Replaced front pads, now no ABS pulse through lever

[bajaleo]

I put new front pads in and now I no longer feel the pulse through the front brake lever that I've always felt in the past. The brakes seem to work just fine.

Did I inadvertantly booger something up?

Leo

 

[Queensland Ken]

A tiny bit of maintenance is always nice.

 

[HelzBelz]

You shouldn't feel your ABS unless it is in action. Maybe your new pads solved a vibration problem you didn't realize you were having?

 

[Fred W]

The pulsing when slowing down phenomenon is not the ABS activating. ABS activating is a much stronger pulsation and it only goes at one amplitude. When it is active it is pulsing fully, and when it's inactive it isn't pulsing anything. You should activate the ABS some time so that you know what it feels like when it happens. You can do that on the road by grabbing a handful of brake while going in a straight line, or in the garage with the ABS test jumper installed. I've done both and the feelings at the lever and pedal are of the same amplitude during the test as they are on the road.

Many people have reported feeling that light vibration / pulsation in the front brake while slowing, including me. It is something mechanical in the pad to disk interface, maybe related to those vent holes in the rotor? What pads did you replace with? OEM or some other? It might be that a pad with slightly different compound might not have that little "feature". Either way, it's nothing to lose any sleep over.

 

[RaYzerman19]

There were some reports of '06/'07 pulsing the front lever for no apparent reason (had their own generation of ABS)..... mine had it, sometimes when nearing a stop or stopped, even stopping very gently. Seemed like it was some electronic cycling of the ABS with a fine pulse that lasted only seconds. Anyway, not to worry, if that is what you're missing. Mine disappeared too but I don't know why. The real ABS pulses are much stronger.

 

[eflyguy]

I've had that on other bikes when the rotor spools were frozen. Now when I change tires, I try to get in the habit of cleaning them up with brake cleaner and a little force to break them free. Seems to have solved the issue.

 

[bajaleo]

There were some reports of '06/'07 pulsing the front lever for no apparent reason (had their own generation of ABS)..... mine had it, sometimes when nearing a stop or stopped, even stopping very gently. Seemed like it was some electronic cycling of the ABS with a fine pulse that lasted only seconds. Anyway, not to worry, if that is what you're missing. Mine disappeared too but I don't know why. The real ABS pulses are much stronger.

Yes, Rman. It was definitely a hydraulic pulse vs a mechanical vibration. Anyway, it's gone now, and the brakes are fine.

 

[C&C]

I'm guessing that you had glazed pads, and when you replaced them, the pulsation went away. I don't know how hard you were applying the brake (so I don't know that you were engaging the ABS or not) but my thought is that you weren't. Otherwise I agree with the previous posts and feel you have nothing to worry about.

 

[ionbeam]

I have to agree with C&C.

The ABS is only triggered when it senses a "slip angle" of less than 86%. Translation #1: This is ABS engineering speak that means that the rotation speed of the wheel is less than it should be for the velocity of the chassis. Translation #2: Which is a complicated way of saying the wheel is slightly skidding and impending wheel lockup and this is the point where ABS is activated. The ABS computer is always doing the math and it will not activate the ABS system unless it has determined that a wheel is starting to skid.

Also, the ABS system is disabled below 6 mph.