Hello Hello all
just a fast question.
I've had my 954 for a couple of years and the front brakes have allways dragged a little bit ?
I have rebuilt the calipers bleed the lines ect ect .
replace the pads as well. I've been told this is normal and not to be concerned for the drag. The brakes work great and are a single pull at any speed.
Just wondering if this is the case for all of the 954's out there.
Please chime in and tell me yes or no if this is the same case on your bike
Thanks
also bought some sintered pads from cycle gear ( If I remember they are Gaffer)
But the make a whining or almost a turbine sound when braking???
Is this common ?? Please post a comment thanks

 

Lift the front up and test how the wheel spins. The pads contact the discs and make some noise always but it should still spin easily and not really drag. And different calipers "drag" different amount. I have the monoblock Nissins on my 954 and they do drag a little bit more then 954 calipers but it seems to be feature off the calipers from what i read from them. They all do it.

 

mika_u
Hey thanks for the input and they do spin freely. I was curious on the brake drag noise when it spins freely and turbine sound under braking .

R

 

New-ish pads? That's what will cause the "turbine" like sound. It'll stay around for a while, but it will get a little quieter, and quieter, until you don't notice it anymore.

 

And whit some sintered pads it doesn't go away. I had EBC:s HH pads whit the stock discs and it was allways there. But that's totally normal. It sounds that everything is just the way it should be. Just hard riding!

 

Conrice & mika_u

Thanks dudes that's the info I'm looking for. I have put 1500 + miles on the brakes pads and two hard track days and the turbine/whining sound really has not faded much if any ! I think mika_u is correct that the sound will never go away
Not a big deal just wanted to see if it was a common
issue

 

I am having the same problem on my 954. Noticed front brakes were dragging, took things apart in the front and found that the spacers were on the wrong sides. switched them and aligned the front wheel and that didn't fix it. Just got done cleaning and lubing both calipers and master cylinder, and after assembling everything and bleeding the lines they still drag... very frusturating!

 

Bent rotors or aftermarket rotors whit wrong offset? How much does it drag? And is the disc on center of the caliper on every position? Raise the front end up and check these. And check that that you don't have too much brake fluid in the reservoir. How clean did you get the pistons. I had to polish mine whit sanding paper because they had few spots of rust and the crap had burned to the pistons so bad they didn't come of with any cleaner and brush. I started whit wet 2000, then wet 4000 and finally whit the finest polishing paste that is ment for finishing polish for paint work before wax. And very gently so that the piston doesn't wear out of spec.

And check that the brake lever doesn't push the master at all. Some of the chinese/aftermarket levers don't fit properly.

 

First off thanks for all the advice! Rotors appear to be OEM and are in good shape, There is some warpage it looks like in the right Rotor, but I had to stare at it for a good long while until I noticed it, so its very slight. I don't have the gauge tool the service manual refers to check warpage spec. Stock brake lever. Took my master cylinder apart and cleaned everything as well.

I get about a half turn when I spin it on the stand. I kind of have OCD so I scrubbed the calipers and pistons with brake cleaner, and parts cleaner until they were spotless. No scuffs or wear on any of the pistons or piston cylinders. I think the pistons are still sticking though. I didn't use new piston seals and dust seals, do you think that could be part of the problem? I lubed everything up like it said in the service manual but pistons still went in kind of hard and I was afraid they would still stick.

I originally tried just taking front wheel off and retorquing everything, and found the the axle spacers were on the wrong sides, switched them, then aligned the wheel how the manual said. Pads are also different between calipers, looks like the guy that owned it before me got two different sets of pads, not sure if that could contribute as well? I also made sure forks hadn't slid around in the triple tree clamp.

I'm thinking I'll get all new piston seals, new pads, and see what that does. Let me know If you have any other ideas! Thanks again!

 

Did you take the old seals out and clean them? The pistons shoudn't be sticking anymore if the seals, cylinders and piston are clean and lubricated properly. Probably there is still dirt an grudge somewhere. They should go in very easy after everything is cleaned. It isn't a bad idea to chage the dust seals and piston seals on a 11-12 year old bike.