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RWhitehouse
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« on: October 10, 2018, 05:24:08 PM » |
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'98 Valkyrie Tourer, about 38k miles.
Yesterday I pulled the front wheel for a routine tire change, and noticed the calipers were somewhat difficult to remove from the rotors, particularly the left one. Lots of wriggling, twisting to slowly get them off, much more difficult than it should be. I have Galfer SS lines, which were installed along with fresh fluid about 6 months ago. Got the tire changed and reinstalled the wheel. The right caliper was a bit stiff, but squished down with water pump pliers fine. The left I could not budge with a 15" channel lock. Got out a c-clamp and that managed to push the pistons back. Hosed it with brakleeen since it was pretty gunky, and pumped it up/pushed it back a few times with some dry Teflon lube, seemed to loosen up quite a bit. Put the caliper back on, and the wheel was dragging pretty heavily(hadnt even pumped up the m/c yet). Realized the left side caliper bracket was rubbing the outboard side of the rotor. The right side was totally free and clear.
Looking at the front of the bike straight on, you can see the disc is closer to the fork on the left side vs the right. Measuring disc to fender mount, it's 3/4" on the right side (clear) and only 5/8 on the left side (rubs).
I separated the caliper from the bracket, and bolted just that up- same problem, so know it's not the caliper to blame. With the right caliper only the wheel freely spins. With the left bracket(sans caliper) it stops almost immediately.
So, what gives? What did I screw up? I thought possibly I lost a washer or spacer, but the parts fiche confirmed there's no other spacers on the left side other than the speedo drive. Before the wheel change this wasnt an issue, at least to my knowledge, although the bracket did have some very light rub marks. The pads had plenty of meat left on both sides and evenly worn. But now it makes a clearly audible scratching noise, which I never had before. The disc is not warped, it's dead flat. But somehow it seems the disc got closer to the fork? Not sure. I'm stumped what's going on here. Any suggestions appreciated.
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bill-jr
Member
Posts: 1034
VRCC # 35094
murfreesboro
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« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2018, 05:32:22 PM » |
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Follow the directions on front whell install in shop talk you need to knock the shaft in a bit more ...then follow the tighting order ....
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Ever danced with the devil In the pale moon light ?
99' Black tourer
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bill-jr
Member
Posts: 1034
VRCC # 35094
murfreesboro
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« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2018, 05:35:20 PM » |
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Hum no front whell install in shop talk hahaha
Push shaft in flush tighten left side (sitting on bike)
Then Tighten everything else ....
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Ever danced with the devil In the pale moon light ?
99' Black tourer
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indybobm
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« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2018, 05:41:31 PM » |
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Simple fix. Loosen the pinch bolts on the bottom of the left fork. Slide/pull the bottom of the left fork away from the wheel until the outside of the fork is flush with the end of the axle. Tighten the pinch bolts.
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So many roads, so little time
VRCC # 5258
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da prez
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« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2018, 06:36:03 PM » |
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Start over. Brakes are some what needed. Rebuild the calipers properly. Follow install procedure to the letter. Short cuts take longer. As many as I have done , I still run into alignment issues because I rush or take it for granted. Do it right , not twice.
da prez
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RWhitehouse
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« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2018, 09:58:34 PM » |
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Yep. Loosened the pinches, have both sides of that axle a torque and it popped in another 1/4" or so. Go figure, done this loads of times before and managed to screw up this one. Axle wasn't sticking out far enough to catch my eye as abnormal, but know what to look for now.
While that fixed the bracket rubbing the rotor, the brakes are still dragging well more than what I'd consider normal or acceptable. The pistons all seemed to free up with some cleaning but they're clearly still not releasing properly, mainly the left/low side. A hard shove gives 1 revolution at best before the wheel brakes itself. So ordered up a couple rebuild kits and a set of ebc pads while I'm at it. Best sort this out now as I'm taking it on a 3k mile trip in a couple weeks, don't need to run into stuck brakes then. Thanks for the help.
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da prez
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« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2018, 05:41:54 AM » |
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Take care in cleaning the caliper ring grooves. There is usually a crust in it. I use a pick probe to clean but avoid scratching. FYI , do not use silicone grease as an assembly lube. Clean dot 4 brake fluid. Another trick (?) is to put the brake hoses in an empty water bottle. The bottle will just force over the banjo fitting and keep fluid from dripping on the bike or floor. Clean and lube all the parts.
da prez
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SCain
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« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2018, 07:44:13 AM » |
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There is a process for "setting" the front tire spacing after a tire change, this will correctly space everything. Check your shop manual for this procedure. In a nutshell you leave the left pinch bolts loose and bounce the forks several times to align everything then tighten then up.
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Steve  |
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indybobm
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« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2018, 09:52:02 AM » |
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There is a process for "setting" the front tire spacing after a tire change, this will correctly space everything. Check your shop manual for this procedure. In a nutshell you leave the left pinch bolts loose and bounce the forks several times to align everything then tighten then up.
Helps to apply the front brake while bouncing the forks. This forces the left brake caliper to center over the rotor aligning the left fork. |
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So many roads, so little time
VRCC # 5258
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