Rear brakes half shot on an 05, things to check?

[css4608]

I have an 05 GS and the rear brakes are half shot; the bad way. The Left pad looks like new, the right pad is scraping on the rotor, there is still a sliver of the pad left so I don't think it fell off but instead wore out.  Any ideas what would cause the unevenness?
Thanks

[JamesG]

Do you use your rear brake much (you shouldn't)?

Do you ride with your foot on the rear brake pedal or with the heel of your foot on the peg (shouldn't do that either)?

Have you ever removed the rear wheel? Has a shop? IE: is it possible that the rear axle and spacers could have been reassembled wrong so that the rear brake calper could now be misaligned?

With the bike on the centerstand and in neutral, spin the rear wheel hard. It should make a revolution or two and the brake should not be obvously rubbing against it.
Even if you were applying excessive wear on the pads, they should wear down evenly. I think either the rear wheel's axle and spacers were assembled wrong (spacers on the wrong sides) or just as likely, one of the caliper pistons is sticking and not extending the way its supposed to.  You can check the later easily by unbolting the caliper (you have to do that anyway to change your bad pads) and seeing if both pistons come out at the same rate when you press the brake petal.
BTW- With the old pads in place you can pry the pistons back with a screwdriver. But clean and spray them down with brake cleaner before hand.

[3imo]

JAmesG - Topnotch advise  

If this were a sex forum you'd be Dr. Ruth

[The Buddha]

Sticking pad will eat the rotor and itself, I opened the VX's caliper and found spirals of metal, like you do when you machine stuff ... nice loooooong spirals ... 
Cool.
Srinath.

[css4608]

Thanks for the advice, I will check the alignment and calipers tonight.

I use the rear brake most every time I stop. Could you explain why I should not use it and when you would use it?

[scratch]

Most of your braking power is in the front, expecially when the weight transfers forward during braking; then the rear will have a tendency to lock up, so it wont provide you with enough braking power to stop you in time.  It is a good habit to use your front brakes more often, for those 'emergency situations'.
The only time I really use the rear brake is for the end of braking for a light, and the initial braking for said light, when there is still sufficient weight over the rear wheel, before weight transfers to the front.

[My Name Is Dave]

There's a nice feature that comes from the factory on the GS500 called the "Get The Hell Off The Rear Brake You Idiot" mechanism. This device lets you know when you are applying too much force to the rear brake by emitting a loud, obnoxious squeal, similar to that of a 1983 Buick. 

It is set to engage when the rear pedal is depressed 1 mm.

[3imo]

I didn't get it until I saw the #'s   not exact but it gets in your head easier.

braking power = 70% front  30% rear

like scratch said its all about weight transfer.

you'll see, one time you'll slam the back instead of the front and the weight will transfer to the front causing the rear tire to have no traction and slide.

tragically scarring a perfectly good GS .  oh yeah and a human.

[css4608]

I use my front brake every time I stop; but I use the rear at the same time. I thought this was better since you use 100% of the braking power instead of just 70% or is the risk of locking up the rear tire outweigh geting the 30% of the braking power from the rear wheel.

[daneilah]

To quote David Hough from Proficient Motorcycling...

While many riders are paranoid about sliding the front tire, the greatest danger from overbraking is not on the front, but on the rear.  The danger is flipping yourself into a painful high side if the bike slides sideways during a quick stop.  If the rider overbrakes on the rear, and the rear end starts sliding out to one side, the unfortunate survival reaction is often to let up on the pedal to reduce the skid, but when the tire spins up, it snaps the rear end back toward center so violently it can flip the bike over the high side.

High-side flips are easy to avoid.  Just stay in the habit of using more front brake than rear brake all of the time.  Lightweight sportbikes are particularly susceptible to rear wheel skids because because the weight bias is more on the front wheel, yet the rear brake  is typically a powerful hydraulic disc.  When the rear brake is applied on a light sportbike with just a solo rider, it is easy to skid the tire.  If you realize that your lightweight sportbike tends to slide the rear tire even with just a light dab on the pedal, ignore the rear brake and use just the front brake.

On the GS I'd say I use about 90% front brake and 10% rear.  In lazy stopping situations, like coasting up to a red light, I sometimes just use the front exclusively.  Once you're stopped though, keep your foot on the rear brake to keep that brake light on. 

[gsmetal]

One of your rear pistons is probably stuck (the one where the pad has all of it's life left)

Rebuild that caliper!

(By the way, it's easy)

[My Name Is Dave]

Does our brake light activate when we use the rear brake? I could go look, but it's raining and I'm lazy.

I thought I had read somewhere that it didn't, which I thought was odd but I had never thought to check. But then when I saw that there is one on my '81 Honda C70, I figured that the GS MUST have a rear brake light switch.

Dave

To quote David Hough from Proficient Motorcycling...

While many riders are paranoid about sliding the front tire, the greatest danger from overbraking is not on the front, but on the rear.  The danger is flipping yourself into a painful high side if the bike slides sideways during a quick stop.  If the rider overbrakes on the rear, and the rear end starts sliding out to one side, the unfortunate survival reaction is often to let up on the pedal to reduce the skid, but when the tire spins up, it snaps the rear end back toward center so violently it can flip the bike over the high side.

High-side flips are easy to avoid.  Just stay in the habit of using more front brake than rear brake all of the time.  Lightweight sportbikes are particularly susceptible to rear wheel skids because because the weight bias is more on the front wheel, yet the rear brake  is typically a powerful hydraulic disc.  When the rear brake is applied on a light sportbike with just a solo rider, it is easy to skid the tire.  If you realize that your lightweight sportbike tends to slide the rear tire even with just a light dab on the pedal, ignore the rear brake and use just the front brake.

On the GS I'd say I use about 90% front brake and 10% rear.  In lazy stopping situations, like coasting up to a red light, I sometimes just use the front exclusively.  Once you're stopped though, keep your foot on the rear brake to keep that brake light on. 

[rangerbrown]

the nube that had my biek must have used it all the time, at 2k i had to replace them,    stupid nubies       




the front brake is your friend it stops you hella fast, but wont bite back

[Blueknyt]

to give you an idea, how little i use my rear brakes (gravel and wet only) my rear brakes were metal on metal when i got it and stayed that way for over a year, then i got tired of the noise and put pads on.   same pads on the back for 4 rear tires on 2 stock rear rims and 2 tires on Bandit 400 rim, over about 2 years of transpo/weekend play.

about the only time i use it is when the front will wash easy due to lack of traction.

[3imo]

Does our brake light activate when we use the rear brake? I could go look, but it's raining and I'm lazy.

I thought I had read somewhere that it didn't, which I thought was odd but I had never thought to check. But then when I saw that there is one on my '81 Honda C70, I figured that the GS MUST have a rear brake light switch.

Dave

IT better. it should light anytime you pull the brakes front or back brakes.

[Cal Price]

05 ? Warranty ?? It's two years here, tranferable if sold on.

[My Name Is Dave]

1 year here.

05 ? Warranty ?? It's two years here, tranferable if sold on.