[Black_peter]

Just a thought. When you did the brakes did you ever open the master cylinder? If not, you may have residual pressure in the system causing dragging and an overly quick pull on the lever. Check that, might be an easy solution. Good luck.

Now that is clever!!!
I hadn't thought of that..
KSlawman is onto something..
As I said before. As the pads wear the fluid level in the resiviour drops.
If it is topped up/ flushed/bled than when new pads are installed there is too much fluid in the system. When changing pads you are supposed to remove
the resiviour cap and as you push the pads (pistons) back watch the level
and remove excess fluid. If Mac forgot this step then the brakes are
being pressureised by the compressed air in the resiviour.
He would have reached a point where the pistons could not be
pushed back any farther, as I recall though the pads were not that worn.

[The CyberPoet]

Re: I did a front brake service yesterday and now theres pro

I went to take it for a test ride and I noticed that by just pulling the front brake lever in about 1/2 inch is enough to stop the bike rather quickly at any speed.

This is what good brakes are supposed to do.

I also could tell the pads were dragging on the rotor more than usual. I kept riding assuming that the pads just needed to wear down alittle but after about a 15 minute ride it was still the same. I also heard a high pitched squeek which lasted no longer that 2 seconds but kept doing it intermittently. When I put the pads on I pushed all of the pistons back far enough to get the calipers on the rotors.

On the squeeking -- was it intermitent only when you applied the brakes or did occur even when you weren't on the brakes? My guess is that it's happening because of the pads' backing plates dancing across the carrier pins (cleaning & rotating the carrier pins should address it)

Now my question is...why are the brakes rubbing??

Sintered brakes are designed to constantly keep the brakes against the rotors to keep them at the right operating temp (and sweep away any water). The question is whether they are dragging or just skimming -- put the wheel in the air (centerstand, have the gf push down on the rear or sit at the very back of the seat), then rotate the wheel with a big spin: with no brake applied, is it grinding to a halt within a half-a-rotation, or does it spin a few times?
If it stops almost right away, then the caliper pistons need to be cleaned or the lever mechanism got damaged at some point (blocking the return hole to release the pressure on the brakes when the lever is off).
If it spins more than a complete rotation, it's doing pretty much what it's supposed to.

Is this something I could fix by turning the adjustment screw in on the front brake lever? Before I did the brake job the front brake lever was about at the normal spot but now just a slight tap on the lever is enough to work the front brakes as if I was pulling the lever in hard.

That really sounds like you just being used to crappy brakes and being unaccustomed to the good life...

BTW I bought a Suzuki brand brake pad from the stealership and they are of the HH kind. I can post some pics up if that would be of any help.

Suzuki brand pads are GG rated. They don't offer an HH rated pad under the Suzuki label for Kats to my knowledge. Third-party vendors, such as EBC, do offer HH rated pads, and those will grab really fast/hard, especially when clean & reasonably new.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[macgyver]

Well I took the bike on a 80 mile ride saturday and I was a little weary about it. I pulled the calipers off on friday and pushed the pistons back a little more and they don't seem to be rubbing AS MUCH. I was afraid while riding down the highway that my brakes would overheat and lockup and I would be looking at the asphalt rather quickly, but none of the above happened. I didn't smell the pads overheating or see smoke or anything that would indicate they are rubbing more than they should. now to answer the above questions.


Waveman

Whats the ave. miles you get out of a set of pads riding hard but not that hard ? I know its a vague ? but wondering how many miles b4 a change

I can't tell you that yet waveman I didn't have the bike long enough, alls I can say is that when I got the bike in March I had it inspected and the inspection mechanic told me I would need front brakes only, not both rear and front which I just replaced both. I think the cause of the rears wearing down was just from my squidly ways of braking when I first started riding. I got the bike with 12,000 miles on it and its up to 15,000 now so since I had the bike about 3,000 miles was put on it.

