Front brake seized up due to cold?

[apple tango]

I didn't use my bike for around 3 weeks due to the snow and ice.

Last weekend i wheeled it out of my garage to take it for a spin. Straight away i noticed how bloody hard it was just to wheel it out of the garage onto the driveway.

At first i thought it might've been the chain, as it was covered in salt and grime and not looking too good. I gave it a good clean with paraffin and whacked some chain lube on it. This didn't solve the problem.

It definately seems to be the front brake. It's as if the brake lever is half on all the time, there's lots of resistance on the front wheel moving freely.

I've been using it for commuting so far this week, hoping the ride will somehow cause it to fix itself (not likely, i know) but it hasn't.

So, any idea what's wrong with it? Could the freezing temperatures we endured for weeks effected the pads somehow?

[yorkie_chris]

More likely a load of crap around the pistons.

[apple tango]

Cheers Chris.

I've given the callipers a good douse in brake cleaner, but it hasn't helped. Will i be needing to take the brakes apart? My knowledge on brakes is zilch!

[xXBADGERXx]

Take the brakes off the caliper mounts and get a green pan scourer or Scotch Brite and clean the hardened crud off the pistons . Persuade the pistons back in a little with something that won`t damage them . Re-Fit to bike and pump the Brakes til they work and then try them .

[Red Herring]

Unfortunately the only way to sort the brake is to take the caliper off. It's an easy enough job, just take the caliper off the fork leg and then remove the pads (Don't disconnect the brake hose). Take the slider off the caliper and then get an old toothbrush and clean all around the exposed bits of the pistons with some brake cleaner. Then very carefully pull the brake lever a little, just enough to make the pistons move out a few mm. Take care that they both move, if only one moves put the two pads in front of it with a spanner or something to pack them out so they stop that one coming out further. Once they have both moved a bit clean them again and then carefully push them back in a bit. Repeat a few times and you will slowly free up both pistons until they go back easily. Resist the temptation to push them all the way back in, unless you are putting in new pads you don't need to do it and all you risk doing is introducing some dirt to the seals. Finally put it all back together lubricating the slider pins with some copper grease and don't forget to pump the lever to bring the pads back out to the disc before test riding!

[Warthog]

Well, you probably don't want to take my advice, but my bike was similar to this yesterday, just a bit hard to push backwards as the front brake was a bit tight. I just razzed it down the road and did a few emergency stops and now it is fine again. :)

This is just cos it gets a bit stiff, obviously if the front brake it stuck on and binding then razzing it will warp your discs!

[SUPERSTARDJ01]

Well, you probably don't want to take my advice, but my bike was similar to this yesterday, just a bit hard to push backwards as the front brake was a bit tight. I just razzed it down the road and did a few emergency stops and now it is fine again. :)

This is just cos it gets a bit stiff, obviously if the front brake it stuck on and binding then razzing it will warp your discs!


Same happened to me, and I did exactly the same just make sure no brake pad is on the disc.

[Taipan]

Had exact same problem the other night. I hadn't used my bike since before Xmas and when I tried to push it the front wheel had enough resistance to just slide on the snow.

I took one pad out and pumped out the pistons until the clean bit showed. i then cleaned the rest of the pistons with brake fluid and worked them in and out a few times. That sorted it out nicely. Just as well as I ran out of petrol the next day and had to push the sodding thing a mile or so and that wouldn't have been possible with binding brakes.

[apple tango]

The ragging it around for a few days hasn't done the trick, so i will attempt to clean the pistons this weekend. Thanks for all the help.

[apple tango]

Managed to get both the front callipers off today. Everything went ok with one of them - pulled the clip out, pulled the rod out with ease then gave the pistons a good clean with brake cleaner.

When i came to the second one though, i released the clip, but the rod was impossible to get out. I tried pulling it out with pliers, then noticed its shaped like a nut on the end, so tried a socket set on it. This didn't work either, and i've ended up chewing the nut into a more circular shape. I also sprayed some wd40 on the rod to try loosen it up, but no joy.

I gave up and put the callipers back on. The break is now working fine (for now at least), but i am worried how i'm going to replace the pads on the one where the rod's stuck.

[xXBADGERXx]

Try and get some stuff called Plus-Gas , WD40 is poo in comparison . The hex on the end is made of seriously soft material and is worthless . If the pins don`t come out then you may have to drill them , I had to do this with mine . A handy thing for me was chucking my Caliper in the Freezer for a few hours to chill the caliper and pin down . Remove from freezer and warm the caliper evenly with a heat gun , the Aluminium of the caliper will expand quicker than the steel pin and hopefully you can get it out . Wemoto are handy for Pad Pins as they stock them quite cheaply and are the same as a Kawasaki part .

[xXBADGERXx]

How did you get on with this ?

[thefallenangel]

6mm stainless steel bar about 200mm is plenty. Cut to about 70mm and drill a hole at 45mmish for the R clip. Grease well and you've got enough left out to remove with pliers/grips when overhauling again. But i must stress copper grease well.

[apple tango]

How did you get on with this ?

I took the easy way out.

I needed a new chain and sprocket fitted, so i took my bike in to my local bike shop for them to do it. When i was there i asked them to have a look at the brakes.

They said the rod's in the callipers are always a bit ****ty, so they tend to change them when they can. I'm not sure how they managed to get the one that was stuck out, but they've replaced them with some better ones.

Regarding my front brake that was sticking, they said it was something to do with the seals.

[xXBADGERXx]

You took the best option , I had to drill my own out and it took me around 7 hours to sort out from beginning to end .