Slight rear brake issue, back to triumph tomorrow

[Specialone]

My sprint has developed a slight pulsating on its rear brake when going slow, not noticeable at speed.
It does seem like the pads have wore down already 2500 miles, as there doesnt seem much there.
It could obviously be a warped disc but would have thought i would notice it at speed as well, probably combo of the two.
Have posted this on a triumph forum and apparently OEM pads are soft as sh1te.
I mainly use my rear brake for low speed use, sometimes on low speed change downs i will use that instead of front, but i rode my sv the same way and done 4000 miles on that with no issues albeit that had more engine braking and wasnt 128hp and 70kgs heavier.
Anyway, kind chaps at triumph said bring it down tomorrow and they will take a quick look.
I guess if its pads im responsible for them as its a wearable item but warped disc would be warranty issue i presume?

[Bibio]

seized caliper.

2500 out of REAR pads NFW.

[Specialone]

Apparently its not rare according to triumph forum, the brake does work ok tbh, but sprints are notorius for having crap rear brakes.

[Bibio]

sounds like a recall is in order. typical bloody british workmanship.

[Bluefish]

dunno, tested mine the other day, the abs works, bloody hell you sure know when it's working lol

[Dicky Ticker]

Brake pads are a consumable and even at 2500 miles it depends if you use your back brake a lot to take speed off for corners and such. I do and stick a new set on at every 4000 miles although I have never had disc warp or caliper issues.[42k miles]
Presumably your bike is still under warranty so a trip to Triumph for their opinion is free.

[Specialone]

Bit of an update.
Just got back from dealer, technician come straight out, no waiting at all.

Bike up on centre stand, into first gear, floating caliper pulsing in and out so disc warped, opposite brake pad down to nothing, started to grind on way there.

Fair play to the guy, he said even a heavy rear brake user should get 5k, average is 5-8k.
Straight away he said warranty claim for discs and pads, but triumph have to ok it, so picking up in a van on monday, expect to have it back 2-3 days they said.
Apparently triumph ask for a load of investigative readings then they say yah or nay.

They did offer me a courtesy bike but it would only sit in the garage anyway so they offered to pick it up.

[Specialone]

Dealer rang me today, tirumph have had the info from the dealer and they are refusing to change my discs and pads as they say there is nothing wrong with the bikes brakes so i must have riding the rear brake pedal.
Dealer passed the scrotes number on so i rang him directly, what a to55er.

Had an attitude right from the off, very negative, basically said their stuff has been tested over 1000's of miles and there was nothing wrong with it.

I said i do use the rear brake mainly for slow speed stuff and sometimes for comfort braking when cornering a bit quicker than i intended to.

Rode my sv the same way and hardly any wear on them in 4k miles.
I pointed out that it is possible to have bad batches of stuff and the pads were way too soft and not fit for purpose.
I also said that warping discs have been a problem cos a few people have mentioned them on the triumph forum, front though not rear.

So, very peed off atm.

Whats a good brand of disc and pads to replace them with? i wanna put a better quality on as dont want this happening again.

[Bluepete]

Don't give up on the claim, I had both front disks, pads and pins replaced under warrenty, just because the one disk was discoloured.

Pete ;)

[Specialone]

Pete, what they're saying is, i wore the pads down below service limit which in turn caused the disc to get hot and warp.

I know i havent used the rear brake excessively, but even if i did the fecking thing should be able to cope with 2500 miles, 1000 of which were running in miles so a lot slower and cautious, 500+ with the wife on the back which makes me ride smoother and slower so not really 'heavy' is it.

[Bluepete]

Sounds like they have a get out of jail free card then. I understand what you're saying, and probably, so does the warrenty bloke, but he doesn't want to give money away!

My warrenty work would have cost me about £800!

I can't advise on replacement parts though.

Pete ;)

[Biker Biggles]

Hang on.You had it serviced by Triumph at the correct time I take it?And they of course checked the brake pads for wear and they were suitable until the next service I take it?And they have worn unevenly in the meantime such that one side has worn out and warped the disc?Even if you were riding the brake pedal(which Im sure you dont)wouldnt they have worn down evenly unless there was already something wrong,like a siezed caliper piston?
Id be inclined to contact them again and politely make those points followed by a clear hint that Triumph forums and one or two biking mags will be full of your story if things dont get sorted.

[Specialone]

It only had its first service at 600 miles i think, not sure when next one is due, 4000 i think, better check that hadnt i ???

[Specialone]

Dealership after sales manager rang me today, basically they cant help really as triumph have said no to the warranty claim.
What he said was they would do the jobs as cheap as they could which will £199 as opposed to £240+.
He also said if they fit replacements he asked me to pop in 1 a month or so and they will monitor the wear of the new ones and if they do see a quick wear problem they will have the correct ammunition to go back to triumph which might in turn get me a refund.
The icing on the cake is the discs are out of stock until 25th of October so bike will sit in dealership until after this time.

[-Ralph-]

The uneven pad wear is proof in my eyes that the rear brake is not operating correctly. Ask Triumph to explain how that has happened? It doesn't happen as a result of you riding the rear brake pedal.

[G]

Insane... 2500 miles FFS

Triumph have real issues... The warranty guy probably has attitude because of how overworked he is lol.

Feel for you phil.

[Specialone]

Insane... 2500 miles FFS

Triumph have real issues... The warranty guy probably has attitude because of how overworked he is lol.

