Brake pads too tight? need advice/help.

[twobob1]

Just installed new mzs levers (cheap from amazon but have good reviews) yes I know I should have got asv but I'm going with them

Have greased them up and made sure the nipple is correctly installed In the dimple) Afterwards after reading horror stories and seeing a vid of a dude who said the front calliper was not releasing fully caused his wheel to lock and crash. I tested the wheel and found the pads are pinching/rubbing a tad.

If I remove the new lever altogether I still get pinching/rubbing of the pads - I checked the plunger is fully out and auctioning ok at the lever) so I know for sure its not the lever incorrectly installed. Do I need to bleed the brakes or do something to make them not pinch/rub so much on the disc? They must be only very slightly rubbing. Check the vid and let me know.

Ive had the bike for 2k miles now and I presume they must have been pinching like that for the whole time I was told they are new pads and they look it because they are very meaty.

Is this bad? I can still spin the wheel but you can hear that they are still rubbing a bit and they do slow it down to a stop after half a turn of free spinning it.

[video=youtube_share;SCCfWJda5e4]https://youtu.be/SCCfWJda5e4[/video]

 

[twobob1]

Jus found this vid, so I take it I'm ok? To be honest my vid makes them look worse than what they are, the wheel does spin pretty freely.

[video=youtube;58WpeeG6xTc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58WpeeG6xTc[/video]

 

[trepetti]

Just installed new mzs levers (cheap from amazon but have good reviews) yes I know I should have got asv but I'm going with them

Have greased them up and made sure the nipple is correctly installed In the dimple) Afterwards after reading horror stories and seeing a vid of a dude who said the front calliper was not releasing fully caused his wheel to lock and crash. I tested the wheel and found the pads are pinching/rubbing a tad.

If I remove the new lever altogether I still get pinching/rubbing of the pads - I checked the plunger is fully out and auctioning ok at the lever) so I know for sure its not the lever incorrectly installed. Do I need to bleed the brakes or do something to make them not pinch/rub so much on the disc? They must be only very slightly rubbing. Check the vid and let me know.

Ive had the bike for 2k miles now and I presume they must have been pinching like that for the whole time I was told they are new pads and they look it because they are very meaty.

Is this bad? I can still spin the wheel but you can hear that they are still rubbing a bit and they do slow it down to a stop after half a turn of free spinning it.

[video=youtube_share;SCCfWJda5e4]https://youtu.be/SCCfWJda5e4[/video]

View attachment 69435
View attachment 69434

Pads will always rub a little, but yours are rubbing way too much. While unlikely, make sure the pads are not binding in the caliper and that the top pin is not the problem. Most likely the caliper pistons are dirty or the piston seals are shot. Yamaha recommends new seals every 2 years. that is excessive but if your year starts with 200 and the seals were never replaced, its time.

You can try cleaning the caliper pistons. Scott and Randy will be all over this thread in a short time, they have given me some valuable information and really helpful advice about cleaning up the brakes.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Ohendo]

Agreed. The new levers would not be the issue; if pads are installed correctly, brakes function as they should (stop the bike)...it's probably just the caliper pistons not retracting enough.
I'm sure they're due to be taken apart, cleaned, new seals installed. Not a difficult job at all. Search "caliper seal" and you should get plenty of walk through's... one is below.

https://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6...-calipers-rebuild.html?highlight=caliper+seal

 

[FinalImpact]

Certainly not the worst I've seen, tho not great either.

To your point; if the levers puck or receiver is not deep enough it can partially apply the brakes. When this happens two things are in play. The brakes are dragging making heat AND worse yet, the path for the brake fluid in the lines can not return to the master cylinder reservoir.

Here is where it goes from bad to worse in thos rare cases.... heat continues to expand the fluid, it can't go back where it came from as the port is sealed when the plunger is depressed. The continued heating and fluid expansion forces the pistons out applying the brakes.

Mind you it would be a super rare case for this to happen in like 3mi... 4 minutes. Its going to take much longer in most cases like probably 30min to 2 hrs...

Most will notice something is wrong but there are those who are less fortunate and twist of the wrist compensates for the brake application/smoking pads....

Cleaning the dried up dust stuck to the pistons calipers helps immensely. For those with sliding calipers (S1) this and greasing the slide reduces the friction needed to retract the pistons.


Mind you air in the system can cause this too.

Bottom line: during ANY lever or MC change on any vehicle, make certain there is some freeplay between the MC piston and the device moving it or this issue can play out on that vehicle too.

Playdough make a good blind check tool to verify there is an air gap.

Last little bit: as the axle, forks, and rotors flex the pads are pushed away and there is little drag. The big tip is IF YOU STOP without using the front brakes after riding for say 2mi at 60mph and the rotor is too hot to touch, you need to make repairs to free up pad movement.

 

[bigborer]

It could be:

1-brake lever not fully releasing (but you said you're sure this isn't the case)
2-clogged master cylinder (had this happen due to the internal rubber getting old and fraying)
3-stuck caliper pistons

First thing I'd do is remove the calipers and pads and see if you can push the pistons back in using your fingers. If not- the best option is to take out and clean the pistons, and install a new brake caliper rebuild kit (make sure to put a bit of rubber grease) . The cheap and temporary fix is to only clean and put rubber grease on everything.


Here is a diagram of a master cylinder:



PS: now, if you mention "horror stories"- I've heard of stories of cheap brake levers pushing the MC cylinder at a crooked angle- leading to abnormal wear, leading to sudden unexpected failure while hard breaking, and finally crashing. And also heard stories of "new" cheap levers just snapping under hard braking. That's why I've replaced the "upgraded" brake levers with stock ones on all my bikes.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Plus one on the seal replacement.

You can double check how much drag there is by simply going for a ride...
Go to about 50 MPH and stop using the REAR BRAKE ONLY. Carefully touch the rotors (or a lazer temp gun)
to see how warm / hot cold they are. There really shouldn't be any heat at all.

As noted, seal replacement per Yamaha is every TWO YEARS. In real life, I've found it to be 4-5 years.
(From my old FJR-same calipers, and from my current FZ)

The rubber seals harden up over time, crap gets in there and the pistons don't retract.


For example, here's a video of my front wheel. Seals were replaced at least a year before this video.
It should be noted that I often blow out (air compressor) brake dust (which accumulates).

You can see in the video, I apply the front brake before the spin(no tricks) and spin it as hard as I can.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/147134237@N06/40215609850/in/dateposted/

*Lastly, pulling apart, using brake grease on the pistons/original seals, helps temporarily. Tried that, lasted maybe two months, was back in there with new seals. Assemble with BRAKE FLUID only. The grease makes assembly slightly easier but attracts dirt big time...