front break rotors

Dude, just keep checking ebay, I've got some great stuff there. thing is just do your home work and ask questions, most ebayers are pretty trust worth IMO.

 

Get a dial indicator and check run out on both rotors, also before installing the rotors did you check the rotor mounting surfaces to see if you had any knicks or rough edges, if your mounting surface is uneven it will transfer the uneveness to the rotors. Thirdly , did you tighten the rotor bolts in stages and use a good torque wrench for the job. Anyhow I have cut corners on stuff like this before only to be burned ,plus do the job over again. eddie

 

i dont need to buy anything anymore, i have all the parts. i spent over $300 and im sure not gonna spend more. ill send stuff back and get a replacement if i have to. but seeing as how everything is brand new and its still doing the same thing, im starting to think its something else.

 

Whats different from the stock rotors compared to the EBC ones? Right now both of my Interceptors have slotted rotors on them..though im not sure if they are stock to the bikes or not...since the 84 has different rotors then the 85.

 

where/how would i aquire a dial indicator? i didnt check the mounting surfaces, but from what i remember there wasnt anything majorly wrong. ill check that tomorrow. for the bolts, i just tightened them to the same feel with a ratchet. im not sure what you mean by stages, but i tightened them all then when back and snugged them up doing the bolts that were across from each other instead of in a circle. whats the lbs thats suppost to be on the rotors? i have a torque wrench around here somewhere...

 

Is the shaking worse , the same or less than before you fitted the new rotors. If the feel hasn't changed it points to a fault elsewhere, the main cause of front end shakes on this model are, Headrace bearings, front wheel bearings fork bushes, mismatched tyres and worn out rear shocks. Underneath the old rotors there should have been paper washers, if you have lost these or even some of them and installed the rotors that could cause pulsing but not shaking.

 

the shaking is only when i put on the front brakes hard. when its just lightly i cant feel anything at all. but in case i ever do need to put em on real hard, i dont want them fucking up. i stiffened up the front suspension and that helped a lot but it still does it.

edit:
about the shaking being worse or the same, i really couldnt tell you. the o-rings on the pistons in the brake calipers were completely shot and they barely worked at all. plus the oil was old and nasty, in the calipers it looked like snot. i tried to not used the front brakes as much as possible. but on the old rotor, i could see an obvious spot where the brake pads werent even hitting the rotor.

 

If stiffening the front suspension helped it sounds like the rear shock is topping out transferring too much weight to the front and giving you the shakes, check the headraces and forkbushes and see how much sag you have on the rear shock

 

ill check that too, but since it does it a low speeds too, i dont know if thats going to be it or not. cant hurt to check it though

 

something else i just thought of, there was a little piece of metal on the left caliper that went on the outside of the brake pad. this piece has 2 holes like the pad there it gets screwed into the caliper, and it has clips on the bottom to hold the pad in place. if youre sitting on the bike its the left caliper and the pad on the right side. thats pretty confusing but i dont know how else to describe it. but anyway, there was only one of these pieces. the caliper on the right never had one. is it suppost to have one/is it important? some one called it a backer plate but i have no idea if thats what its called or the real name for it. plus, the rotors i got ave the same design and same part numbers, but ones completely silver and ones like goldish blueish, like they heated it up with a torch. i wouldnt really think that would matter too much, but any information is useful i guess. i can take pictures when i get home.

i just read something that said the caliper might be bent. is this a possibility?

 

The following is a lot of work but doesn't cost any more money.

If you haven't done so yet, sounds like you need to take the calipers off and clean/grease the caliper sliding pins with Sylglide. Push out the pistons almost all the way and clean them with brake fluid and 0000 steal wool (use a block of wood to stop one piston when it's out so the other will move)

Put the bike up on the center stand and weight the rear tire so the front is off the ground. Can you wiggle the tire up and down without moving the bike frame? If so, then your headbearings are shot.

While it's up, what happens when you turn the handlebars to the left and right? If the wheel flops over and hits the stop, your headbearings are too loose. Tighten them up so the front end doesn't flop to the stop, yet turning the bars is still a simple effort. (In a nutshell, procedure is to tighten, turn the bars 10 times stop to stop and tighten again if necessary)

After tightening up, and turning the handlebars from side to side, you may feel a "spot" dead center. That means the headbearings are shot and need to be replaced.

While the wheel is up, tape a pencil to the fork with the point just off the rotor. Now spin the wheel while looking at the distance between the rotor and the pencil. The distance should not change.

If there is, take the rotor off, lay it on a piece of glass and going around the rotor's circumference, see if you can slip a feeler gauge between it on the glass. Turn it over and do the other side. This will tell you if the rotor is warped. Runout specs are in the manual.

If the rotors check out good, the axle may be bent, fork brace cracked, or forks bent, misaligned.

Take out the axle and line up a straight-edge along it's length and verify it's straight.

