My front brakes are applying themselves!

[Anonymous]

Ok. I ride my bike and put it in the garage for a couple of days. When I go to ride it again, my front brakes are half applied. I have no play in my handle and have to bleed the brakes to release the pressure. I have no leaks anywhere. After I bleed the brakes they are fine for a while and then do the same thing again...sometimes when I'm out on the road in the middle of my ride. My garage is not unusually hot. Any ideas why this is happening?

[argonsagas]

You cold have air in the lines that is expanding due to heat, but unless you have done something recentlly to introduce air then it is improbable.

Don't laugh at this next part...just put a plastic sheet under your wheels and try it.


I use a product called BRAKLEEN. It's an aerosol spray degreaser specifically meant for use on brakes. Look in your local auto parts store for this or a similar product. Be sure whatever you buy is intended for brakes.

You can stick a tube in the nozzle and spray the stuff on your brake pads, from the back and the front. It will remove most of the junk that has probably built up on your pads and is causing the problem.

After that you may still need to clean up the pad edges...in other words take them out and sand them to remove rust.

All done.


Do this periodically to keep them clean.

[Anonymous]

The air in the line answer makes sense...when I checked the reservoir the fluid was right at the bottom. I should do a complete flush and the problem will probably be fixed. Thanks.

[argonsagas]

Yes, if air in the line is actually the problem, you MUST do a refill-and-bleed job, but if you have been riding the bike without problem, then unless you did something to the brake fluid there should be no air in the system to cause the problem. It doesn't suddenly appear: it has to be introduced. The fluid level would be down because of your attempts to bleed air that wasn't there.

I still recommend you do the spray on the pads, because having the pads get dirty is a common problem on Suzukis. When I first got my GS, and the battery went dead, I quickly learned I could not push the bike to start it; in fact, I could barely push it at all. I had to call my wife to bring her truck to jump start the bike. The problem turned out to be sticking disk pads.

The chemical cleaner worked well.

[Anonymous]

I have to say, it sounds more like water contamination than air. Air compresses too easily to cause this. Either way, flushing the brakes is the best first step.

Tim

[brs127s]

I had the same thing happen on my 77 550. I rebuilt the caliper, and the same thing kept happening. I then took the resevoir off the master cylinder. There should be two holes for the fluid to pass through. One is the main hole which the fluid passes through when the lever is pulled and released. The other is a smaller vent hole. My vent hole was full of crud, so the fluid would never release its pressure. My guess is that your vent hole is plugged.