Help! Binding of some kind...

Just packed upt o go home and started to wheel the bike backwards. Felt like the back brake is stuck on and yet the brake light isn't on. Took huge effort to move it back. Not so hard forward... Bike is in neutral. Any ideas or is a bus ride home?!

Oh, it's naked K4...

Cheers,
Paul

[embee]

Sounds like the caliper is sticking. It really needs taking off, cleaning, suitable lube applying to pins, piston seals etc, and carefully reassembling.

As a get you home, you could try getting a can of aerosol brake cleaner from Halfords or similar and spraying the rear brake caliper, pads etc liberally and trying to work it free.

If you ride far/fast like this the rear brake will get extremely hot

I'd guess it's been working up to this for a while, so maybe you've been riding like it to a lesser extent. A short slow run might be OK, but perhaps stop after a short time to see how hot it's getting. WARNING do not burn your fingers, they can get extremely hot!!!!!!!!!!

It needs fixing properly.

This problem seems so common it's a pretty pathetic effort from Suzuki. Disc brakes on bikes are not a new invention and there are plenty around that don't sieze up at the drop of a hat. Shouldn't happen!

Just done my front brakes. New seals and pads, regrease of the sliders and the retaining pins. Road salt and various flotsam and jetsum build up and the pistons stick. To start off with you can try pumping the pistons out a little and cleaning them up. Use some brake cleaner or brake fluid on a cotton wool bud. This "may" do the job! The only real fix is to take em off and give them a right good clean up. The thing to look out for is the pad retaining pins. They will probably be seized into the caliper body. Soak liberally in penetrating oil (plus gas or similar). Newer pins have a hex head which is good for twisting the pins out. The older design doesn't have this so it is a mole grip job to get them out.

I really appreciate the help, guys. I'm at home now, and the bike is still at work (locked up inside). I can barely believe though that the brakes have seized on a bike that is cleaned regularly and which has only been on the road since August. I'm wondering if it might be some side effect of the ding I had a few weeks back; the ding which bent the back brake pedal... I haven't felt the back brake being on while riding but perhaps it has been a bit and that's contributed? Pain of it is that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to loosen it up enough to ride home - may be doomed to a sky high bill from Daytona, which is only a stone's throw away from where the bike is...

The only silver lining is that I must have lost at least 10 lbs trying to move the bike back into the building!

Cheers,
Paul

It was in neutral at the time wasn't it? If not, check if the clutch is properly disengaging too. Is your 'biting point' practically at the bar?

IGNORE ME! I just re-read the original post and found 'neutral', a bit like my brain then.

Oh God, it's worse than I thought...

Got to Essential Rubber in N1 and the bike was in real difficulty, weaving and doing all kinds of strange things through the bars. I felt for sure that it wasn't just the rear brakes but something far more sinister (and way more expensive).

Imagine my blushes when the first thing the bloke says to me is "So you're rear looks like it's running a bit low then." The damn thing had gone almost flat on my way there. The tyre was saveable and fifteen mins later, and £15 lighter, I was back on the road! Hooray!

I'm embarrassed as hell but at least I know now what a rear flat feels like...

Originally Posted by Spookinghound

I'm embarrassed as hell but at least I know now what a flat rear feels like...

You're not Kylie's new boyfriend then?

ROFL! Nah, not Kylie but I now know that it's fat, not flat, bottomed girls who make the rockin' world go round...