Remove the fork brace and examine in bright light for cracks. Stress the edges with your hands and see if a crack appears.

Are the tops of the forks equal distant from the tops of the triple clamps?

Testing for bent or misaligned forks:
-Prop the bike up so the front end is off the ground.
-Remove the front wheel
-Loosen the triple clamps and slide the fork tube up through the triple clamps. It should slide with the same resistance over the entire length.
-While sliding down, stop every 6" and spin the tube while looking at the end. If it wobbles, the tube or triple clamp is bent.
- With fork tubes down in their original position, measure the tubes between them at the top of the slider. Spin one fork tube 90degrees and measure - until that fork tube has gone 360 degrees. Now measure the other one. The measurements should be very, very close.

Reinstall the front end and when you tighten, start at the axle and work your way up. Once everything is tight, go back and torque it down to specs.

 

i actually just did clean the pistons, they needed new o-rings so we took them out (it was a real pain in the ass) and put them back in. i didnt personally put the calipers back together so i dont know if the sliding pins are greased. thatll be something ill check tonight as well. i just read something that said the caliper mounting bracket might be bent. is this a possibility?

 

the calipers on that bike are full floating.... this means that you would have to have a pretty severe warp in the rotor to feel the problem like it sounds like you are. I would tend to lean towards a problem with the suspension under a load before the brakes. Have you ever changed you fork oil?
Also how is you front tire? How many miles does it have? front tires can be totally shot and not show it
I doubt that you steering stem bearing would cause the problem your describing.... but an easy way to check those bearings is to put you bike on a stand getting the front tire off the ground but keeping the bike stable. Sit down on the ground with the front tire between you leg. Brace the bike with your feet and grab the tire and shake it to see if there is any play back and forth or side to side.
I notice a few peopld have said to check the fork bushings??? what bushings? the ones inside the forks? do those go bad?
you have an interesting problem I will be glad to hear what does fix it.

 

the front tire is indeed old, but it still has enough tred to pass inspection. since it needs a new front tire anyway i guess ill get one and see if it helps. ill get my dad to buy some fork oil and ill change that tonight to see if it makes a difference. im sure its never been changed. thanks for all your help so far.

another thing, i held on the front brakes pretty hard and gave it gas so it was moving, and i can still feel it grabbing harder in some spots of the rotor than others.

 

this is really starting to piss me off. i pulled the front end off the grond and spun the tire with a piece of wood text to both rotors and both sides of the rim, and everything is straight. checked the air pressure in the forks and the left had 0 and the right had 5 1/2. so i put 5 1/2lbs into the left fork. then i re-bled the lines and a couple small bubbles came out. i checked the pads and they looked alright. the slider pins were greased. i then thought to myself.....well, thats it, its gotta work. WRONG same damn thing. honestly, what could it be? its nothing suspension related, ive ruled that completely out when it does it at 5mph. it does it at the same exact spot on the rotors every time but i looked at where i thought that spot is and cant see anything wrong. it seems to do it more when the brakes are hot. i gave dennis kirk an email and told them what is going on, maybe they have an idea. the absolute only thing i can think of is the pads are defective like someone said in an earlier post, but i thought ebc were good brakes? thank you for all the help so far.

 

Have you checked your tire pressure? I know it seems a stupid question but im asking it from experience i had with my bike. It had a real bad speed wobble anywhere between 20-70 km/h... Checked the pressure at work one day then upped the pressure to 32 psi front and rear. That cured the problem in my bike hence why i asked. Could be a seperated front tire as well..

 

From what your saying It has to be something with the rotor or the brake pads..... If it helps any I put a brand new set of rotor and pads on my wifes ford ranger. It started grinding about a week after I put the new parts on. I took the truck to midas and thety couldnt find a problem... finally after a couple of months I re-replace the rotor and pads (still under warranty at autozone) and the grinding stop...... point being before that I have never had defective brake parts.... but it can happen.

 

Is there anyway it could be wheel bearings?? or maybe a bent axel?

 

the tire pressure is ok, the bearing are fine, checed that while i had the wheel up testing for straightness, and the axle is straight. i was going about 5 mph and got the rythem of the catching down and yanked on the brakes when it catched and marked the opposite side of the rotor. i did this about 5 times and every time it was the same place (plus or minus due to my reaction time) so i know where on the rotor its catching. tomorrow im going to get my bike completely stable and use a piece of chalk to check the rotors. if that has no results, i have absolutely no idea. ill see if dennis kirk has good enough customer support to send me new pads.

edit:
i just got the customer support email back

you can fill out the return form (i will attach in case you don't have it) clearly state you feel they are defective and why and put in package along with part; attach the ups label you would have received with the package to the outside of the box you send them back in and we will refund or exchange whatever you indicate on return form.

Thanks,

Customer Service

sounds like theyre real good with returns, so thats always an option.

 

i have a set of rotors from an 86 vfr they are fine and you can have them for $60.00
It is my parts bike
dan