Problem with brakes or front wheels or ?? I need as much help as I can get

[beadaholic]

The noise like metal you hear is the disc that is loose on there after we removed the brake pads from the caliper. It was rattling around on there a bit, I tried to avoid it but it is hard. I am not as coordinated as I used to be hehe. Anyway the disc I laid it flat on my glass table and it is really flat the glass, good quality and all and the disc doesn't seem warped at all, I turn it and it is still laying flat on the table. Glad I can use the discs for a while at least until the new ones get in, I will most likely order all the parts new just to be sure and keep these as reserves if needed for some reason....

[Magdave]

Spyder RTs have been notorious for brake noise. Your pads look OK to me. The fact that you got them out so easy is interesting. Not having done pads on a Spyder yet I can only go by my auto pad experience. They make a quieter for the pads

http://www.streetsideauto.com/p/crc-...lt4aAvq78P8HAQ

It is possible the pads were just loose. If you only have a few thousand miles on the pads they can be sanded with fine sandpaper. If you have an orbital sander the same with the disc you may have glazed some pad material on it. Yes you could replace both not sure if the cost is warranted or not. It may even be worth taking to the dealer and have them look at after you just slap it back together.

[beadaholic]

Spyder RTs have been notorious for brake noise. Your pads look OK to me. The fact that you got them out so easy is interesting. Not having done pads on a Spyder yet I can only go by my auto pad experience. They make a quieter for the pads

http://www.streetsideauto.com/p/crc-...lt4aAvq78P8HAQ

It is possible the pads were just loose. If you only have a few thousand miles on the pads they can be sanded with fine sandpaper. If you have an orbital sander the same with the disc you may have glazed some pad material on it. Yes you could replace both not sure if the cost is warranted or not. It may even be worth taking to the dealer and have them look at after you just slap it back together.

I am a bit worried that at the dealer (3 weeks ago) they did not put it together right again "IF" they really checked them. Because other people have PMed me that it shouldn't be so easy to remove the pads. That I should have to do more than just slide them out, maybe this is my problem. I am going to ask Bajaron about this because maybe he can give me some insight! Or is someone else has done their brakes on a RT?!

[Magdave]

I am a bit worried that at the dealer (3 weeks ago) they did not put it together right again "IF" they really checked them. Because other people have PMed me that it shouldn't be so easy to remove the pads. That I should have to do more than just slide them out, maybe this is my problem. I am going to ask Bajaron about this because maybe he can give me some insight! Or is someone else has done their brakes on a RT?!

They should have clips that fit into the calipers ( at least on cars they do). You did not show the back sides and they should not be able to be slid out. I imagine you have it worse than us as far as dealers go and we have a lot of issues with them here. Ron should be able to give you the best answer. Post some pics of the back side of the pads please.

[trikermutha]

My thoughts would be to replace both front brake pads and check the caliper pistons/slides to makes sure they are sliding smooth and not stuck/rusty.

Get with Baja Ron I hear he has good prices and will take care of you. The pads installed may not be correct compound for your bike..JMO..

Also you may have warped rotors or sticky caliper piston. I have heard of issue at times with the calipers sticking?? My dad had it on his bike and was repaired under warranty

I like to see pictures of the inside of the caliper where the brake pads mount..

Just some things to ponder and check..

I didnt relalize it but you have a 2014 isnt it under warranty?? Or the shop is too far away..

[Peter Aawen]

There's meant to be a spring clip & a pin across the top of the brake pads that you hafta unscrew & remove before pulling the brake pads out - if that's not there, the pads can move clear of the caliper under hard braking & let the piston itself scrape on the disc, so that between the displaced pad & the piston, it'll make a noise very much like the noise we can hear on the vid!! You need to get your bloke to take the caliper off & check it carefully for scoring or wear on the pistons to rule that out - & looking at the lack of pad wear on your pads, it could be what's happened. If that's the case, unless a piston is damaged, it might just be a case of fitting it all back together properly & your problem could be solved.

