Front brakes were smoking

[Blackshear]

So I was somewhere today, and was stopping from some speed to turn a corner into someones house. Really on the edge of the tyres grip limit. I smelled this heart-scaring smell. Kind of like burning oil on a drill press, or like the smell of a hot-saw.

Freakin hot metal fumes.

If it wasn't obvious, I would've checked my radiator to see if it were full/empty.

My front disc was smoking.
Or at least the pads. ???

Apart from being easier on the brakes, as it was just the one goddamn stop, is there anything to stop my front disc/pads from almost catching on fire?
Ended up doing a quiet lap of the street to cool it down!

Also, if I hop back on tomorrow, and the front brake is a bit squishy, slow-to-stop-y, what could this mean? Boiled brake fluid, glazed pads?

Or is this normal?!

[Squiggles]

So how hot was the disk? And if you go for a wee ride (round the block a couple of times) and dont use the fronts does the disk heat up?

[Blackshear]

Uh. Really fucking hot. It wasn't just wispy heat waves, it was akin to a small brazier lacking that heat, and smoking a little. No glowing, though.

This was the first time it's ever done it, granted it was the first time I've really hauled the front up that hard.

Always about cold. I only use the front for quicker stopping, otherwise engine and rear for commuting. The pads don't drag.

[White trash]

Smoking brake pads wont have anything to do with the fluid and the fluid wont boil on one hard stop, no matter how saturated it is.

Is there at all the possibility something foreign got on the disk? That could explain the smoke. The other possibility is that your pistons are sticking and the pads are constantly dragging or the disc is dished, this will obviously cause a great deal of heat just in normal riding then with the big stop, it over heated.

Happy to have a look if you're southside.

[Blackshear]

Smoking brake pads wont have anything to do with the fluid and the fluid wont boil on one hard stop, no matter how saturated it is.

Is there at all the possibility something foreign got on the disk? That could explain the smoke. The other possibility is that your pistons are sticking and the pads are constantly dragging or the disc is dished, this will obviously cause a great deal of heat just in normal riding then with the big stop, it over heated.

Happy to have a look if you're southside.

I'll check in the morning, wipe a clean hand-towel on the disc or something to check for residue.

Also, will not using my front brake on the way to work (About 10k's) and checking the temp be able to solve the sticking question? I'm in birkdale/Glenfield area, so not southside I don't think.

Centrestand, front wheel in air, spin wheel, brake hard and check for resistance to spin straight after? Or would excess heat from braking (as one normally would) expand the pistons to the point that they may stick?

[White trash]

That's the trick. Although, normaly if they're binding, you'll notice it first spin.

I'd be inclined to get a piston seal kit, a set of brake pads and a bottle of brake fluid and give the caliper an overhaul on weekend.

[Blackshear]

That's the trick. Although, normaly if they're binding, you'll notice it first spin.

I'd be inclined to get a piston seal kit, a set of brake pads and a bottle of brake fluid and give the caliper an overhaul on weekend.

And on that bombshell :clap:
There was this kid who had a pushbike, see.
Hydraulic brakes.
Well, he changed both the pads on the front...
"That's an oddly tight fit... Must be due to the new pad meat :eek:"

Tighten her back up, maybe a little too tight due to the 'looseness feeling' as it was screwing in...

Hello flukked master cylinder, who costs almost as much as a newer, better set of calipers.

If someone can show me how to do this, first, please do!

Also, the fluid should be changed about now anyway. Someone told me it was too clear, or too brown ... Something sommat.

I'd get them braided if I were to flush them :yes:

Yay another paragraph! Ha ha. Cheers for the hints, I'll report back in the midday.

[Blackshear]

No sticking, no heat, no foreign material or residue at all. Clean as a whistle. (Which isn't actually clean, man I hate whoever thought that line up).

There is, however... A distinct and unmistakeable blue tinge to the centre of my disc now ha ha. Poor girl.