Sticking brakes of pad change + new rotors

[dgfella]

Gang,

I finally got around to putting on the Galfer rotors, front and rear. I also replaced the pads as well with Carbon Lorraines.

It appears that both wheels have a bit of drag on them, and are not releasing fully. I've bled the brakes, but they still stick. I also partially diassembled the calipers, and sprayed them down with brake cleaner. This had a slight improvement in release, but they are still sticking a bit. I had 17k miles on the original pads.

Do I have to fully diassemble the calipers and clean everything out (e.g. pistons, seals, etc...)? Does anybody have any other solutions? I want to go riding, but don't want to ride around with this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

dgfella

 

[SPORT]

Gang,
I finally got around to putting on the Galfer rotors, front and rear. I also replaced the pads as well with Carbon Lorraines.

It appears that both wheels have a bit of drag on them, and are not releasing fully. I've bled the brakes, but they still stick. I also partially diassembled the calipers, and sprayed them down with brake cleaner. This had a slight improvement in release, but they are still sticking a bit. I had 17k miles on the original pads.

Do I have to fully diassemble the calipers and clean everything out (e.g. pistons, seals, etc...)? Does anybody have any other solutions? I want to go riding, but don't want to ride around with this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

dgfella

Sounds like you've done plenty. I would just compress the pistons, install the pads, install the calipers and pump the brake lever (bleed if system was opened). You'll probably 'hear' a slight drag as you spin the wheel by hand, but it should not be what stops the wheel from free spinning.

If it is what stops the wheel from spinning, then it may be sticky calipers. Though unusual, you may need to dis-assemble each caliper completely, clean out the piston cavity, remove the o-rings (maybe even replace with new), scotch bright the piston walls and cavity walls, re-assemble, then repeat the above steps. If you have ABS, be sure to follow the recommended dis-assembly, re-assembly and bleeding procedures as stated in your manual.

I've done more than I can count during my A&P career.

Hope this helps.

Sport

 

[spalkin]

Just an idea, but, when it's all assembled, are the calipers stuffed to their limit? I mean are the rotors thicker and the pads making it jam? Are the rotors offset at all?

 

[dgfella]

Sport: The wheel free spins just a bit. There is defintely drag on the wheel. It's as if the brakes are not fully releasing. They are rubbing against the rotors. The rotors heat up considerably when you ride. I rode the bike 10 miles or so to see if that made a difference, but it did not. Do you think if I should just ignore this and let the pads wear in a bit?

Spalkin: Originally, before bleeding the brakes, the pads were stuffed tightly. The bleed took care of that.

 

[Afast03nNJ]

A small amount of drag is normal. Go riding and break them in.

 

[SPORT]

Sport: The wheel free spins just a bit.

When you say, "just a bit", does that mean you can get about 1 revolution when spinning either wheel by hand? If so, you should be good. Generally speaking, if the wheel spins less than, say, 1/8 revolution, then there might be something wrong. At this point I'd look at the following:

1) thickness of the pads and rotors. Are either too thick? Or,

2) Spacers. The rear wheel has spacers for proper allignment. Be sure they are properly located.

That's really all it could be...les someone else can add to that.

Calipers will automatically retract (albiet only millimeters) when releasing the brake lever. It would be EXTREMELY uncommon that is your case. If it were, the brake plunger and housing would need to be replaced. Nevertheless, I would not even consider this being a viable option.

It is likely that Afast03nNJ is correct. You may need to just go ride it some more. Maybe to your nearest dealer and get a second opinion???

Hope this helps.

Sport

 

[GalaxyBlue]

Welcome to my hell...

I have had nothing but trouble out of my front Galfer rotors.

Here is my thread from this spring.

I had Smitty install them this spring, And they were dragging a bit, But i thought this was normal. After a quick break-in, I loaded up and headed to California. The problem got worse, And they were pulsating. On the return, I visited with Art and we both could not figure it out.

Fast forward to 3 weeks ago...

I took my trip to EOM after mounting up a fresh set of Roadsmarts, And i inspected the pads and rotors, And they appeared to be ok...huh.

By the time i returned from EOM, They were so ******* bad, I removed them and intalled the stock rotors...Smoooooth again.