About stomping on the brakes - DO IT!! You won't lose control! That's what ABS is designed for & the Spyder ABS & VSS work very well! Far better than any car or bike you've ever driven/ridden before, but they can't do that for you in an emergency unless you REALLY MASH that pedal into the ground AND HOLD IT DOWN HARD!! ABS was designed & developed purely to make it almost impossible for a driver/rider to lose control while maximising the braking effort - and the Spyder ABS is up there with the best of them, it WORKS, it works well, and it won't let you 'lose control' while braking very very very hard!!

I've been paid to train drivers & motorcyclists in this sort of stuff on/in all sorts of vehicles for close on 40 years now, & I can promise that once your brakes & this issue is fixed/sorted properly, if you get out there on a quiet section of road & practice braking a bit, working up to it, getting progressively harder on the pedal until you can absolutely mash the pedal down, you will be astounded not only at how well your Spyder brakes rapidly & stops on a dime, but also at how well it retains control & lets you keep steering around hazards.

You really should've been able to stop safely & fully in control behind the bike in front of you - unless you didn't see him slow/stop until you were prety much already past him!! From when you started steering to avoid (good reaction time btw!!) it looked like you had ample distance to jump HARD on the brake pedal & pull up safely, letting the ABS do its thing, but you do really need to jump hard on that pedal and stay on it once the ABS starts banging & thumping away underneath & the footboard drops away! That's exactly why BRP designed that dropping footboard feature, to let you jump on the brakes hard & get much more pedal movement in an emergency than you usually need. Try it, practice a bit, most people do need to get used to putting that much pressure on the pedal & really stomping it, then holding it down hard when the noises & thumps start - heck, even after almost 40 years of driving/riding & training drivers/riders in hi-speed & emergency techniques, I still practice emergency braking at least once a month - after all, my life & the life of my passenger does depend upon it working well when I need it to!

[trikermutha]

Should have a pin and hairpin holding in the pads..

[beadaholic]

Here are all the pictures, and I think things are good to go. I found out my guy removed the screw, the clips so fast and easily while I looked away at some other thing (like sending pictures on the cell here) that I never knew he had removed these things. So now I feel quite competent with this and I believe I can do this (putting it back together and now I KNOW what I got in there, which will reassure me. I will also go and pounce on the brakes to learn my limits! I keep thing big car vs small bike (not that small but compared to my car!) Let me know what you think of the backs of the pads, and if everything else looks good. There is also a picture of the disc on my glass table, it does not move at all if you push on it from any side, it lays perfectly flat.

[beadaholic]

Here are the calipers as well.

[beadaholic]

We are putting it back together now, and I feel like things will be fine. Going to test drive it later today (gotta go to the Doctor for my shoulder right now, having some issues with it, they will be injecting some gel in it I believe. We will see, hurts pretty badly, no accident or trauma that I can figure out, it is just the 55 years I think that I am carrying around with me! hehe, I am so scared of this, but hopefully it won't be too bad. But when I am back today if things go well I will test my ride!

I appreciate everything you guys have done for me. SpyderAnn thank YOU! MIKE (blueknight911) THANK YOU! This has been a fantastic learning experience and I thought it would be harder! It isn't that hard! At all! I am rather shocked I am paying these guys the mula I am when I go to the dealer. And yes I don't have much choice here, our dealers are way worst than in the US even (if possible) and that is the scary part....so I need to become my own mechanic. This is so helpful. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. hehe Means alot to me.

[trikermutha]

from what I can tell the parts look ok..make sure when putting the rotor back on you don't warp it with screwing it back in..Harleys are notorious for this..
Take your time remounting the rotor.. Make sure the brake pads move freely in the caliper but will have some resistance..


I just realized the rotor does not bolt up as the Harleys..So disregard that comment..

[Magdave]

I see nothing wrong. Here is a vid of CRC Brake quiet on a Honda. If you applied it on the back of the pads where the caliper marks are I am pretty sure you won't have any more noise.

