Front brake sticking - help!

[vinny]

So, i noticed my front brake is sticking on slightly. Not enough to affect driving/acceleration, but enough that after a 15mile drive its warm ~> hot to touch. Whereas the rear is hardly warm.

The front brake pads and discs were new approx 1000miles ago, if that, so im assuming their not worn down yet.

My guess so far (I cant check until tomorrow, damn rain) is the pads are sticking in the calipers.. would a touch of copper-grease on the edges/back fo the pad help?

OR

Could it be a problem with the brake fluid? Too much?..

Any suggestions, Please?

[Twisted]

The front brake always rubs a lil. You will hear it when you are pushing the bike around with the engine off. Is it so bad that you can not push the bike?

[jacob_ns]

Pop the front tire up in the air and try and spin it. If it won't spin more than once or twice they're really sticking and you'll need to check out the piston and seals in your calipers for corrosion or general degradation. Alternatively it could be the pin sliders but the resolution is the same; rebuild the caliper. It's not difficult or expensive to do this job and should take you an afternoon at most. A caliper rebuild kit is about $25 for the caliper piston seals and dust seals and maybe $10 for a bottle of DOT4 brake fluid.

Disassemble the front brake, clean it really well with brake cleaner and check for scoring on the piston cylinder and the piston itself. Lubricate the new seals with brake caliper grease and install. Check the pins for wear or corrosion and grease them. Ensure the pad guides are present and not damaged. Reassemble the caliper.

Bleed your brakes and hit the road.

[vinny]

The wheels spins approx 3-4 times easily..

Ok i checked and cleaned the caliper this morning, as much as a i could without dissembling the whole thing. Put some copper grease on the back and sides of the pads too.

It didnt help. At all. Also, my front pads are almost at the wear limit! they were new less than 3k miles ago!!!

Looks like a rebuild is in order, and new pads!...

[GSnoober]

You didn't mention what year the GS is, but you probably have a lot of crud in the bottom of the caliper, so a rebuild will put everything right again. The worst I've ever seen was on an old Honda CB550 owned by a friend; the wheel was completely locked after the CB sat all winter.

Hope you'll take some pics so we can see how nasty the inside of your caliper is... they'll help to remind everyone else that calipers need maintenance and shouldn't be ignored.

Just wondering; what pads did you install last time?

[burning1]

So... Wait... 15 mile ride, you brake to a stop at the end of the ride, and the rotor is warm to the touch, is that correct?

Braking generates huge amounts of heat, even from fairly mild applications of the brake.

If you get 3 - 4 turns of the front wheel when spinning it by hand, you're fine. If you get one rev, you have a problem. If you have a hard time pushing around the bike, you have a serious issue.

[jcroom]

Someone gave me some good advice a while ago, ride your bike around the block a few times using the rear brake only, when you come back in if the rotor is too hot to touch you have a problem.

[twinrat]

had a similar problem to yours even discoloured the disk .Problem was the pin at the front that the pad passes through was corroded after 12 months creating a friction point stopping the pad from relocating,also the hole in the pad was a tight fit because it had a flashing dag on it from factory there by causing friction . CURE  file hole in pad larger  and polish pin up .

[sledge]

The pins are plated to stop them rusting, however the coating is very thin and soon wears off. Polishing just removes more of the plating and causes more rusting making the situation worse. I wouldn't lube or grease them in case it melts and runs onto the friction surfaces.

New pins and the retaining clips are not expensive, best way to prevent the problem is to change them with the pads.

[GSnoober]

If the brake pads wore out in less than 3K miles, you DO have a problem! Brake drag that severe has to be addressed; now I'm curious about the condition of your front wheel bearings. No, they really don't have any effect on the brake, but bad bearings will certainly increase rolling resistance, making the motorcycle MUCH harder to push.

I do hope you use a good torque wrench on the major fasteners; I've had my Craftsman wrenches for more than 20 years now, and I consider them to be among the best tool investments I've ever made. If you don't have torque wrenches, buy / beg / borrow / steal / rent some, and use them for the peace of mind they provide.

You've had good advice here to point you in the right direction; you're going to have to replace those worn brake pads, so you might as well make a complete job of it and rebuild the caliper. Don't forget to COMPLETELY replace the brake fluid; simply topping it off doesn't get the old water-logged fluid out of the system. Fresh pads, fresh fluid, rebuilt caliper, all bolts properly torqued... if you have a problem after that, you've probably got a defective master cylinder.

Time to do some disassembly; good luck, and let us know what you find.

[Twisted]

If the pads were rubbing that bad I would have expected them to bind to the rotor as it heated up.

[mister]

Vinny, when you brake, do you use any engine braking or is the bike's stopping reliant solely on the front brake being applied? Are you are late braker or early slower - I understand sometimes late hard braking is called for, but not when approaching lights which are already red, T intersection, etc. Were the brake pads like OEM or some cheap knockoff sh!t from some joint in China?

All these things can affect brakepad wear.

Michael

[vinny]

Vinny, when you brake, do you use any engine braking or is the bike's stopping reliant solely on the front brake being applied? Are you are late braker or early slower - I understand sometimes late hard braking is called for, but not when approaching lights which are already red, T intersection, etc. Were the brake pads like OEM or some cheap knockoff sh!t from some joint in China?

All these things can affect brakepad wear.

Michael

I ALWAYS use engine braking as well as the brakes.
I ALWAYS use both the front and rear brake. - Except LOW speed ie: carparks, then only rear.

Id say a bit of both. When i can see the road clearly, i brake early. When im having fun, i brake late.

The NEW pads are "kyoto" The old ones were the same i think?

Rebuilt as previously mentioned, i DIDNT replace the seals, they looked fine. New pads are (Finally) in.
Test ride:
The new pads are rubbing too. The front wheel with only spin 2 times when spun quick 3rd of a turn by hand.
Pulled in at local suzuki dealer, they said its just the new ones bedding in, if its still doing it in a few hundred miles, then rebuilt and replace caliper seals..

Sorry, i forgot to get pictures.
Also, the 3000miles is from last August i think.. so, they lasted a year.

[Dr.McNinja]

Vinny, when you brake, do you use any engine braking or is the bike's stopping reliant solely on the front brake being applied? Are you are late braker or early slower - I understand sometimes late hard braking is called for, but not when approaching lights which are already red, T intersection, etc. Were the brake pads like OEM or some cheap knockoff sh!t from some joint in China?

All these things can affect brakepad wear.

Michael

I ALWAYS use engine braking as well as the brakes.
I ALWAYS use both the front and rear brake. - Except LOW speed ie: carparks, then only rear.

Id say a bit of both. When i can see the road clearly, i brake early. When im having fun, i brake late.

The NEW pads are "kyoto" The old ones were the same i think?

Rebuilt as previously mentioned, i DIDNT replace the seals, they looked fine. New pads are (Finally) in.
Test ride:
The new pads are rubbing too. The front wheel with only spin 2 times when spun quick 3rd of a turn by hand.
Pulled in at local suzuki dealer, they said its just the new ones bedding in, if its still doing it in a few hundred miles, then rebuilt and replace caliper seals..

Sorry, i forgot to get pictures.
Also, the 3000miles is from last August i think.. so, they lasted a year.

They are correct. Brakes do have a "breaking-in" period, if you will, that you should be mindful of. Go easy on your braking for 100 miles while they bed. But I'm thinking they're missing the actual problem. Have you actually investigated the components of your caliper for damage? Pick up a haynes manual or find the diagram online. If your brake internals are fine it is definitely the bedding period. If they aren't, well, you've found your problem! Repair and replace the damaged parts and ride.