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Fresnobuell
| | Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 07:04 pm: | 
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Hint: Don't use the rear. Problem solved! |
03fatboy
| | Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 07:12 pm: |
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The pistons in the front will seize if they get some sort of crud in them after some time. All it takes is something to put a scratch on the piston or the housing and it will eventually fail. Heat isn't the issue with the exhaust, it is the by products of combustion the carbon and other junk that will eventually ruin the caliper. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 07:52 pm: |
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...because road spray (read: JUNK) thrown up by the front wheel, and by the wind the bike makes, doesn't get on the rear brake at all...
Remember the Elves used CFD to design a LOT of the 1125?
I'm willing to bet they saw all the eddies around the rear brake, studied them, and came up with the fact that it's not a problem - short, or long term.
But what do I know. I just ride 'em. All of the ones in my garage. And I use BOTH brakes with no issues. |
03fatboy
| | Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 07:56 pm: |
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Don't clean your wheels, swing arm, or caliper after about 500 miles with the stock pipe then wipe your finger on them and tell me what you see. You are going to have a black finger from carbon I would put money on that. |
Steeltech
| | Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 08:17 pm: |
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Whatever is said about it, brake calipers should not fail at 9k miles. I know there are the cases where you just happen to get the runt of the litter part. A part with an inherent flaw that was doomed to fail from day one. I just feel that a brake shouldn't fail that early. It had proper fluid level. It had a good adjustment. I did not ride it.
Whether the fact that the exhaust is blasting the rear wheel with deposits is ignored is up to everyone else, but I still see it as a bit of an issue. The bike is not perfect though just because they did do a lot of research. Did we forget the recall for the oiling system? The 3 or 4 remaps? Granted these problems were fixed, but no bike is perfect. So maybe they did consider the fact the exhaust was blowing on the swing arm. Maybe they just put the bike out there and were hoping for the best. If the can was such a flawless design, then why do none of his current bikes he is making (ebr) feature a similar design? This is just how I see it. While we are on the topic of the new bikes...anyone know if the 1190 tail section will fit an 1125r? : ) That tail section is totally 'do-able'.
ST |
Glitch
| | Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 08:31 pm: |
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I had already noticed the rear pads had disintegrated which botched the rear brake disc.
That more than likely did your caliper in.
Brakes work by turning spinning energy into heat.
The brake pads do all they can to disperse the heat.
Once a pad is damaged, trough wear, or whatever, the heat is transferred straight to the caliper.
Calipers aren't designed to disperse heat, we know this because of the rubber O rings inside the caliper don't melt.
What you did was heat everything up enough for the caliper to fail.
If it were an exhaust issue, there would be way more bikes out there with failed rear rotors.
The exhaust has caused some headaches with regard to cleanliness, no calipers have been harmed. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 12:09 am: |
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}Don't clean your wheels, swing arm, or caliper after about 500 miles with the stock pipe then wipe your finger on them and tell me what you see. You are going to have a black finger from carbon I would put money on that.
I can do that on my tubers, or my Ulysses, and get the same thing. Exhaust-in-front-of-wheel-plus-airflow-turbulence- equals-dirty-wheel.
And, the race pipes that Erik Buell Racing runs are run for WOT performance. They would NEVER pass EPA or noise restrictions...but they work best on a track.
I'm sorry your brake failed...but it aggravates me that the New American Way seems to be pointing fingers, instead of just understanding that sometimes, once in a while, especially when you're talking about a "compound machine" (remember that term from HS physics class?) with moving parts and varying temperatures...shit happens. People like to point fingers at Da Man (big corporations) first, instead of being rational and using common sense. If it makes you feel better to blame someone...go for it. |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 09:31 am: |
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Went through the first set of rear pads in 6,000 miles. Yesterday the rear brake started to squeal pulling away from a stop and would go away when the pedal was pressed. What I found was the master cylinder seems to be stuck and is making the brake drag and heat up. With the bike up on the stand I could feel lots of resistance when turning the tire, when I opened the bleeder the tire turned free again. After everything cooled down no more sticking. Also the pedal has lots of play in it now, like the cylinder piston is still stuck up in the bore slightly and not returning all the way. |
Jdugger
| | Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 10:12 am: |
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If you are going through rear pads that quickly, you probably also need to rebuild the caliper.
Caliper rebuild kits are cheap for the rear brake (if you can find them -- might try seeing if the parts for front and rear are the same, I don't know), and consist of new pistons and new rings.
Split, clean the caliper with a nylon brush and denatured alcohol, then reassemble with fresh dot 4, lubricating all surfaces with fluid as you assemble the caliper.
It makes a HUGE difference. I have to rebuild my fronts reasonably frequently from track duty. I've no doubt the rear requires regular attention if used as well. I rebuild my front every 2-3 sets of pads. |
Fresnobuell
| | Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 10:35 am: |
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Jim, never having done a rebuild on a caliper, what would you rate the difficulty on the front caliper? I know Erik Buell Racing sells a rebuild kit and I would be interested in doing this after the next pad change on the track bike. Tips? Tricks? |
Steeltech
| | Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 05:02 pm: |
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Fresno, toothpicks. Best thing for getting them O-rings out since the wooden toothpicks won't scratch the aluminum caliper. Rebuilding a caliper is pretty easy and straight forward you just have to avoid scratching the pistons and the bores. Also compressed air will blow out the pistons but you MUST put a block of wood in their path or they will shoot and damage themselves or other parts of the caliper. Also don't use anything to lubricate anything on the caliper since it will mess with the brake fluid. Only use brake fluid if you want to lube the o rings for the piston caliper.
Anyway. I dropped the bike off and the damage looks like it'll get picked up by warranty. I also checked the price of the rear caliper while I was there just in case this was to happen again once I was outside of my warranty period. $115 for the caliper. Not bad especially considering it comes with brake pads. Of course it also damaged the disc not to mention the brake fluid I would have to replace... So it'll end up being more if I have to do this every 9k. For now I just have to wait to get the bike back from warranty work.
While I wait I'm gonna keep shopping for exhaust. Anyone want to throw out any more exhaust suggestions while we're at it? |
Jdugger
| | Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 05:33 pm: |
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Fresno,
The front caliper job is the only one I've done, so I'll speak to that. My OPINION is the rear caliper would be much the same, but I don't know for absolute sure.
The front caliper is one of those jobs that I just love to do. It's easy, not too time consuming, and just one of those jobs that's just pure pleasure to sit at the bench and enjoy over an hour or so.
Loosen the pad pins and JUST loosen the caliper "split" bolts while it's still on the bike (but don't undo them or fluid goes everywhere!). Torque to spec finally the same way. Otherwise, you will need a good vice with soft jaws to hold the caliper while opening it initially.
The job itself is simple. Split, open remove old bits, clean, lubricate with fresh fluid and assemble.
Really, it's one of my favorite service jobs on the bike. It's just peaceful work. |
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