I am preparing to do battle with Galfer on these, As cal-sportbike pushed the warranty directly to Galfer USA,Per Todd.

Your in the beginning stages of a bad relationship, My friend. Sorry to say.

Adam

 

[03HiYoSilver]

dg,

Not sure it this will help you out.

1-Sand the pads flush so the surface is flat. I found on some pads they were waving and making uneven contact since the surface was uneven and causing touching braking.

2- Make sure your brake adjusters are backed out to the max level to accomodate room for the new pads.

3-OEM pads may be better, mine were replaced at 35k and still had about 10-15% life, I was told they are better.

Good luck on your fix...sometimes better is not always better.

 

[HotRodZilla]

dg,
Not sure it this will help you out.

1-Sand the pads flush so the surface is flat. I found on some pads they were waving and making uneven contact since the surface was uneven and causing touching braking.

2- Make sure your brake adjusters are backed out to the max level to accomodate room for the new pads.

3-OEM pads may be better, mine were replaced at 35k and still had about 10-15% life, I was told they are better.

Good luck on your fix...sometimes more expensive is not always better.

There...fixed that for ya!

 

[yamaholic]

I suggest removing the calipers and use solvent with a toothbrush to remove the gunk around the piston seals. That is basically a maintenance item anyway.

Then sand the pads on a FLAT surface.

Reinstall and try again. If still sticking, try the stock pads. I don't think the rotor is the problem here unless they pulsate, which would indicate out of round.

I love the Galfers..5 years of excellent service so far.

Adjusting the lever travel has no bearing on this whatsoever. Leave 'em alone.

Good luck!

 

[S76]

Just my opinion but I generally stick to OEM parts for brakes and rotors for the car/truck and the bikes. The manufacturers usually do a pretty good job of balancing pad and disc qualities. If they are too hard they don't work good. If they are too soft they wear to quick. If the pads are hard and the disc is soft the disc will suffer wear. Then they have to make them so they are effective on the first stop of the day and do not require too much warm up. Not to mention wet weather operation. I would imagine it's quite a balancing job to get them to work really good.

No doubt aftermarket manufacturers may capture one of the elemets of performance maybe better than than the OEM but what about the other aspects? I think this bike has really good brakes, I wouldn't mess with it.

But that's just me.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I suggest removing the calipers and use solvent with a toothbrush to remove the gunk around the piston seals.

Gunny!

Usually the pistons get dirty the farther out the pistons go. The more worn the old brakes are, the more the pistons stick out and get exposed to dirt. When you get new pads and push the pistons all the way back in you're also pushing that dirt into the seals. That's bad and it prevents the pistons from relaxing to not drag.

Always clean the pistons as best as possible before sinking them back into the calipers. Be careful on brake cleaners, etc, that won't attack your seals.

Good luck.

 

[dgfella]

Everyone:

Thanks for the replies. I cannot spin the wheel more than an 1/8th of a revolution. I've driven about 50 miles with this situation and it hasn't gotten any better. My next step is to disassemble the calipers and thoroughly clean the pistons with a toothbrush and brake cleaner.

FYI, I'm running the Carbon Lorraine pads from the ABM group buy. I do notice that overall the bike is braking better as I've got to have a lighter touch on the lever. I may also try to swith back to the worn stock pads to see if this improves the situation. If it does work, I'll go buy some new stock pads.

GalaxyBlue: I hope it all works out for you. Keep a thread going on your progress.

 

[yamaholic]

Hey DG-

Thought of something....did you put the wheel spacers in the correct location/orientation??? If you did not, the wheel will not be centered properly and will rub the rotors "offcenter". Remove the wheel, swap the spacers and try it again!

Betcha that's what's going on!!!!

 

[gasportrider]

dgfella,

You might try a trick of the trade used by roadracers.

After having the pistons pushed back into the caliper; start actuating the brake lever with very tiny movements and plan on having to complete several hundred actuations before the brakes pads are fully engaged against the rotor.

The idea is that the seals should have a bit of stretched tension so that the seals tend to pull the pistons backward and away from the rotor after the brakes are released. Racers do this process so as to eliminate excessive brake drag and maximize acceleration.

Good luck.