Following on from Maz, could it just be heat conducting from the oil tank in the swing arm?

Nate.

Max / Nate,

I know that I can get "fixated" about an issue and tend to worry a lot about small things, but if you fancy a bacon sarnie tomorrow, I'll fry the bacon on the disc for you.

When I say its getting a bit hot, I don't mean that its a bit warm to the touch - the disc has blued, the pads are fried and I have nice little blisters on the top of two fingers when I stupidly touched the caliper to see how hot it was.

I always ride like a wuss - no "on the limit" braking and (just as a habit I developed from riding through Scottish winters) I do regularly touch the calipers at the end of the ride. If the rear one is hotter than the front, its not good.

The odd thing is that the rear wheel spins just fine by hand after repeatedly stamping hard on the brake with the bike on a paddock stand.

Everyting is working fine, but it is still seriously cooking the disc / pads / caplier!

Brake capliers do not have personalities - they don't just take a strop. Everything I know says it must work fine but something's wrong somewhere.

Beets the hell out of me!

Dave

So, you almost answered your own question ie. the brake is fine and not binding......has the LH wheel bearing collapsed ?

_________________
Mithered ta death.
92 MB
96 S2T
98 S1W
00 M2
01 X1
03 P3
10 CR

Dave , you sound like a feller with loads of experiance behind you and no way am I doubting that.

Sure has me confused now too!

Allways worth a check on the bearings but I have to say I still don't see how that would make things get hot, I'd of thought the caliper and piston would just move out the way and induce more pedal travel. Bearing in mind I don't know everything but just thinking out loud!

I did have a friend that had a Mille and on a run it's rear would come on partial and make things get hot. He was one of those fellers that never uses his rear brake. If I can remember correctly I'm sure it was a fluid issue and changing the fluid fixed it. I recall him expressing an idea that heat getting on the master etc etc, just a thought,,,,

Thanks for the offer of bacon, will call in one day

N.

Are the pads unevenly worn (one being thinner than the other one)? They often are when the slider is sticky or even bent. I needed to replace the slider pin on my M2 last year and all is well again. I found some standard Nissin/Honda parts after measuring the original bits: I can't be bothered to get anywhere near the retards at the HD/B parts-department if I can avoid it, esp since I understand they will try to sell you a whole new caliper

If problems start straight after replacing pads it could be the piston being corroded: After all, the piston will be pushed back in to make room for the thicker new pads and if the piston collected dirt / corrosion then that will go past the seals and seize up.

Other than that: a little sliding of the pads onto the disc is not uncommon, esp when pads are new and still bedding in.

BTW: That remark about the fluid-level: How can that possibly affect binding?

.BTW: That remark about the fluid-level: How can that possibly affect binding? [/quote]

as the fluid gets hot it expands & backs up into the master cylinder which if overfilled has nowhere to go & pressurises the line ,which applies the brake even more etc...hth...whichway?

_________________
........have you tried turning me off & then turning me on again ?

Same thing can happen if the bleed back port in the master cylinder is blocked.

_________________
Mithered ta death.
92 MB
96 S2T
98 S1W
00 M2
01 X1
03 P3
10 CR

Hi, just my thoughts on it. 1. have you adjusted brake pedal for you'r riding position and style? 2. Are you like me and some times wear a pair of work boots! these can some time hide the feeling of pedal force.

Hi all,

Maz - the rear wheel bearings were changed about 600 miles ago (by Tubbs) and surely even a XB won't eat another set in that distance. Having said that, the old LH one was almost at the point of catostropic collapse. I wonder whether that could have allowed enough play to bend one of the sliders.

Robelst - actually, the old fixed pad was slightly more worn than the moving one. Not by much but enough to notice when I removed them. The piston appears just fine: I was surprised just how clean and un-corroded it looked given that the bike is seven years old now and it had been through a couple of Scottish winters.

Sacheus - no, I always wear the same pair of boots for riding and the pedal movement is adjusted for the way I ride, so I'm not dragging the brake.

So, it looks like it could be the sliders after all, although I have thoroughly cleaned them and the passageways they go through. (Of course, this was Maz's instant reaction when I first spoke to him about it!)

I'll keep toiling and let you know when I've found the cure!

Thanks again,

Dave

OK, now I'm really confused!

I swapped out the caliper sliders and the caliper mounting bracket as my first stage in the "change everything" approach.

The rear slider thread in the caliper mounting bracket ("caliper hanger") was looking a bit chewed (ie I must have cross-threaded it at some point).

"Solution found" I thought - I must have crossed the threads so that the rear slider isn't sitting perfectly and so the pads are picking up on the disc.

10 mile shakedown run - its cool to the touch.

30 mile shakedown run - I can cook bacon on the caliper.

Another 10 miles and its just a bit warm, but not something I'd worry about if I didn't think there was an underlying problem.

(Caliper still wobbles freely every time!)

Now, I could go for the full-on "change everything" approach. I have a whole new caliper / pads / dic bolts / pad pin / a sub 1,000 mile original disc. Surely throwing all of this at it would solve the problem? But my concern is that if I do this and it doesn't solve it, I'll trash another set of pads and my spare disc.

I've even got a spare swinging arm waiting for me at Norrie's place - save for a whole new wheel and axle I could replace pretty much the entire rear end.

But the bike rides just fine - roll off the power and it still rolls free, just like it ever did. Sit at traffic lights on the slightest hill and you need to hold the brake or it rolls backwards; on level ground you can rock the bike forwards and backwards between your legs - nothing says it is binding anywhere.

But the disc / caliper are still getting too hot sometimes! (But not all the time, which would be so much easier to deal with!)

Any ideas as to what the obvious issue I'm overlooking is?

Yours, (befuddled of Havant)

Dave

Have you tried riding without using the back brake and then testing at various distances to see what happens?

HI.
you said you changed pads? did the shim/spring clip go back in place!

No idea what so ever Dave, tis the work of devils Dave!

N.

dfs, bloody hell! just wondering have you put the old set up back in to see if it happens? ie std disc shit pads etc? if it didn't do it before why now? process of elimination. bring that whisky round and we can mull it over

_________________
BUELL-Turning riders into mechanics since 1983!!!

Cheers for the replies guys!

Paulalig - I tried this before changing the sliders and hanger plate. It didn't help then but I haven't tried it with the new sliders etc. I guess I should do so just to see what happens.

Sacheus - the spring inside the caliper is in place. I actually changed the shim on the hanger plate when I put the new hanger plate in -it had a nice new shim clipped to it, so I just fitted it as a unit.

Muzza - the non-std dic I'm running now has been on for about 15,000 miles and the old set-up worked fine: all I did was change the pads. Unfortunately I can't put the old pads back in to see what happens as they got binned when they came out. (The annoying thing is that they went into my bin in my garage which doesn't get emptied very often, but I emptied it into the dustbin last weekend.)

I'd be more than happy to take it over to your place so you can take a look - I'm all out of ideas now. Also very happy to share a whisky or several with you, but perhaps not whilst we're working on the bike! (Do you want a lift up to Deliverance?)

Dave