[fencingdude101]

Hey everyone,

I've had a lot of front brake problems after installing new pads and rotors and rebuilding the caliper- Check out here for more info: http://www.riderforums.com/general-...liper-rebuild-problem-i-really-need-help.html
I won't bore you with the details, but go there if you care.

As for my question, I eventually realized that one of the pads I installed wasn't up against the rotor properly- only an edge of it was making contact, while the rest of the pad was 1-2mm off the rotor, tilted away. I took off the caliper, kinda jiggled the pads a bit, and stuck it back on. The brakes work better, but after a quick test around the block, they still don't feel right, and the new wear marks on the rotor tell the same story. They just don't provide very much braking power, about on-par with the rear brake, but nowhere near as smooth or feeling as well.
So, does anyone have ideas on why they may be off? I'm planning on taking it off again and seeing if I can make it align better, but is there something else I missed when installing them to cause this? Any ideas are welcome, thank you.

 

[XPyron]

Do you have any friends that are mechanically inclined? I am a bit concerned for you safety after reading the last round.

 

[fencingdude101]

Do you have any friends that are mechanically inclined? I am a bit concerned for you safety after reading the last round.

My dad's been working with cars for the past 40 years or so, he's been trying to help me out. I'm not taking the bike out again until I can get the brakes totally straightened out, I only went out at night for a few minutes because I knew they'd at least work well enough to stop reasonably.

 

[jeepincbum]

Pictures would help please

 

[Boscoe]

Got some rough edges or too much material on the ears where the pads slide in the caliper mounts? Maybe you need to grind a bit away to get them to float properly?

 

[fencingdude101]

Got some rough edges or too much material on the ears where the pads slide in the caliper mounts? Maybe you need to grind a bit away to get them to float properly?

They move back and fourth just fine- I don't think that's the problem. The large rotor is flush up against the back of the caliper, and that just stayes there. The small pad gets pushed by the pistons and just kinda 'floats' on an anti-vibration spring, so there's nothing really to lube or clean there. I rebuilt the caliper, so the pins slide fine. Thanks for the idea through.

Pictures would help please

Sure thing, when I get the chance later today if I still can't figure it out, I'll post some pictures (May be a bit hard with the tight, blocked spaces, but I'll do my best)

 

[fencingdude101]

As an update to this thread:

I figured out the problem- it was the caliper pistons. When I first installed them upon the caliper rebuild, they were very tight fitting, and I had to use a vice to get them in the rest of the way. With some help at the ninjette forum, a few members pointed out that the pistons should go in easily, so I took them out and re cleaned/re lubed everything again. After that, bleeding, and a ton of pumping, everything feels good and usable now! I need to tune it a bit more, but they work very well for new pads and rotors.

For the full story: https://www.ninjette.org/forums/show...760#post882760