warped rotors?

[bill v e]

since i'm not real good yet w mechanical work on forks and brakes, i've relied on a local honda shop to replace fork seals, change brake fluid, and replace piston seals/rings - each on different visits.  they were never able to get brakes working right - brakes would not catch until lever was pulled back all the way and there was noise w rotation of wheel pretty much constantly.  brakes would work ok when needed but i got used to using gears to slow down, looking ahead more than usual and light use of rear brake unless i had to rely on front brake use.  2000 is has over 160k and i'm being told that my rotors are warped.  how can i be sure?  i'm a little suspicious because i was first told that i would need to replace brake lines.  to replace rotors, will i need to bleed/chng brake fluid?  i have no trouble replacing front tire - can i go from there if i need to replace rotors?  just trying to figure out if this is something i can undertake myself and if it will be the fix.  only used the cheaper brake shoes once and was not happy so i replaced w oem brake shoes and have had, i think, 3 sets of oem in the 160k i've put on.  i do know about using the gl1800 rotors for replacement.  tia for any input.

[Patrick]

Several things.. Warped rotors will cause a pulsation when the brakes are applied.. Some replacement pads are noisy.. There is no need or there shouldn't be a need to bleed the brakes upon rotor replacement.. Since you state the brakes don't seem to work until he lever[ front brakes only?] is fully pulled leads to believe that you may have air in the system requiring more bleeding.. A flex hose could be defective especially if one or more was clamped off[ vise-grips,etc] while the calipers were being repaired.. It shouldn't be difficult to get those brakes working correctly..

[2qmedic]

I have not ran into this situation myself, but does the brake require a hard pull? I had a BMW that the front brake was hard to pull and come to find out, it was "JUNK" inside the brake hose. Not sure if it was moisture related as it sat at my neighbors house for about 2 years before I got it. After I flushed the lines it worked great.
How someone said "warped rotors", I just don't see that. The rotors are of a floating design to prevent any warped rotors from grabing and causing wheel lock up. Therefore, your braking should still be normal.
Start with simple;
-proper brake fluid
-proper fluid level
-rotors worn out "too thin"
-has the fluid been replaced as part of regular maintenance
-has the brake calipers ever been rebuilt
-has the brake actuator (reservior/piston) been rebuilt
Has this been getting worse with more miles or just seemingly all at once?
I think that I would start with a good flush with the proper fluid and check rotor thickness
After that remove the calipers and using a peiec of wood, apply pressure on the calipers to see if there is a difference with with the extension of the pistons (don't think it would matter though, just helps rule it out). Also do all of the pistons seem to move in sync.
If nothing changes, then I would think that perhaps the brake it self needs to be rebuilt. Perhaps because of worn or "tired seals" on the piston.
Hope this helps, but I'm sure that there is someone that can give more solid advice,
Enjoy and ride safe, get this fixed, brakes are important (but you know that).
Happy New Year!!!

[Michvalk]

Look, with 160000 miles on the stock rotors, you can assume that they are worn thin. This would cause the lever to move further than normal, because of the increased distance between pads and rotors. If they are the originals, replace them. New pads, and bleed the fluid, and you should be good for 160000 more. Replacing the hoses and rebuilding the calipers is not a difficult job. A honda service manual should be your bible for this kind of work.

[valkyriemc]

160K miles on originial rotors ?? Yo.   

[Chrisj CMA]

Some people dont use the front brakes.  Dont be one of those.....brakes are cheap compared to the injuries people sustain when hard solid objects have to stop someone that was counting too much on the rear brake