Front brake still pusling! $400+ later

[squidbuellie]

And.........this means what?....that you can read a description on a website? Or that the less then 100 bikes made not sold, could have this rotor on it.......
Don't be so naive...........
Ebr has probably sold over 5 time the rotors then the bikes that they had built, and the only reason why is.... that ebr rotors are a way cheaper alternative to stock or gaffer rotor.

 

[oh9bolt]

[up]

 

[Loki]

I will update with more info tomorrow when I take the front brake off again. I really loved the look of the EBR disk but wished they offered the 6mm again, I think that was probably one of their good ones. The old drilled ones to me warped even faster but at least they were straight to begin with.

 

[sportster_mann]

Just because you can't see it doesn't mean that the wheel isn't damaged (buckled) - you may have hit a pothole or such like.

I would get the wheel properly checked to make sure that is is true and within the specs printed in the service manual ...

 

[konarider94]

I have a 5mm rotor and it works great. I dont think thats your problem. Have you seen this thread? http://www.buellxb.com/Buell-XB-Forum/Buell-Firebolt-XB12-XB9/EBR-Racing-Rotor

Looks like you are starting to get the same pattern as dingo. What kind of pads are you using? In the end dingo ended up getting pads and a new rotor from ebr.

 

[Loki]

This started happening with the old pads and old rotor and became progressive. I bought new pads (with the old rotor, that didnt fix anything and made it worse where the brake would lock up) and so I bought the new rotor and hardware. The pads have less then 100 miles on them.

And sportster, I agree that it could be possible but I HIGHLY doubt it is the wheel now. Looking at where the mounting points are, it would have to a HUGE hit in order to damage and move the point or the area around the point. Plus the only riding I have been doing even before this started was in town riding at 35mph or less.

 

[Loki]

Sent EBR a message and this picture, with the link to the other guy who had this problem.
We will see what they say. I also asked how this could happen and if the 6mm would have the same problem.

 

[poinographer]

I'm a machinist, and that sure looks like "chatter" to me. When a surface grinder leaves marks like that its often because the stone is glazed. On your bike the "stone" would be the brake pads. Anyway, back to the machine shop analogy, once the chatter marks are there, you'll need to resolve them otherwise even if you take care of the glazing the disc will have tiny variations in thickness that will induce the chattering again. To get rid of those marks completely you'd need to have the disc ground until it has virtually zero variation in thickness. You'd need a micrometer to measure the variation, by the way. It could be only a few thousandths of an inch of variation.

 

[Loki]

I know my way around a machine shop as well, this isnt even off by a thousandths of an inch just yet. This is a problem with the way they machined the rotor.

 

[poinographer]

There's also a distinction between the rotors being flat and the rotors being uniform thickness. You need both, of course. If they look like that but are genuinely the same thickness throughout, then those rotors might be warped. That's a bigger challenge to measure.

 

[Kruizen]

I have a 6mm race rotor that I'll trade up even up for your 5mm rotor.

 

[mowgoli84]

I had the 6mm on my last bike and loved it. Kicking myself in the ass for not pulling it off the wrecked bike before my insurance company picked it up.. but i was pretty sore....

I need to replace my stock rotor, and I think I'll stay away from EBR for that need.

 

[Loki]

Ok, EBR replaced the rotor though it tested fine at their place.

I took the caliper apart and cleaned everything, while the caliper was off I was able to spin the wheel freely so I decided to take another look at everything. Also note that I cleaned the threads for the axle on the forks and I also cleaned the axle itself.

The wheel spins freely which is good, cause it allowed me to take a look of several rotations. Turns out that the rotor and wheel looked to be moving a big. Took a sharpie and placed it on the fender mount on the fork, had it steady up to the wheel and caliper (two tests). I confirmed that both pulse. At least the wheel is making the caliper pulse...

Here is a picture (you cant see the sharpie on the wheels pin stripe but it is there)-

Now my questions is, what should be my next step? Im guessing it will be getting a new wheel...

 

[d_adams]

I sent you the info, shim the rotor.

 

[Loki]

I tried that previously with little success. I will go to a hardware store tomorrow and see how thin of shims I can get I suppose. A lot cheaper then a new wheel.

 

[konarider94]

I had the 6mm on my last bike and loved it. Kicking myself in the ass for not pulling it off the wrecked bike before my insurance company picked it up.. but i was pretty sore....

I need to replace my stock rotor, and I think I'll stay away from EBR for that need.

Hopefully this is enough to change your mind. Their rotor was fine and they still replaced it for him.

Loki
To shim this properly you need a dial indicator. Otherwise you will be guessing. I like how you were so quick to dismiss the possibility of a bent wheel when it was suggested.

 

[Loki]

I still doubt the wheel is bent but I dont have anything else to do. Wheels dont just bend from normal riding...

I wish I had access to my old trade schools machine shop, it had everything I would need to measure and fix this. But I will have to go through the guessing route.

Not having the tools means just shimming or replacing. Thinking about this again, could it be a bad bearing? Well idk, the wheel spins smoothly still without any bad noise but the bearings are the original still (I do have an extra set laying around). I was also thinking the axle could be bent?

 

[Fatty SS]

Lightweight wheels can bend in normal use. That is absolutely possible. Take your rotor off and spin the wheel again, this time measuring from a fixed point in the fork to the rotor mounting surfaces. I think you'll find your problem there. Do the same with the edge if the rim (by where the tire bead seats) and it'll likely be out of true as well. Since you don't have any significant damage, it's very possible a wheel shop could repair the wheel. This probably involves shipping the wheel out, but the down time of that process would be far outweighed by the cost savings of a replacement rim.

Your axle is most likely fine, but that's super easy to figure out. Take it off and roll it across a flat surface. If its bent you'll know. New wheel bearings are a good idea if you have them handy. Might as well do it while you're in there anyway.

 

[konarider94]

The axle is fixed. If it was bent it would cause a shift but it should still spin true. The wheel needs to be checked.

Maximum lateral runout (side to side) is .040"
Maximum radial runout (up - down) is .030"

There is a procedure right in the service manual that states checking every tire change. See chapter 2. That is total runout not +-.

 

[mmcn49]

I have two Buell’s and both had pulsating front breaks. One bike was new and it pulsed from day one. The other had less than 2K on it when I purchased it used.

I did everything I could think of on the new bike to stop the pulsing. Nothing worked. Long story short I purchased two 6mm discs and the new mounting hardware kits from EBR. Problem solved. I have close to 20K on one about 12K on the other. Neither has even pulsed once.

NOTE: I don’t race and don’t care about the miniscule amount of extra weight.