Rear brake locks while parked

[DJinNH]

OK, I am guessing this may be a simple issue but thought I'd toss it out there for some suggestions.

My rear brake on my XS1100SG has been locking while the bike is parked for a few days. It has yet to lock up during a ride, only when I come out to start it up, I find it has locked. What I have been doing is simply opening up the bleeder and pop a little fluid out and it goes right back to normal, never acting up again during that ride.

Then it happened again after sitting about a week. Pop the bleeder, again, no problems after that.

Simple fix or not? Maybe it needs a little grease on that shaft that comes out to push against the brake pads?

Don

[CatatonicBug]

Sounds like you need to clean the spooge holes. I think there's a tech tip on that on this site.

[tarzan]

On both XS's I've owned and my friends XS he bought this summer had brakes locking up or not working at all when we got them.I ended up disassembling all the brake components on all three and cleaning thoroughly and reassembling them.The old brake fluid turns to sludge and plugs the orifices and even causes the pistons to stick.If your lucky you can use the old o-rings and parts after a good cleaning.

[cajun31]

If the rear is locking up and it has been awhile since you cleaned all your brakes I would advise that you do the job right. Clean all your brakes, master cylinders and the spooge holes. Be sure to clean all parts thoroughly with brake fluid. After years of not doing this the brake fluid cakes up behind the pistons and in the plunger areas of the master cylinders. Cleaning them properly will alleviate dragging of the brakes which reduces your MPG and wears out your pads prematurely.

[bikerphil]

rear brake lockup

Sometimes if you run the caliper piston all the way in with a c-clamp, it'll unstick. Take off the MC cap first. I did this on another member's XJ about a month ago and everything is still fine. Don't forget to pump the pedal a few times after reinstalling the caliper on the bike. HTH

[DJinNH]

Thanks for the advice guys. It hasn't happened in the last few days and since it has only been locking up while parked for days, I am hoping I can put it off a few more weeks before putting the bike away for the winter.

I'm not one to ride in the really cold weather due to leg injuries.

Thanks again,

Don

[TADracer]

Add alittle preventative maintenance

After you get everything cleaned up and working like it is supposed I suggest a bit of preventative maintenance once a year. I ride year around but each Spring I take a weekend and do a thorough inspection, cleaning, lubrication and adjusting of my machine. Part of this routine is to change the brake fluid. I use a hand held vacuum pump and suck out all the old fluid while adding new fluid into the reservoir. But you can do this using the brake lever/pedal if you do not have access to a vacuum pump. Just bleed the brakes until the fluid is changed out.

The DOT 3 fluid we are supposed to use will attract moisture and that promotes corrosion in the system. Changing the fluid once a year will almost completely halt the corrosion which can be a cause for all sorts of brake probs.

[webbcraft2150]

You can usually disassemble the caliper, clean things up and put it back together with no parts being bought. Ditto with the master cylinder. I had to do this at the beginning of the summer. Rear locked up 'bout a block from the house!!! While I had every thing apart, I took the brake pedal shaft out clean and relubed. The coiled return spring is a pain to get back on. Took me a total of 3 hours to do the rear system. End result was much improved braking and a brake pedal that didn't stick any more.