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Front brake "sticking" on issue

T

theduke

Joined Mar 2011
31 Posts | 0+
After replacing the scuffed / worn down levers with a pair of new ones, I had a bit of a scary moment when the front brake "locked" on! :eek: The new levers were lubed and tested for sticking and freeness, and even the pins / brass levers that operate the hydraulics were all cleaned and lubed as well as teh perches.

When it happened, the system was pressurised, as the lever was solid... Then a "click", big puff of smoke / dust and it was free....

Clearly, I don't want this to happen again, so if anyone has any ideas on why it occured so I can sort it so it won't again, that'd be lovely! Its having a complete fluid change next week, but would it be worth doing the caliper o-rings / getting a brake service kit (o-rings and pistons), or just get amongst the calipers with brake cleaner / toothbrush, then re-grease the pins etc etc? I got a 180 mile trip planned on friday, so any help would be nice!

Thanks all.
 
Sounded like somethign was stuck. I would do a full strip down of the calipers and clean well, also re-bleed the buggers :)
Keep up informed dude
 
Well, I did NOT use original ones (tight budget), but used pattern ones.... Therein MAY be the problem as IMO the tolerances are pretty bloody fine, so the "new" levers MAY be slightly out causing the brakes to drag slightly, and with speed / friction the pads / disc heats, therefore expands, and thus "locks on".

I'm going to have another go at the lever today to make 100% sure its on correctly (hard not to be), especially the brass lever that pressures the system just in case its not letting the nipple / piston fully retract.

Garv - I MAY have a bash today. DEFO going to attack with cleaner etc. Thanks very much.

EDIT:- Once I get it to bits / cleaned etc etc, I'll report back with any findings. And, TBH, a mate DID warn against using pattern levers.... :eek:
 
I bet it is the pattern levers.

Heard the same story before with pattern Brembo stuff. There is a guy on the Ducati forums who trashed his 1098 with the same thing after fitting some cheap pattern levers.

fair enough on the clutch as if it sticks it's probably just annoying but on the front brake it could get ugly.
 
know of someone who locked the front end and dumped the bike after fitting non gen levers
try rubbing the levers where they rub in the actuator
 
:eek: Thats some scarey stuff, been debating a set of those "Pazzo style" levers off ebay. Think I'd rather stick with the long levers till I can afford a set of genuine Pazzos if this is the result of the pattern stuff.
 
Well, I changed the lever back to the scuffed OEM one, attacked the calipers / pads with brake cleaner and all was well. DEFO fitted teh pattern ones right, but now have no confidence in them...

I certainly learned a lesson, so I hope I can help others to as well. Moral is - OEM or Pazzo / ASV etc fancy ones. Take the financial pain as its FAR cheaper than binning the entire bike!

EDIT- This weekend will see a strip-down of the calipers to see if there's anything obvious..... I shall report back!
icon_salut.gif
 
Definitely the levers, I recently replaced my slightly corroded OEM levers with some ebay pazzo replicas. I researched them endlessly on t'interweb and found mixed reviews. Most said everything great, but a few said front brake lock up. As such I decided to take a short low speed test ride before I did anything more and although they felt great at a standstill, they just became firmer and firmer as I went along and finally locked up whilst I was doing no more than walking pace. I had to strip the lever off in the middle of the street just to move the bike!

I've heard various reasons as to why this is, and although the key geometry seems identical to OEM, in fact they may be very fractionally out and as such keep a pressure on the master cylinder plunger which just allows the pressure to build and build! The other theory is that the built in spring creates too much tension against the plunger with similar results.

I just thank my lucky stars I wasn't going at any real speed and needless to say that I've put my old levers back on and they are staying there. My own scrupples also prevent me from selling the levers on so I'm £55 down to boot..... mind you, it could have been an awful lot more! These cheap levers are dangerous, end of!
 
Indeedy!! Original brake lever back on, and guess what - no probs..... Cannae wait until friday for the service, though.....

And on another note, this morning during a 50 mile trip I completely forgot how to corner... Not even decent on a slight curve. odd. Return trip was fine....
 
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