Front wheel is partially "braked"

[peppaster]

Hi guys,
I put my bike on the center stand, pushed on the tail, and tried to rotate manually the front wheel, but it doesn't rotate freely. The brakes still touch the discs even without pulling the brake lever. This is confirmed by the fact that after riding the discs are kind of warm.

Do you think it is normal to have some residual braking? Do you see the same? To give you an idea I can't make more than half-wheel-revolution if try to rotate with one hand. On the contrary the rear wheel seems not to be blocked (even considering that it's loaded by the chain, etc...).

Thanks!

 

[pedwards89]

Sounds like you've got a brake caliper piston binding. How old is the bike?

 

[peppaster]

It's a 2007 model. I bought it used with 800 miles on it, and I added 200 more.

What does it mean? What should I do?

Thanks

 

[HavBlue]

The discs will always be warm (not hot) after riding because the pads will always touch the rotors. I have a paddock stand for mine and if the front wheel is up it will have some resistance but it will turn (not spinning totally free) as the pads do drag. The wheel does not however drag to the point I really have to pull hard on it to get it to turn. If it did I would be looking to find out which caliper is not releasing.

 

[reiobard]

The discs will always be warm (not hot) after riding because the pads will always touch the rotors. I have a paddock stand for mine and if the front wheel is up it will have some resistance but it will turn (not spinning totally free) as the pads do drag. The wheel does not however drag to the point I really have to pull hard on it to get it to turn. If it did I would be looking to find out which caliper is not releasing.

I agree, you can have some resistance on it and sometimes hear the brakes dragging on the rotors. if you go on a ride and use the front brakes at all they will be warm when parked, they create a lot of heat any time you use them. Friction is great!

 

[bmccrary]

What you are describing is a problem for the road racers. I have made a contact with a guy in Moresville, NC that has his own small race team. AB1 Motorsports. They were having that brake drag problem on their GSX-R 600's and they found that the material of the pucks and the material of the calipers are different. Therfore their thermal expansion rates are different and while one was still expanded the other wasnt and it was causing them to bind a bit and thus cause that drag. He wont tell me, for obvious reasons, what he had to do but he said he can do it to any calipers...

-bryan

 

[peppaster]

Do you know "how much" residual friction can be tolerated? I really don't know if I have a problem or not. Tnx

 

[Hellgate]

There is always a bit of puck drag on the rotor, no worries. It's not like a bicycle that will have 1mm of clearance between the rim and the brake pad.