Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X

Rear brake locked up, question

Collapse
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Rear brake locked up, question

    Hey guys, I just recently purchased a '94 Katana. Well, I bled the front brakes and was going to do the rear one, but unfortunately there was a stripped screw on the reservoir.


    I was takin it to my buddy's house to help me with the screw when the rear wheel started to lock up. I pulled over and ended up bringin her in to a service station.

    I'm of the opinion, possibly uninformed, that my problem was old brake fluid that hadn't been replaced in a while. The front ones actually dragged for a minute the first day I had the bike, not too fun...

    Replacing/bleeding the fluid seemed to solve that problem 100% in the fronts. Seems like it should do the same to the backs...

    I told the guy about the lock up and he wanted to do a whole caliper/master cylinder rebuild for like $300.

    I told him to only bleed the rear brakes for me and not to do all that. (Really all I needed was that damn screw off, but I was gonna have to pay for an hour of labor anyway.)

    Did I make the right call?

    Do I need to do the work (myself) he was talking about?

    Lemme know if you guys need any more info. Thanks.
    Last edited by BigLlamasHouse; 06-20-2012, 08:13 PM. Reason: the brakes didnt lock up, more like started to drag and got worse as I pulled over.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Bleed em and find out. If it doesn't work, you'll have your answer.

    Comment

    • #3
      My sentiments exactly. Second time you've helped me out in as many days. Preciate it man.

      Comment

      • #4
        Originally posted by BigLlamasHouse View Post
        My sentiments exactly. Second time you've helped me out in as many days. Preciate it man.

        Comment

        • #5
          you know, it is always amusing to see a situation brought up, the simplest of answers given, and the OP on his way to changing the fluid as if all is settled.

          FYI....brake fluid, no matter how old and bad it is, is not the cause of lock ups. if anything, it is quite the opposite, and the brakes become spongy and you have brake fade. so I think your brake locking will only be magnified once new fluid is in there.

          and what do you mean by locking? do they only lock while your foot is on the pedal, or are they sticking...as in when you take your foot off the brake, the brake stays on? or drags maybe? if they are only locking when your foot is on the pedal, that is likely because you are applying too much pressure. not much you can do 'bout that with hydraulic brakes besides stop putting too much pressure. if they are indeed sticking, then that is a caliper issue, not a brake fluid issue.
          I don't have a short temper. I just have a quick reaction to bullshit.




          Comment

          • #6
            check the wheel bearings
            Blood , its in you to give! http://www.blood.ca/

            Comment

            • #7
              More like dragging, not locking. I noticed and pulled over immediately, by the time I was in a parking lot the brakes were basically half-way down, it had gotten worse pretty quick. I could barely push the bike by the time I stopped. Fluid cooled off, the bike rolled fine again. I loaded up in a truck and took it in at that point.

              Same thing happened to the front brakes testin it out around the neighborhood. Pretty scary actually. I bled the fluid and it was good, although today is the only other time I've ridden it really, and I was only riding it to get to a buddy's house to get the damn stripped screw off the rear brake reservoir. The fluid was low in the rear brakes, I shouldn't have ridden it.
              Last edited by BigLlamasHouse; 06-20-2012, 08:14 PM.

              Comment

              • #8
                well as I mentioned before, bad fluid alone can't make your brakes stick. 99 times out of a 100, it is the caliper that is sticking. then what happens is that the pads drag, which causes heat, and that heat travels right up through the fluid in your brake lines. the older and worse off the brake fluid, the more adverse effect it will have on braking.

                changing the fluid may seem like it fixed the problem, but it's not 100% ideal. Ideally it sounds like you should rebuild your calipers. it's actually fairly cheap for a kit, and quite easy to do.
                I don't have a short temper. I just have a quick reaction to bullshit.




                Comment

                • #9
                  You make a lot of sense mojoe, the only reason that I might think otherwise is that the first time the front brakes started dragging I hadnt even run it the whole day, i had left it out in the 90 degree sun for a while. When I came back I noticed the bike was hard to move in neutral. I only had to push it a couple feet back into my garage but it felt heavy as hell.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    If you have water or air in the lines it can cause them to lock up too. It's worth a 5 dollar bottle of fluid to bleed it first and see IMO.

                    Comment

                    Previous template Next
                    Working...
                    X