D
dazzelindevils
Guest
Okay I'm back.... Life has been crazy busy lately and a lot has happened since I last posted. My boyfriend Rus, who I mentioned in this thread, and I just got back from a cross-country trip that we took on our '84 GoldWing. We went from Rhode Island across the midwest through corn fields, down into the dust-bowl of Kansas, up through the Rockies, and back across the mid-west. Was a fun trip and we both learned a lot about long distance hauls.
I have this fantasy about touring all over with my Suzuki... it has been done!
Anyways, back to the brake rebuild. Here is what I ended up doing...
1. Bought a brake caliper rebuild kit including new seals
2. Sonically cleaned the caliper and replaced the seals
3. Went for a ride
4. Realized my brakes were dragging, tremendously
5. Here we go again...
6. Replaced the old brake lines with one single stainless steal line
7. Optimistically went for a ride towards South County of RI
8. Brakes still dragging... didn't want to believe it
9. Back to square one...
After I realized my brakes were still dragging after doing all of the rebuilding, I put my bike in the garage for a couple of weeks while we prepped for our cross-country journey. After returning I had so much desire to be riding my bike, so I started contemplating all the various reasons why my rear brakes would still be dragging.
I settled on the master cylinder needing a rebuild. I purchased a kit off of eBay, pulled off the mc, sonically cleaned it. I also sonically cleaned the reservoir and the brake line leading from the reservoir to the mc. Put it all back together with brandy new insides, and low and behold.... the brake still dragged. Yup, still... I was frustrated and started thinking the worst. Would I need to replace the caliper? Was the master cylinder faulty? What could it be!?
It wasn't until yesterday when Rus said "Let's bleed the brakes again, maybe its just air in the lines..." that I started getting more optimistic. Maybe it was a simple solution after all. Last night I sat down and pulled out my handy dandy manual, and started going through the brake drag troubleshooting section. The first item on the list was proper pedal adjustment. I was quick to assume that wasn't the issue, but put it on the top of my list. I noticed something though... the picture showing the adjustment screw looked much different from my bike. The screw was just barely touching the metal bracket (as it should be), but on my bike the screw was jacked up pretty high... Okay, did I just solve it!? I adjusted the screw so that it was just touching the bracket with no free play, as per the manual's instructions. Took Mooney for a test ride, and seriously.... the brake isn't dragging anymore!!
Hahaha... Turns out it was an rfm problem all along.... I almost can't believe that that was the problem, but the thing is, that a improperly adjusted pedal will keep too much pressure in the system not allowing fluid back into the mc, and only allowing fluid into the caliper, creating more and more drag as the brake is applied. Well, on one hand, I may have spent money unnecessarily, but in reality I now have all of this new stuff which is only going to be a good thing. I hope that this will help someone who is having rear brake problems.... you may have a bigger problem, but check the peddle adjustment first. It could be a very quick (and free!) fix.
I have this fantasy about touring all over with my Suzuki... it has been done!
Anyways, back to the brake rebuild. Here is what I ended up doing...
1. Bought a brake caliper rebuild kit including new seals
2. Sonically cleaned the caliper and replaced the seals
3. Went for a ride
4. Realized my brakes were dragging, tremendously
5. Here we go again...
6. Replaced the old brake lines with one single stainless steal line
7. Optimistically went for a ride towards South County of RI
8. Brakes still dragging... didn't want to believe it
9. Back to square one...
After I realized my brakes were still dragging after doing all of the rebuilding, I put my bike in the garage for a couple of weeks while we prepped for our cross-country journey. After returning I had so much desire to be riding my bike, so I started contemplating all the various reasons why my rear brakes would still be dragging.
I settled on the master cylinder needing a rebuild. I purchased a kit off of eBay, pulled off the mc, sonically cleaned it. I also sonically cleaned the reservoir and the brake line leading from the reservoir to the mc. Put it all back together with brandy new insides, and low and behold.... the brake still dragged. Yup, still... I was frustrated and started thinking the worst. Would I need to replace the caliper? Was the master cylinder faulty? What could it be!?
It wasn't until yesterday when Rus said "Let's bleed the brakes again, maybe its just air in the lines..." that I started getting more optimistic. Maybe it was a simple solution after all. Last night I sat down and pulled out my handy dandy manual, and started going through the brake drag troubleshooting section. The first item on the list was proper pedal adjustment. I was quick to assume that wasn't the issue, but put it on the top of my list. I noticed something though... the picture showing the adjustment screw looked much different from my bike. The screw was just barely touching the metal bracket (as it should be), but on my bike the screw was jacked up pretty high... Okay, did I just solve it!? I adjusted the screw so that it was just touching the bracket with no free play, as per the manual's instructions. Took Mooney for a test ride, and seriously.... the brake isn't dragging anymore!!
Hahaha... Turns out it was an rfm problem all along.... I almost can't believe that that was the problem, but the thing is, that a improperly adjusted pedal will keep too much pressure in the system not allowing fluid back into the mc, and only allowing fluid into the caliper, creating more and more drag as the brake is applied. Well, on one hand, I may have spent money unnecessarily, but in reality I now have all of this new stuff which is only going to be a good thing. I hope that this will help someone who is having rear brake problems.... you may have a bigger problem, but check the peddle adjustment first. It could be a very quick (and free!) fix.
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