Feel for you phil.

Thanks G, it really is leaving a bad taste tbh, they have basically accused me of riding the back brake, which i dont, but even a really heavy user shouldnt wear them out that quick.
If i was riding the brake, wouldnt that create heat and warp the disc anyway? the disc warping only happened when the pads wore down to the metal (unbeknown to me obviously)
Cos i oil the chain regularly( every 300 miles) i have it on centre stand and spin the wheel so im certain the caliper wasnt sticking as i would have noticed it.
Im convinced it was the compound being too soft.

[G]

I am a heavy user of my rear brake and have done 10k+ on the original pads and there's still plenty left.

I would be extremely frustrated in your situation.

I guess all you can really do is as has been suggested and monitor it closely. A tourer like yours should manage considerably more than 2.5k, you would need to take new pads with you if you were planning a euro trip for god sake.

[Specialone]

I am a heavy user of my rear brake and have done 10k+ on the original pads and there's still plenty left.

I would be extremely frustrated in your situation.

I guess all you can really do is as has been suggested and monitor it closely. A tourer like yours should manage considerably more than 2.5k, you would need to take new pads with you if you were planning a euro trip for god sake.

Thats a good point actually, im planning a euro trip next year hopefully, hadnt thought of that.

[petevtwin650]

Thats a good point actually, im planning a euro trip next year hopefully, hadnt thought of that.

Clearly there was a problem with this rear brake and hopefully your new one should do considerably more miles.

As for threatening Triumph Uk with the motorcycling press, I think not. They are used to fending off bad press after the 675 oil burning/ siezing issue. I don't think they give a to55 about customer relations. Luckily your dealer seem decent and possibly even embarrassed by this.

Also makes you wonder why the discs are out of stock, given they would not normally be a service item until considerable miles had been covered.

[Dicky Ticker]

May I make a suggestion ---I know a couple of people on here have engineering qualifications who may be able to help
Get an independent engineering report and back this up with a strongly worded letter by yourself along the lines--"Not fit for purpose"-- with the possibility of using Trading Standards,reiterating possible causes such as defective compound on the pads,misaligned fitting from new,sticking caliper and the life expectancy of rear brakes.You have ridden bikes for -X- years and never encountered this problem with the previous bikes you have owned and ask why rear discs are not readily available from stock, is this due to some inherent problem as you would presume them to be a stock production item.
Copy letters to the supplier,Triumph Warranty Department and the Managing Director and your Solicitor[Held in abeyance],plus file---------send the MD's one registered post requesting proof of delivery.

[Dicky Ticker]

My previous post may seem worthless but I have taken this approach with Mercedes,Volvo and Audi in the past and on each occasion reached a satisfactory solution for me.

[Holdup]

Should of got a Honda

That sucks though, they could at least authorise the dealer to do some investigating

[Dicky Ticker]

If the dealer was worth his salt and wanted to maintain his customer base I would have thought he would have done a thorough investigation with the owners input in the first place before submitting a claim to Triumph.
Before everybody start knocking Triumph,they are no different than any other manufacturer. Pete's blown Ducatti engine for the mileage,multiple SV front plug problems due to the lack of a fender extender to name a couple. Read any site,be it Honda ,Kwack,KTM,they all have people moaning about customer service and warranty claims.IMO they are all the same

[dyzio]

Should of got a Honda



What's that in your avatar?

;)

[Holdup]

What's that in your avatar?

;)

:rolleyes:

Yea work might disown me when i turn up on that

[Speedy]

The icing on the cake is the discs are out of stock until 25th of October so bike will sit in dealership until after this time.

This stinks.

I work for a car main dealer, ( I use "Car" and "Main dealer" lightly there!), when parts are "back-ordered" it means there is a problem with those parts.

Either:

They have all been recalled as there is a manufacturing fault/problem with the parts.

That there are so many going wrong on customers vehicles that they simply don't have enough stock to sell out, and the vehicle manufacturer is investigating why they have sold so many, seeking alternative suppliers.

I would not give up on this.
Triumph, from what I remember, have not exactly had a great rep over the years for recalls etc, (Clutch basket failures, frames cracking etc etc), so they should be more helpful.

PLUS, one of their Trained Tech's came out and diagnosed the fault, told you the pads should last longer than 2.5K therefore saying there is a fault.

FIGHT the buggers!!

[monkey]

I had a slightly warped rear disc on my Daytona which I put down to it (just the disc) falling a few feet out of my van onto the floor yet I couldn't be sure. I managed to straighten it enough with an adjustable and a little manipulation. FYI my front pads lasted about 7000 miles with some track use, not sure if that's low mileage or not.

Good luck.

[Specialone]

Thanks guys for your input.
The more i have thought about this issue the more i want to pursue it.
I was hoping to email triumph but contact details on the website are only postal or telephone call numbers.

Im tempted to get the bike back and look at the brakes myself, for all i know the wheel could run out of true to the discs, not the other way round.

[mikerj]

I'd ask for an explanation as to how the pads wearing past the service limit would cause the discs to get hotter than normal - this is complete crap IMO. It could allow the piston and brake fluid to overheat more easily under hard use, but the brake disc itself won't be getting any hotter. You weren't down to the metal (until your final trip home) so I presume the disc surface itself is ok, no heavy scoring etc?

As mentioned by someone else I would also ask if one pad wearing significantly more than the other is normal - obviously it isn't but I wonder if they will lie about that as well.