So santa dropped a Vortex stand under the tree this year and now my baby is not just sitting in the living room of my apartment, but rather in style.

That aside, I was monkeying with the rear of the bike being fascinated by the fact it was completely off the ground and I noticed something that concerned me. The rear tire/rim makes a friction noise when I try and spin it, there is definitely friction somewhere and I have a strong hunch its the pad and rotor from the noise. Is this normal..I assume not because it causes premature wear on the pads/rotor and friction is bad thing on a bike. I can't see into the pad very well, but I know I need the pad replaced here sometime before spring. How tough is a pad change on the rear?


A few off topic things here:

1.) Is the stand decently stable w/o having the bike lifted by the spools?

2.) I got a set of vortex spools for my bike, but the swing arm isn't drilled for or has holes for them. Can you have them drilled?

 

Yes, it's perfectly normal. It's that way on cars too.

As far spools on your swing-arm, yeah you could drill it (do a search). I hear Vortex will even weld some on for you if you ship it to them (for money of course). Is it worth it?Not to me. It depends on why you want them.I believe most guys here (me included) use the paddle type without issues.

 

+1, that is one reason why the old street/drag racers used drum brakes.

 

I used the paddles for a short time waiting for the spools to arrive but I LOVE having the bike on spools instead.

 

I've recently noticed this slight "drag" of the rotor because of the rear pads as well and was going to ask about it. I'm glad it's normal

 

+1, spools are much more stable, but pads will keep you up. you can drill holes in the swing arm and add riv-nuts (most say no-no to this), get bung welded on (pricey), or do my little axle-spool mod, https://cbrforum.com/m_435016/tm.htm, that is useful for storage and working on your bike, but can't remove the rear wheel.

as for your brake noise, like most others said, you will have a slight drag on any disc brake. it shouldn't be really loud or sound like a grind though, it should just sound like the pads are lightly touching the rotor. your fronts will do the same when you put it on a front stand.

 

Glad to hear that caliper friction is normal, I have never had it off the ground to spin the wheel freely. My Stand actually doesn't have paddles, they are like rubber coated metal "dowels." Seems stable with the bike on it dues to the angle it holds at against the direction of slip and the fact they are coated.

As for the spools, what are my options for modifying the swing arm to attach the spools. I don't know what drilling the awing arm does to the structure. Anyone have experience with adding spools?

The Axel ones would be cool, but I have a chain and sprockets to change and a tire in a bit.

 

if youre gonna modify the spools, just get some bungs welded onto the bottom of the swingarm. take a look at the new bikes and youll see what you need to add on to it: