close call

[ocpianoman]

I had the good fortune to avoid becoming roadkill yesterday. God, higher intelligence, whatever you want to call Him, was watching out for me. I made the STUPID mistake of running a yellow and oncoming traffic was already in the intersection trying to complete a left turn. That is such a typical accident. Thankfully the left-turner saw me and stopped because the combo of the worn K270 front and the stock brakes on the KLR were not going to get the job done and no way I could have stopped before entering the intersection. That's the pitfall of trying to use a two-wheeled device to get through LA-basin traffic faster than the frustrated cagers. I can hardly tolerate driving my truck around town any more because I know I can slip through on a bike so much easier and quicker. The adrenaline of trying to stay alive seems much healthier than the frustration of being stuck and almost powerless to do anything about it. As long as I don't get flattened!!! When I arrived I offered up some thanks to the powers that be for my survival. Still thankful and hope to remember my lesson for next time. Take my advice and stop on the yellows - BUT - check your 6 while you're at it, getting rear-ended is no fun either, as viewers of the poor scooter rider becoming a smear can attest to. This weekend the K270 is going in the trash and the Scorpion A/T that has been waiting around will be put into service. I think I may look into some front brake upgrades while I'm at it. I figure the Scorpion will be nearly useless in the mud but I haven't found any yet. The only nearby playground is the gravel creek bed of Lytle Creek. It seems the KLR is going to end up spending most of its time on the asphalt. I can see the attraction of having a second set of wheels with knobs, which is why spare wheels are so hard to find.

[prodxn]

KLRista, I just installed a new 320mm rotor and Galfer Green brake pads on the A15 (among other maintenance/mods), and I've got a couple of issues thus far. First, I can't seem to bleed the front (SS) line enough to firm up the brake lever. I've installed a speed bleeder, and there doesn't appear to be anymore air coming out the bleeder (and tubing) with the new brake fluid. I even left the bleeder open and the lever compressed overnight (bungeed?) with the bike on its sidestand, and the lever was no more firm the next morning than it was the night before. The lever has a very slight firmness to it, but it compresses all the way to the throttle, and braking is soft. My second concern is in regard to the caliper action on the rotor when braking. It appears to me that when the brake lever is pulled and the caliper compresses, the caliper PULLS the inside pad toward the outside pad and caliper body, thereby BENDING the rotor. Is this the "normal" action of the front brake caliper on the rotor? Or have I installed my pads incorrectly or otherwise botched this seemingly simple upgrade? Any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated! TIA, James in Dallas

[Fred Hink]

Did your instructions with your rotor ask you to remove about 3/8" of the nub that hangs off the bottom of one of your brakepads? Is this part of the brakepad hitting your rotor? Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com http://s1.zetaboards.com/arrowhead

----- Original Message ----- From: prodxn To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:06 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor KLRista, I just installed a new 320mm rotor and Galfer Green brake pads on the A15 (among other maintenance/mods), and I've got a couple of issues thus far. First, I can't seem to bleed the front (SS) line enough to firm up the brake lever. I've installed a speed bleeder, and there doesn't appear to be anymore air coming out the bleeder (and tubing) with the new brake fluid. I even left the bleeder open and the lever compressed overnight (bungeed?) with the bike on its sidestand, and the lever was no more firm the next morning than it was the night before. The lever has a very slight firmness to it, but it compresses all the way to the throttle, and braking is soft. My second concern is in regard to the caliper action on the rotor when braking. It appears to me that when the brake lever is pulled and the caliper compresses, the caliper PULLS the inside pad toward the outside pad and caliper body, thereby BENDING the rotor. Is this the "normal" action of the front brake caliper on the rotor? Or have I installed my pads incorrectly or otherwise botched this seemingly simple upgrade? Any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated! TIA, James in Dallas [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[JAMES BUCK]

Thanks for the quick response, Fred! I don't see any such instruction (about removing part of the pad) on the sheet that came with the rotor. I also changed out to a stainless front line, flushing the old fluid out prior to installing the new pads and rotor. Perhaps I didn't put everything back together in the proper order?

On Mar 1, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Fred Hink wrote: > Did your instructions with your rotor ask you to remove about 3/8" of > the nub that hangs off the bottom of one of your brakepads? Is this > part of the brakepad hitting your rotor? > > Fred > http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com > http://s1.zetaboards.com/arrowhead > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: prodxn > To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:06 AM > Subject: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor > > KLRista, > > I just installed a new 320mm rotor and Galfer Green brake pads on the > A15 (among other > maintenance/mods), and I've got a couple of issues thus far. > > First, I can't seem to bleed the front (SS) line enough to firm up > the brake lever. I've > installed a speed bleeder, and there doesn't appear to be anymore air > coming out the > bleeder (and tubing) with the new brake fluid. I even left the > bleeder open and the lever > compressed overnight (bungeed?) with the bike on its sidestand, and > the lever was no > more firm the next morning than it was the night before. The lever > has a very slight > firmness to it, but it compresses all the way to the throttle, and > braking is soft. > > My second concern is in regard to the caliper action on the rotor > when braking. It appears > to me that when the brake lever is pulled and the caliper compresses, > the caliper PULLS > the inside pad toward the outside pad and caliper body, thereby > BENDING the rotor. Is this > the "normal" action of the front brake caliper on the rotor? Or have > I installed my pads > incorrectly or otherwise botched this seemingly simple upgrade? > > Any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated! > TIA, > James in Dallas > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Fred Hink]