KSlawman

Just a thought. When you did the brakes did you ever open the master cylinder? If not, you may have residual pressure in the system causing dragging and an overly quick pull on the lever. Check that, might be an easy solution. Good luck.

No I didn't think to do this...and I will give this a try when I get home...good idea.

Macgyver

Is this something I could fix by turning the adjustment screw in on the front brake lever? Before I did the brake job the front brake lever was about at the normal spot but now just a slight tap on the lever is enough to work the front brakes as if I was pulling the lever in hard.

I can't believe no one caught this...lol Katanas don't have a lever adjustment screw for the front brakes because the master cylinder is there. I goofed up because my old 1979 Suzuki TS 125 enduro had an adjustment there for the front drum brakes. I am just oldschool I guess

Cyberpoet

Sintered brakes are designed to constantly keep the brakes against the rotors to keep them at the right operating temp (and sweep away any water). The question is whether they are dragging or just skimming -- put the wheel in the air (centerstand, have the gf push down on the rear or sit at the very back of the seat), then rotate the wheel with a big spin: with no brake applied, is it grinding to a halt within a half-a-rotation, or does it spin a few times?
If it stops almost right away, then the caliper pistons need to be cleaned or the lever mechanism got damaged at some point (blocking the return hole to release the pressure on the brakes when the lever is off).
If it spins more than a complete rotation, it's doing pretty much what it's supposed to.

I know there is gonna be some form of rubbing that will always happen but unfortunetly I don't have a centerstand. The prev owner took it off because of exhaust clearance issues after the aftermarket headers were installed. Any ideas how to jack the bike up in the front?? I so badley wanted to get that front wheel off the ground just to see how much reistance there really is but I just can't think of a good idea that would be safe and would not damage the bike.

Cyberpoet

On the squeeking -- was it intermitent only when you applied the brakes or did occur even when you weren't on the brakes? My guess is that it's happening because of the pads' backing plates dancing across the carrier pins (cleaning & rotating the carrier pins should address

At first it was only when I was not applying the brakes. Then I pushed the pistons back further and it stopped squeeling when just riding w/o brakes but now it does it every once and awhile when applying the rear brakes and sometimes the fronts.

Macgyver

macgyver wrote:
I went to take it for a test ride and I noticed that by just pulling the front brake lever in about 1/2 inch is enough to stop the bike rather quickly at any speed.


This is what good brakes are supposed to do.

After pushing the pistons back even further the second time it seems like the brake lever is about normal now. It isn't dangerously touchy but it only travel no more than 1/2 inch before really biting the rotors.

It's a rainy day today so after I ride the bike home I will pull everything apart again ...try to MACGYVER a way to get the front wheel off the ground and check the fluid. Thanks everyone for the much needed suggestions.

[md86]

I can't believe no one caught this...lol Katanas don't have a lever adjustment screw for the front brakes because the master cylinder is there.

Yeah , they DO have an adjuster dealy . That's probably what was thought of .

[Black_peter]

Macgyver

Is this something I could fix by turning the adjustment screw in on the front brake lever? Before I did the brake job the front brake lever was about at the normal spot but now just a slight tap on the lever is enough to work the front brakes as if I was pulling the lever in hard.

I can't believe no one caught this...lol Katanas don't have a lever adjustment screw for the front brakes because the master cylinder is there. I goofed up because my old 1979 Suzuki TS 125 enduro had an adjustment there for the front drum brakes. I am just oldschool I guess

Well some Kats (with newer levers) have an adjustment cam on the lever.
(numbered 1-4 or 1-6) this moves the lever closer to (or farther from) the grip.
If it is set too close the lever could hit the grip before fully compressing the MC.. Or if it was moved far away the lever would be farther from the grip at full braking. This was the "adjustment screw" I thought you were refering to. It is part of the lever not the master cylinder so even older
Kats (with no stock adjuster) could have after market levers with the adjuster.