[trikermutha]

I would think if something was warped or out of round the disc pads would reflect that by not having even wear..with the way that noise sounded

But then again if you put a load on the wheel hub bearing the noise could return??

Not sure about putting a bunch of goop on the back of the pads..Never have done that..

[Peter Aawen]

All looks pretty good to me!!


No you've just gotta get out there & get used to stomping on the pedal for an emergency stop!

[Magdave]

I would think if something was warped or out of round the disc pads would reflect that by not having even wear..with the way that noise sounded

But then again if you put a load on the wheel hub bearing the noise could return??

Not sure about putting a bunch of goop on the back of the pads..Never have done that..

A little dab will do ya. Here is a description of what it does. Almost every pad set I have changed on a car came with a small tube.

"The pad is indeed squeaking from it's interaction with the rotor, much like the chilling squeak you got in school from the chalk/blackboard thing. It sets up an extremely high frequency vibration that pierces ear drums and calls dogs from miles around.
What the Disc Brake Quiet (Blue Snot) does can be understood two ways.
It acts as a dampening layer which isolates the pad. or
It acts as an adhesive which bonds it to it's corresponding caliper, effectively changing the mass of the shoe causing it's natural resonance frequency to drop to the inaudible range. It can vibrate all it wants, nobody will hear it."

[Dubliner]

Hopefully when you reassemble it all will be fine. Very often when you hit a tope, sleeping policeman or road hump depending what country you are living in, at speed it can disturb or even distort one of the steering components. Sometimes something as simple as loosening off all the components; axels, bolts on brake calipers and on motorcycles fork clamps and ride slowly and grab the brakes enough that the suspension compresses and the brake components realign with the disks. Do this several times and then retighten everything again and try riding it again.

The visual scoring on the disk could be from light sand or dirt embedded in the brake pads, if you run your thumb nail across the scoring and can feel it there is damage and it will wear your pads faster on that side. To check if the disk is warped remove it and place on a piece of glass with a smear of oil on it. If there is a high spot you will see it quite easily. Remove the oil with rubbing alcohol afterwards.

I was a motorcycle mechanic in Dublin for 30 plus years at a time when motorcycles were often the only form of motor transport in some families. Lane sharing and dodging potholes was a way of life and bouncing off curbs and hitting cows all too familiar... So loosening off the steering components and grabbing a handful of brake with a dose of speed is often enough to pull everything back in line.

[satownsendsr]

Just by listening to the first video it sounds like the brake rotor is warped. I have had it happen on a car before when going over a railroad track too fast and the track was in bad shape. I would suggest removing the brake assembly and spin the wheel. If the noise disappears obviously it is a brake problem. I'm assuming that when going over the bumps you were braking pretty hard. If the front wheels jerked any at all when going over the bumps I would bet the rotors are warped.
If the noise continues with the brake assembly off and the fact that the sound was not constant but alternated it is possible the bearing is damaged but the sound I heard did not sound like a bearing.
If it turns out to be the rotor, depending on the mileage on the bike you can have them turned to true then up or just replace them if you have a lot of mileage on the bike.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 4 using Tapatalk

[trikermutha]

Has the problem been solved yet?? inquiring minds need to know..

[beadaholic]

Has the problem been solved yet?? inquiring minds need to know..

The doctor wouldn't let me ride, my shoulder is causing me grief...just a calcium deposit but it has caused me to not have full range of motion and it is swollen double. Arg....this is also a huge damper on my fun. Oh well, I guess I will live. Anyway I went out on a short trip today and it seems to have resolved itself. I cannot say what caused it, and I cannot say what we did to fix it. I really don't know, all I know is it is put back together and seems fine. No noise now. It is a rainy day (been raining days straight right now "El Nino") well I stomped on the brakes and had never stopped that fast before, not going real fast (because of the shoulder) but when I can I will go out somewhere and really go at it, and film it too! haha, should be fun and I am looking forward to it. Thank you everyone for the help, it gave me confidence to do this, it is rather simple. Which is nice....Thank you!