F4i front brake question.
 

Hey guys, so a little while ago I had an issue with fork oil coming out the bottom allen bolt on my forks after I changed my fork seals. Well, I ordered new crush washers and put them back together tonight and took the bike for a quick rip around the block BUT...my front brakes have hardly no stopping power to them at all and when I got back my rotors were hot. Could some fork oil possibly have splattered on my brake pads or rotors to cause this?? Any info/help is greatly appreciated. thanks

the best thing to do it use brake cleaner for the rotor.. and put brand new pad.. the brake is the kind of thing you dont want to fail...

If the brake lever is still firm then it sounds like oil on the discs/pads.


Brake cleaner spray or isopropyl alcohol all over the disc and pads, see if it helps.

You should probably also buy new pads as oil contamination is hard to get rid of and is known to degrade the pad material making it fall apart. I have heard of people sticking pads in the oven to try and burn off oil but that is asking for trouble and the solvents like brake cleaner never really penetrate well enough to clean the pads properly.


TLDR - new pads, clean the discs.

I use mineral spirits to clean my rotors. I use a blue shop paper towel, wipe rotors - front & back, done. Will leave the surface nice & clean, & dries fast.

If your pads have oil on them, soak them in mineral spirits & clean w/a toothbrush. Unless they are absolutely soaked in oil, you should be GTG w/ this method.

Ok, so I ordered new EBC pads (and while I was at it, I decided to upgrade to HEL braided lines :)!! ) Well, i was out riding last night and of course my front brakes still don't grab like they should and my lever is pretty soft. One thing really bugs me is my left front rotor must be rubbing on the pad because it gets REALLY hot. Not like glowing red hot but pretty warm. I tried to use as little front brake as I could after I noticed it and was only going for a short cruise around town. When i took my clip-ons off I never messed with any adjustment of the brakes...Does anyone know what the deal would be? I'm changing them as soon as they get here anyway but it's just something thats been bugging me. thanks for all your help. I love this forum. haha. :)

pinched brake line maybe?

EBC pads eat rotors. You should buy OEM pads always, no exceptions unless you dont care about buying rotors like socks

Serious? Dammit...haha already bought them. Anyone else have any reviews on these pads??

EBC pads are a bit aggressive for the use most people get out of them, I use OEM pads generally but the one set of EBC pads will be ok. Have you fitted them yet?



Your brakes are binding. This is where the pads are gripping the disc too much causing them to be in contact all the time, a little bit of rub is normal but yours sounds excessive. The problem could be a few things. When you fit your HEL lines it is worth stripping and cleaning out the brake calipers (a full strip and rebuild), this solves 99% of binding brakes and as you will need to bleed the brakes from empty after the lines are fitted anyway it is an ideal time to do it.

Common causes of binding brakes are as follows:
Dirt and corrosion behind one or more dust/brake caliper seals - this causes the seals to grab the piston and stop it retracting. The solution is to remove the seals, replace any that are damaged/bent and clean the grooves behind them.

Worn pad pins, if the pad pins are worn or corroded they can stop the pads retracting causing them to bind.

Corroded and/or dirty pistons don't slide as well, this can cause the brakes to bind.


In short, when you fit your lines and new pads strip the brakes. There are guides all over the net, probably an f4i specific one on here too.The F4i brakes are actually very good, if yours are not then sort it out!! :)

No, I actually just got my package today when I got home from work. Thanks for the help!! I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to try and get OEM pads and sell these or just keep them and try them out. We'll see....