Front Brake Problem

[Dan Gixxer]

2005 Busa, right front caliper draging, warpped rotor. I rebuilt both calipers and replaced both front rotors with new ones. Right caliper still draging, overheating rotor. Hyd. system seems to be working fine. Any ideas? Bent fork? Bent caliper mount? I can try a new caliper but I hate to keep throwing money at it. Can gen II front brakes be installed on my old Busa?
Thanks

[Acehole]

My 05 did the same thing on the left side. Warped so bad half the rivets came loose. I replaced the rotor with an EBC X and cleaned the caliper pistons. A small amount of drag but not over heating. Wish i had a better answer for you, but i feel your pain.

[delbert]

are you still running original brake hoses ? if so it could be the hose to that caliper at fault , they can collapse inside and act as a one way valve

[Dan Gixxer]

I believe now its all in the pinch bolts and the front axle.

[BlueBacon]

digging up the past...rotor on clutch lever side (left) is significantly warmer than my brake lever side (right).

'03 Busa-stock 3 spoke black wheels-stock calipers-Galfer Wave rotors-EBC HH pads.
Pulled off the front wheel and got a new front tire. Tire was put on in same direction as last-so the rim hasn't been rotated.
While rotors were off, I noticed the outside left brake pad (clutch side) was 1/2 the size of all other pads. Put front wheel on, seemed like more brake drag than usual while pushing bike around, but drove 150 miles because of work.
Cleaned the rotors with hot soapy water+brush. Sprayed front pads and rotors with brake cleaner, and wiped with paper towel. I tightened calipers back on by hand tightening bolts, squeezing brake lever, then wrenching the bolts.
Moving bike now feels more normal and brake lever/feel is VASTLY improved. After 1hr commute, front left rotor is almost twice as hot as the right...almost too hot to touch. Last 10 mins of riding was 25MPH with very light braking through a neighborhood, and no front brakes were applied the 5mins before parking.


Is there any way to misalign the front wheel? There are no external spacers for the front wheel...right? Just the axle and the "nut"...bearings and inner sleeve are inside the rim.

[sixpack577]

The caliper pistons aren't retracting far enough, as brake dust crud has built up on them, and over time slowly decreased the distance that they can return to when the brakes are released.
You cleaned off what was visible, but need to actually remove the pistons and clean them off completely.
You can reuse the old seals, but given their age, and that hardened dust constantly against them, you would be much better off to just replace them, rather than risk leaks.
You will also see how much dirtier the fluid behind the pistons are, vs what it looks like in the master cylinder resivor.

[sixpack577]

Notice the baked on hardened crud on the outside of the pistons, which is at or even under the seals.

[BlueBacon]

Notice the baked on hardened crud on the outside of the pistons, which is at or even under the seals.

Makes sense. I cleaned them enough so that all the pistons moved again, but I do agree they should be removed and brushed down. The pistons themselves looked great, surprisingly!
I'm going to order pads now from Brakecrafters and give the Goldfren S33 a try. Won't be putting the pads on till early next year, but will pull pistons and seals when I do.

As a 2nd question: Why does it seems like outer rubber of the wheel bearings scrape against the axle pieces? Should I be putting anything on the on them to help their longevity?

[sixpack577]

Makes sense. I cleaned them enough so that all the pistons moved again, but I do agree they should be removed and brushed down. The pistons themselves looked great, surprisingly!
I'm going to order pads now from Brakecrafters and give the Goldfren S33 a try. Won't be putting the pads on till early next year, but will pull pistons and seals when I do.

As a 2nd question: Why does it seems like outer rubber of the wheel bearings scrape against the axle pieces? Should I be putting anything on the on them to help their longevity?

Maybe the seals aren't seated completely.
They are just dust seals, you can use a plastic, rubber, or dead-blow hammer, or a piece of plastic or wood on them and hit them with a regular hammer.
Or, if you have a big socket(car axle socket) that is the same diameter, you can tap them down with that.
Dust seals can 'walk' out slowly over time on occasion.

[Kiwi Rider]

When replacing pads, the caliper pistons should really be removed and inspected for pitting, corrosion, and cleaned thoroughly. . . also the seals removed from their recesses and cleaned/replaced, and the crud build up in the seal recesses cleaned out.
This restores the calipers to as-new condition and then with new pads, new fluid and proper bleeding, just like she rolled outta the showroom floor!

[Bumblebee]

Where's @Berlin Germany and the thorough caliper cleaning pointers.....

[sixpack577]

Where's @Berlin Germany and the thorough caliper cleaning pointers.....

According to his profile he hasn't been here since July...I guess he got tired of some of the bs.
I think some people took some of his posts as kind of agressive or arrogant...but it was just the language barrier with English as his second language.

[Bumblebee]

"According to his profile he hasn't been here since July...I guess he got tired of some of the bs.
I think some people took some of his posts as kind of agressive or arrogant...but it was just the language barrier with English as his second language."

Something wonky happened with your quote here......

I should have checked his profile....yes, it's been a while.....as we age we all think the worse and hope for the best.....if all it was is he got fed up with us here that's not so bad......as long as he's ok......

[sixpack577]

That is strange, I don't know what happened there either.

And yes, I hope all is well with him too.

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

According to his profile he hasn't been here since July...I guess he got tired of some of the bs.
I think some people took some of his posts as kind of agressive or arrogant...but it was just the language barrier with English as his second language.

@Berlin Germany is that nun that cracks one's knuckles with a ruler and straightens them out. In my opinion there is no better method for correcting the human race.

I shot an email to him...

[sixpack577]

@Berlin Germany is that nun that cracks one's knuckles with a ruler and straightens them out. In my opinion there is no better method for correcting the human race.

I shot an email to him...

My 75 year old Ma was taught by nuns her whole way through school...I've heard about the rulers, and worse, lol

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

I shot an email to him.

Over the weekend I also texted the phone number on @Berlin Germany’s web site. I have not received any response.

[LC4CARL]

As I recall, the square cut seal is responsible for retracting the piston. As suggested above, I would try a caliper overhaul.

[Bagherra]

Where did u find that pic?

[Berlin Germany]

@Hayabusa Wannabe
yes, I'm still alive and I'm not that nun ;-)
i only use words
and
I just have serious private problems that aren't suitable for the public - so don´t ask

my solution:
completely dismantle the brake calliper/calipers
carefully remove the seals
deep clean the grooves in the callipers until they shine and no longer show any dirt
clean the old seals
if they have a kind of orange peel skin effect (especially on the outside of the ring) - it doesn't matter at all - they can easily be used again

that's how I've been doing it with complete success since I started cleaning the callipers

put everything back together

BUT only and exclusively use ATE brake paste (or 100% equivalent) or DOT4/5.1 - NOTHING else

oh yeah, I almost forgot - the pistons should also be "polished" - at their outside - until they show absolutely no dirt

and for the gen1 callipers:
repeat the deep cleaning every 30-35,000 km

and it fits with the first braking (after the cleaning) - the brake suddenly works very well again

see pics of my homepage here