BakerBoy
It's all small stuff.
Good to hear you've it figured out... Too many cases of dealer's mechanics not doing the work right.
Brake problems after new pads - Hard lever now
- Thread starter ScooterGdawg
- Start date
Could you post the photos of the bent clips that I sent you, as it may help someone else who runs into this problem. The s shaped clip can cause issues, as well as Dry sliding pins, but not many folks know to check the tabs on the spring pad clips.
pics of bent clips located here http://myscootlife.blogspot.com/2013/05/fwd-brake-photos.html
So, in the end, what was wrong?
at this point it's too soon to tell... front pads and rear pads and possible res being too full..... i wont know till i put it all back together and see if it's good then....and still may not know which of the 3 problems it could have been.........or all........
i did go by the shop today with pics and reciepts of the parts i purchased last night, and not only walked out with the $135 i spent on parts, but the $90 they charged me for labor, and an extra $75 for my trouble............. makes me feel better about the guy who owns the shop.
i did go by the shop today with pics and reciepts of the parts i purchased last night, and not only walked out with the $135 i spent on parts, but the $90 they charged me for labor, and an extra $75 for my trouble............. makes me feel better about the guy who owns the shop.
And it was alot cheaper than having someone sue him for sending someone out with damaged or incorrectly installed brake parts 
The pictures that ScooterGdawg was kind enough to post show BENT tabs on the spring pad. What can happen (too often) is since the clip moves, the foot of the pad can be installed correctly in the S retaining clip on the end, then the person pushes down the pad and replaces the pad pin, the only thing wrong, is sometimes the EDGE of the pad is sitting ON top of the little tab instead of next to it! It looks normal with the end of the pads in place, and the pin in place, but if you look carefully you'll notice the brake pad itself is tilted or just the least little bit crooked, then when you hit the brakes, it PUSHED the little tab over and BENDS the clip. This can not only damage the pads, but the pistons and seals, as well as wear down the pads in as little as 300 miles, and in the worst case, lock up the rear wheel causing possible injury!
ALWAYS make sure the pad sits totally FLUSH against the rotors.
I also noticed on Scooters pictures that the spring pad was filthy and was not cleaned out before they installed the pads
.o2
The pictures that ScooterGdawg was kind enough to post show BENT tabs on the spring pad. What can happen (too often) is since the clip moves, the foot of the pad can be installed correctly in the S retaining clip on the end, then the person pushes down the pad and replaces the pad pin, the only thing wrong, is sometimes the EDGE of the pad is sitting ON top of the little tab instead of next to it! It looks normal with the end of the pads in place, and the pin in place, but if you look carefully you'll notice the brake pad itself is tilted or just the least little bit crooked, then when you hit the brakes, it PUSHED the little tab over and BENDS the clip. This can not only damage the pads, but the pistons and seals, as well as wear down the pads in as little as 300 miles, and in the worst case, lock up the rear wheel causing possible injury!
ALWAYS make sure the pad sits totally FLUSH against the rotors.
I also noticed on Scooters pictures that the spring pad was filthy and was not cleaned out before they installed the pads
.o2
Igofar, thanks for the explanation on the spring pad. I wonder how they got the caliper and pads back into position if the pads weren't lined up. With new pads, it must have felt wrong. But, I guess, if it was a new tech, he wouldn't know what right and wrong feels like.
I've done quite a few brake pad install with wheels on or off the bike and it's simply taking your time and paying attention to what you're doing. Lining your pads up on those clips the wrong way will just feel wrong. Could be the tech got in a hurry and works on many different bikes and due to the different designs the ST felt right to him. Beats me.
UPDATE...... got my new pads and clips.....installed everything last night...cleaned the front calipers but only the pistons part that was sticking out... so from the old pads, i am sure there is still some dirt up in there somewhere that i can't get to unless i push the pistons out.....
everything seems good, rolls good, brakes excellent
Problem: the right rotor and the rear rotor are hot......i think this is normal..... however, the left rotor is still just barely warm..... any ideas?
my big plan is to go home tonight, push the pistons out and clean what i couldn't before. clean up the pad pins
go for a ride....
if that doesn't work, my last thought is to bleed the system, which i believe needs to be done, but not sure it would cause this problem....
i need your ideas....i leave for alaska next friday June 7th and must get this figured out.....i have thousands of dollars already spent, so there is no backing out of going...
i will leave with the left side rotor warm if i have to and risk my ***......of course i do not want to do that.....
everything seems good, rolls good, brakes excellent
Problem: the right rotor and the rear rotor are hot......i think this is normal..... however, the left rotor is still just barely warm..... any ideas?
my big plan is to go home tonight, push the pistons out and clean what i couldn't before. clean up the pad pins
go for a ride....
if that doesn't work, my last thought is to bleed the system, which i believe needs to be done, but not sure it would cause this problem....
i need your ideas....i leave for alaska next friday June 7th and must get this figured out.....i have thousands of dollars already spent, so there is no backing out of going...
i will leave with the left side rotor warm if i have to and risk my ***......of course i do not want to do that.....
BakerBoy
It's all small stuff.
If that were mine, at this point I'd do 4 things : 1) clean the pistons, 2) bleed the brakes, 3) clean the discs (the one that is cooler than the other may have oils on it), 4) bed-in the brakes. Even after that, you'll have some differences in temperature between the discs until the pads & discs wear a bit and mate better.
thank u for the reply.....
what is recommend disk cleaner? regular brake cleaner?
and what is this bed in brakes? how is that done?
what is recommend disk cleaner? regular brake cleaner?
and what is this bed in brakes? how is that done?
Regular brake cleaner should work fine.
Try to keep it off the pistion seals painted and plastic bits.
Bedding in is just a series of progressively harder stops after you put the new pads in.
Try to keep it off the pistion seals painted and plastic bits.
Bedding in is just a series of progressively harder stops after you put the new pads in.
BakerBoy
It's all small stuff.
ScooterG, search for "bed-in brakes" (google or bing) and you'll find several good articles to read. Carl's one liner explanation above describes it well, but the online sources will give more explanation and description.
ok, i'll do a search.......
question on bleeding........on the left side, what is the difference in the upper bleeder, and when tilted, the forward most bleeder, and which way do you tilt it? forward or back?
question on bleeding........on the left side, what is the difference in the upper bleeder, and when tilted, the forward most bleeder, and which way do you tilt it? forward or back?
Your confusing the forward most bleeder wording on swingarm. Your instructions should be top left front caliper then top right front caliper - from handlebar mastercylinder. Next remove left front caliper and tilt. Bleed pcv. Now bleed center rear caliper on swingarm (forward most bleeder) then back to right front lower one, then install left caliper and do left lower one. Then last one on swingarm (farthest to the rear) don't forget to clamp levers down afterwards. Check this info in service manual as this is from memory only. Call me if you need to.