It would be hard to put your front brakes together wrong but I guess anything is possible. :-/ Does your front brakes drag? Can you spin the front wheel at least a half dozen times before it stops?

----- Original Message ----- From: James Buck To: Fred Hink Cc: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:39 AM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor Thanks for the quick response, Fred! I don't see any such instruction (about removing part of the pad) on the sheet that came with the rotor. I also changed out to a stainless front line, flushing the old fluid out prior to installing the new pads and rotor. Perhaps I didn't put everything back together in the proper order? On Mar 1, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Fred Hink wrote: Did your instructions with your rotor ask you to remove about 3/8" of the nub that hangs off the bottom of one of your brakepads? Is this part of the brakepad hitting your rotor? Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com http://s1.zetaboards.com/arrowhead ----- Original Message ----- From: prodxn To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:06 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor KLRista, I just installed a new 320mm rotor and Galfer Green brake pads on the A15 (among other maintenance/mods), and I've got a couple of issues thus far. First, I can't seem to bleed the front (SS) line enough to firm up the brake lever. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[JAMES BUCK]

I don't think I put it all back together incorrectly, but as you stated, ":-/"......... Yes, the pads are dragging on the rotor. My noob thinking was that it was simply a product of new pads and new rotor together. The wheel will not spin freely......

On Mar 1, 2008, at 12:56 PM, Fred Hink wrote: > It would be hard to put your front brakes together wrong but I guess > anything is possible. :-/ > Does your front brakes drag? Can you spin the front wheel at least a > half dozen times before it stops? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: James Buck > To: Fred Hink > Cc: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:39 AM > Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor > > Thanks for the quick response, Fred! > > I don't see any such instruction (about removing part of the pad) on > the sheet that came with the rotor. I also changed out to a stainless > front line, flushing the old fluid out prior to installing the new > pads and rotor. Perhaps I didn't put everything back together in the > proper order? > > On Mar 1, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Fred Hink wrote: > > Did your instructions with your rotor ask you to remove about 3/8" of > the nub that hangs off the bottom of one of your brakepads? Is this > part of the brakepad hitting your rotor? > > Fred > http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com > http://s1.zetaboards.com/arrowhead > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: prodxn > To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:06 AM > Subject: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor > > KLRista, > > I just installed a new 320mm rotor and Galfer Green brake pads on the > A15 (among other > maintenance/mods), and I've got a couple of issues thus far. > > First, I can't seem to bleed the front (SS) line enough to firm up > the brake lever. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Fred Hink]

Then you may have one or more problems. I would first make sure that your front wheel spins freely. Take off your caliper and see if the pads are where they are supposed to be and if that all looks good, I'd suspect the rotor. I don't know which oversized rotor you have but the EBC OS rotor can only be mounted one way.

----- Original Message ----- From: James Buck To: Fred Hink Cc: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 12:03 PM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor I don't think I put it all back together incorrectly, but as you stated, ":-/"......... Yes, the pads are dragging on the rotor. My noob thinking was that it was simply a product of new pads and new rotor together. The wheel will not spin freely...... On Mar 1, 2008, at 12:56 PM, Fred Hink wrote: > It would be hard to put your front brakes together wrong but I guess > anything is possible. :-/ > Does your front brakes drag? Can you spin the front wheel at least a > half dozen times before it stops? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: James Buck > To: Fred Hink > Cc: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:39 AM > Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor > > Thanks for the quick response, Fred! > > I don't see any such instruction (about removing part of the pad) on > the sheet that came with the rotor. I also changed out to a stainless > front line, flushing the old fluid out prior to installing the new > pads and rotor. Perhaps I didn't put everything back together in the > proper order? > > On Mar 1, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Fred Hink wrote: > > Did your instructions with your rotor ask you to remove about 3/8" of > the nub that hangs off the bottom of one of your brakepads? Is this > part of the brakepad hitting your rotor? > > Fred > http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com > http://s1.zetaboards.com/arrowhead > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: prodxn > To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 11:06 AM > Subject: [DSN_KLR650] New front brake pads & 320mm rotor > > KLRista, > > I just installed a new 320mm rotor and Galfer Green brake pads on the > A15 (among other > maintenance/mods), and I've got a couple of issues thus far. > > First, I can't seem to bleed the front (SS) line enough to firm up > the brake lever. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]