front end

[Kopfjaeger]

Gday folks. Heard a tick tick tick coming from front end so I got keen and stripped out front wheel bearings .( Prehistoric grease in there!!!) and cleaned stripped and relubed bearings.... while i was there I noticed my front brakes were dragging..... out with the pads and a good clean round the piston on all sides as they all were quite dirty... got em back to sparkly shiny clean but this has not fixed the problem.... Right hand side calliper is not returning fully..... sorta scratchin my head wondering why.... to my knowledge and understanding the only thing s that could prevent the return of the piston are dirty piston, failed seal or a blocked gallery, whacked fresh fluid through a few days ago and bled the system, cant see any fluid round the piston to indicate a failed seal...... any ideas?

[E Double]

You know, I'm getting the same sound from my front end. It started about a week ago.  I'm not certain, but something tells me it has something to do with the speedometer gear.  Hopefully someone here knows a bit more about this than I do.

[Kopfjaeger]

yes its primitive in there.... greased all up and around through where the speedo drive sits. My bearings are flogged ... getting new set tomorrow, should be kind and get new seals as well.gone from curious to interesting now.... think my tension wrench is out... cant see how its a torsion arm type... but its 50 ft pound makes my front wheel nip up and puts too much load on  the bearings.... so thats one thing .... my brakes are still not returning (dragging) and now I'm down on pressure..... lever all the way back to the bars.... have bled it and am re bleeding after a sit for a bit. Been one of those weeks

[Kopfjaeger]

all good now just still a bit tight. goin to take her for a spin tomorrow and see whats what. lots o bubbles all gone now .... bit of air in the system....

[Kopfjaeger]

also pays to leave the freakin key in the off position to prevent flat battery.

[Arnie]

Couple of thoughts (all I have :-),
How tight your front axle is should not cause your wheel drag.  Are the bearings fully seated?  Is the center spacer in place?  Tension on the axle should not put any pressure on the bearings other than a clamping force on the inner race(s)

With your dragging brake piston(s) - you could take the caliper off, clean the exposed part of the piston, and press the pistons back into the fully retracted position.  This should reseat the seals so that they then retract the pistons a bit more providing clearance.

Arnie

.... think my tension wrench is out... cant see how its a torsion arm type... but its 50 ft pound makes my front wheel nip up and puts too much load on  the bearings.... so thats one thing .... my brakes are still not returning (dragging)

[RichBaker]

yes its primitive in there.... greased all up and around through where the speedo drive sits. My bearings are flogged ... getting new set tomorrow, should be kind and get new seals as well.gone from curious to interesting now.... think my tension wrench is out... cant see how its a torsion arm type... but its 50 ft pound makes my front wheel nip up and puts too much load on  the bearings.... so thats one thing .... my brakes are still not returning (dragging) and now I'm down on pressure..... lever all the way back to the bars.... have bled it and am re bleeding after a sit for a bit. Been one of those weeks

This is not from too much torque.... Either your missing the spacer that fits between the bearing inner races, or the bearings aren't fully seated. The spacer keeps the races from being pulled in and binding....

[Kopfjaeger]

thanks guys. yeah got all the spacers.... have pics but hunting for usb cable., order from r - l is nut... washer... spacer... seal ...bearing... spacer... bearing... speedo drive...speedo drive retainer...seal... speedo drive unit....bolt. seated the bearings ... took all weekend just taking my time making sure things are right!!.... i did pump each piston calliper out and cleaned with 1800 grade wet dry and brake fluid.... wiped well clean,then got paranoid and did it alllll again JUST TO MAKE SURE!! lol and then seated them all back into their respective housings, bled the brakes again last night got all the air out. It may just be a case of me overworrying, just cant seem to remember any other bikes i have had having the brakes feel like this. Find out in a few hours,battery on charge... just tried to push start it... must give up smoking!!!! thanks again.

[rktmanfj]

Are you still using the original brake lines?

Randy T
Indy

[Kopfjaeger]

Yeah its all bog stock standard Randy...chuckles... 25 yr old everything as far as i can see.... feels good, probably a bit of air still in lines as it feels a bit spongy still... look at that tomorrow...( later today...) think it was just a case of me being a marvin (paranoid android) thanks again for input fella's. As soon as i find that blasted USB cable i will post up and show you what i had done and how it looked.

[rktmanfj]

Yeah its all bog stock standard Randy...chuckles... 25 yr old everything as far as i can see.... feels good, probably a bit of air still in lines as it feels a bit spongy still... look at that tomorrow...( later today...) think it was just a case of me being a marvin (paranoid android) thanks again for input fella's. As soon as i find that blasted USB cable i will post up and show you what i had done and how it looked.

At least some of the sponginess you are feeling is likely those 25 year old rubber brake lines expanding.

Do yourself a favor and replace them before one of them fails at a very inopportune time.

Randy T
Indy

[weymouth399]

Yeah its all bog stock standard Randy...chuckles... 25 yr old everything as far as i can see.... feels good, probably a bit of air still in lines as it feels a bit spongy still... look at that tomorrow...( later today...) think it was just a case of me being a marvin (paranoid android) thanks again for input fella's. As soon as i find that blasted USB cable i will post up and show you what i had done and how it looked.

At least some of the sponginess you are feeling is likely those 25 year old rubber brake lines expanding.

Do yourself a favor and replace them before one of them fails at a very inopportune time.

Randy T
Indy

Those brake hoses expanded when new
They are for the guy that doesn't really use his front brakes, it idiot proofs that lever for him.
(or at least should)

Bob W

[carsick]

Old brake hoses can fall apart inside and create a one-way check valve effect, holding pressure on the brakes. I just changed a hose on my car that was doing this (after changing the caliper). Try opening the bleeder while the brakes are dragging and see if there's a difference. Maybe not while riding.

[Kopfjaeger]

Ok cool. Makes sense. Was thinking along the similar lines that the hoses had broken down and some gunk had gone and slightly blocked a gallery, figured a good flush will help to fix that.... and yeah Bob W... I'm still a back braker    but you'd all be pleased that your information on using fronts has lead me down this path.... I'm getting used to it.... have definatly noticed that on approach to corners both brakes are nice to use...( as opposed to rear brake and gears ..) but yeah... doesn't like it when I grab ( squeeze) the fronts mid corner.... used to read all your guys posts about it standing up in corners and thinking... mine doesn't do that!!! .... does now!!!!... so long as it works now, braided lines will have to wait.....got to get a header pipe for Gsx e and funnily enough completely overhaul the front and rear brakes on it as I intend to get it rego'd and take the mighty mighty FJ off the road and give her a full going over.... she s a bit sad and getting slowly worse. Planning on going over pistons rings valves and that bloody primary chain!!:rofl: basic top end rebuild and then some.
thanks again

[Kopfjaeger]

While Im on the subject of front end my bike has gone eskimo and blown my fork seals. R/H one leaking pretty badly.... what size ( if anyone can help that is) is the hex to hold the damper rod while you undo the bottom bolt? is it a hex or a spline... due to time restrictions (need it for work) getting allllllll the stuff together before removal.
cheers in advance.
neil