then, "Let me ring our Loughborough branch, see if they can do something for you."
Half an hour later I get a phone call from them, I explain the situation, then "Ok, we'll send a van out and pick it up, we can look at it today."
My relief knows no bounds, at least I've a chance.
2:00 pm, their van turns up. They load the bike in, and off they go.
His parting words: "We'll look at it as soon as we get back, we'll let you know what we find."
They're about an hour from base, so they can't start looking at it until 3:00 earliest.
5:15 I get a call. "Where have you been riding? Have you been going through farm-yards? It looks like you've got baked-on cow muck and straw, held together with fired clay, the pads couldn't move. We've taken them out, freed the pistons, cleaned it all up, they can now all move in and out freely. But the brake is still spongy. We're closing now, I'm not in tomorrow, but I'll leave instructions for a technician to bleed them thoroughly."
Well, my riding habits haven't changed significantly, but the weather's been a lot drier recently. I guess it hasn't washed as much off as usual.
So, now I sit and wait for a call tomorrow. If it's ok to pick up, I will probably have to catch a train (wife's out of action with a new hip). That means a mile walk at each end carrying my kit. That's going to be fun. That's if the technician's efforts are successful.
Report on the outcome tomorrow, meanwhile I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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