Brakes are Driving me nuts!!!

[eltoroloco]

First of all, thanks to the advice received through this forum my xs11 is running great, always starts right up, runs like a champ. Only one thing, the darn brakes are sticking. The front brakes are my main source of heartache. I cleaned the calipers, checked the rubber, all seemed good, rebuilt the front master cylinder, works great. but one thing, i can never get the wheel to spin very freely, the pads are always dragging. and when i go out for a short ride the pressure increases. I did read the tech tips section about cleaning a hole in the mas. cylinder, how effective do you guys, or gals think this would be, or does it sound like i have other problems.

[scalded dog]

My 79 xs kept doing that on the rear, until I adjusted the piston arm, I don't knoe if there is an adjustment like that on the front or not. Later 'Dog

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Bull,

I would think if you rebuilt your Front MC, that you would have cleaned the spooge hole as part of the rebuild!? But, anything's possible!? But, you can first set the bike up so that you can spin the front tire, then attach a bleeder hose to the bleeder valve on the caliper and compress the MC lever and bleed some fluid thru the hose to remove air/get fluid above the bleed valve. Then tighten the valve and try to spin the tire, if still dragging, then crack the bleeder valve, then retighten, then try to spin tire again. If it spins more freely, then it could be the spooge hole not allowing the return of fluid back to the MC, keeping the pressure in the calipers, causing the drag, and after a while, heats up, fluid expands more, causing more drag!?

The caliper assembly is sorta free floating, and should slide a bit sideways as the piston pressure is applied, sorta a self centering process. Did you put some lube on those contact points where the caliper housing fit into/against the holder bracket!?
HTH?
T.C.

[pathfinder]

Alignment

Eloro are you sure that the caliper bracket on one side is not rubbing. Usually the left side is the problem. Stand in front of the tire and look down on both calipers, if the bracket is a little close remove that caliper and look at the caliper and bracket for any scrub marks. If there is see http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ight=alignment

I had my fork seals done by a shop and I could hardly move it when sitting on the seat trying foot power. After I worked on it, it's much easier to move around. And the brakes don't rub anymore.

[eltoroloco]

When i first took everything apart the caliper bracket was rubbing, i since fixed that. I greased up that sliding part with the rubber on the bottom of each caliper, and i also did my best to clean that ever so cleverly named "spooge hole". oh yea, and a thourough bleeding of the system. the wheels roll a lot more freely, and i can actually move it around the garage easily. The true test will be on the road. thanks for the tips guys.

As you can tell i'm no motorcycle mechanic, but its getting there, piece by piece. Also, i know a good certified motorcycle mechanic that can look at my work to tell me if i created a death trap. If anyone in the Rockford Illinois area is looking for a mechanic i can give you some contact info.

THANKS AGIAN

[MartyA]

There was a thread recently about lining up the front wheel before tightening the axle. If you had the front wheel off did you line up the disc with the left caliper before tightening the axle nut?

[fourb13]

Mine did the same thing, but instead of poking around the "spooge" hole, I just took the caliper loose and used a "c" clamp to send the pressure back to the MC. No problem now.