Squeaky brakes - dust or bad servicing?

[nigel]

Hi all,

I'd just like to get a second opinion on a small problem I'm having with my Honda Xelvis 250 (basically a VTR).

It has squeaky front brakes. Nothing too serious, most noticable if I touch the brakes lightly. I put it in for a service because it needed a warrant too. After a bit of rigmarole (the bike shop dropped my bike!!), I've got it back. I was told that there was some dust in the brakes that builds up over time and this was cleaned out, and that it may come back again from time to time. I was also told the brakes would sound a lot different if they were really squeaky, sort of a more "crunching" noise.

The upshot is, the brakes still squeak, and I'm wondering whether this is just normal for brakes and what they told me sounds reasonable, or whether they've been feeding me porkies and I can do something about it.

The brakes definitely did not squeak when I got the bike, back in March or so this year.

Any thoughts?

[xwhatsit]

Disc brakes seem very prone to squeaking and squealing. I'm far from a brake genius, but a couple of things that I've noticed; old pads often do it (new pads are maybe $40 and are nice to have anyway, probably improve your braking anyway), and there's a little steel shim that fits in behind the pad adjacent to the piston; this apparently stops squeaking as well. My Haynes manual calls it an `anti-squeal shim'. Often this is left off when the pads are changed for whatever reason.

I wouldn't have thought it's too much to worry about, if it mostly only happens when you touch the brakes lightly.

[Romeo]

The old man squirts some Brake Clean onto his front disc once every few months or so, and that seems to fix it right up. His front pad was also quite close to the disc and it would constantly squeek - though he got a new retention spring or something and that fixed it.

[homer]

Hi all,

I'd just like to get a second opinion on a small problem I'm having with my Honda Xelvis 250 (basically a VTR).

It has squeaky front brakes. Nothing too serious, most noticable if I touch the brakes lightly. I put it in for a service because it needed a warrant too. After a bit of rigmarole (the bike shop dropped my bike!!), I've got it back. I was told that there was some dust in the brakes that builds up over time and this was cleaned out, and that it may come back again from time to time. I was also told the brakes would sound a lot different if they were really squeaky, sort of a more "crunching" noise.

The upshot is, the brakes still squeak, and I'm wondering whether this is just normal for brakes and what they told me sounds reasonable, or whether they've been feeding me porkies and I can do something about it.

The brakes definitely did not squeak when I got the bike, back in March or so this year.

Any thoughts?


Hi ya
i had trouble with EBC break pads
Had new in the bike when i got it after about 5000km they squaked quite loud and only the rear the fronts did a little bit of squeeking , they do on my bandit i have now (sold the other ) the fronts just squeak a little as did my last bike
if its only a little squeak and from the front i wouldnt worry, itll just be light breaking i guess as well .
if its really squaking at about the breaking point of slowing round town , I guess Id call it mid peddle pressure as an example ,Then id get new pads
I had new ones in the 600 i had at the time of purchase , I then got a new set and after not long they started to do the same (really loud squaking)
and then got a set of harder pads and never got them in as sold bike .
all were EBC .
The shop i got them from even got a third set all the same ,But i got the harder ones ,dont know how they went .

And yes i had the pads out ,cut lines in them ,cleaned them ,sanded the disc surface,sanded the pads and aprox 4 or 5 cnrs in town and the noise was back
I wouldnt get EBC pads again
Personally I like Vesrah never had trouble with them
Apparently the EBC are a different compound now to "Which makes you wonder dosnt it "

You know the saying "IF IT AINT BROKE......DONT FIX IT"

[scumdog]

And yes i had the pads out ,cut lines in them ,cleaned them ,sanded the disc surface,sanded the pads and aprox 4 or 5 cnrs in town and the noise was back

You know the saying "IF IT AINT BROKE......DONT FIX IT"

I had the same problem with my iron-head Sporty, tried sanding discs, pads but still the noise came back ,more on slow stops ("like there's any other kind on an ironhead?" some will be thinking).

[What?]

...more on slow stops ("like there's any other kind on an ironhead?" some will be thinking).

10 points for honesty!
Could always replace the discs and pads with a Danforth pick...

[FROSTY]

if the bike hasn't had a pad change that should help.
Id give the disk a really good clean up with fine scourer pad and water. Clean all the ventilation holes in the disk
have a look at the bikes manual or if you dont have one look at the bike shop one. There may be an anti squeal plate missing.
(thats a 1.0mm ish thick plate that sits over the back of the pads)

[nigel]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I might have a go at cleaning the front disk, if only for my own education. But if that doesn't help it doesn't matter I guess - as you say, it's not really "broken" :)

[homer]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I might have a go at cleaning the front disk, if only for my own education. But if that doesn't help it doesn't matter I guess - as you say, it's not really "broken" :)

try the cleaning sanding just enough to take the glaze off
you can try using an angle grinder and just bevil the leading and trailing edge off just a little angle on the sides about 45 degrees i did this just take a couple of mill off see if it helps .

If that still wont help just get a new set of pads ...But i dont recomend the same brand as you have in get something else ,and if this is for the rear pads?
make sure there the softest compound you can get .
This should help as the pad should wear away quicker so you dont get the glazing.

[Max Preload]

Brake squeal is vibration. If shims that are designed to be installed aren't, you'll usually get squeal (usually they're a spring arrangement of some kind on bikes as opposed to cars which have the shims between the pad and piston and sometimes a spring on the back of the pad backing plate that keeps tension on against the caliper),

You can get a spray on BRAKE SQUEAL STOP that is applied to the backing plate against the piston. It sets and acts as a vibration damper. Be careful not to get any on the face of the pad that contacts the disc.

But the best option for a start is to clean, clean and clean again - I don't mean a spray of brake clean - remove the caliper (without disconnecting the brake line) and clean inside, particularly the points where the pad backing transfers the load to the caliper from the braking. Also check the disc for scoring - they don't last forever - they're a consumable just like the pads. Check the thickness against the manufacturers minimum and replace if they're below that or getting close.

If you have a floating caliper arrangement, disassemble the slide, thoroughly clean it out and regrease with rubber grease. Under no circumstances apply coppercoat or similar to brake caliper slides - it goes gooey and will cause the brakes to drag - it's a great static anti-seize like on nuts and bolts, but it's no good on moving mechanical parts.

[imdying]

Only skimmed the posts so forgive me if it's been mentioned... brakes a like your chain, fairing, and anything else on the bike... every time you wash the bike, you wash them too. Easiest way is to remove them from the forks and scrub the guts (concentrating on the exposed portion of the pistons) with hot soapy water and a tooth brush is the go. Only adds another 1/2 hour to your cleaning time, and multipiston calipers are notorious for getting gummy, so well worth your time.