Breaks squeaky

My '82 Maxium has had squeaky breaks for years and seems to get worse each season. They are original...however the dealer had said that even with brake pad change it will not make the noise go away...Maybe the caliper sticking????

 

Have you verified that the anti-rattle springs are intact?
You can also try anti-squeal goo on the back of the pads.

 

You really shouldn't even be RIDING a motorcycle with 27 year old brakes. You probably could use a caliper and/or master cylinder rebuild; the brake LINES should be replaced (and soon) you really need to replace those pads AND TAKE A LOOK IN THE REAR BRAKE before it bites you!!!

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874.html

This is a MOTORCYCLE. Brakes are not something to take lightly.

 

I use the spray on stuff, spay a little on the rotors, ride a little and wipe the excess. Stops it for about 300 miles on my XJ700...drove me crazy at low speed. Tried every thing a back yard mechanic would do...goo on the back of the pads, new pads, checked rotor flatness and run out, etc, etc,

 

Guys, please. Before somebody gets hurt or worse. 27-year old braking systems need reburbishing; they CANNOT be trusted. Just quieting them down won't help.

 

I'm with fitz on this one. I have rebuilt the entire brake system. I had a rear delamination on me at low speed and lock the rear. Rebuild it!

 

I'll agree with you Fitz, everyone who owns one of these venerable old bikes should have rebuilt the entire system and replaced the lines by now. If not, you might find yourself in deep dutch when the system performs poorly or worse, fails outright.

 

Seriously, the front brakes are pretty easy to access and can be done as a complete rebuild under $100...... you really ought to re-build

its ironic that this has come up last weekend i had a 2hr argument with my buddy over his rear brake shoes.... wear spec is 4mm he is pushing 8 - 9 with the adjuster nut tightened all the way in ....and is for all intents and purposes non functional. for gods sake man its a $36 dollar part and takes less than an hour to install.

Like i told him "are you confident enough in that equiptment to bet your life on it?"

 

I guess the upside is that when he wrecks it, they'll be a lot of nice used parts available for sale when he starts parting out the bike.

Tell him that you want first dibs on the "abc" and the "xyz" parts once he trashes it, see if that doesn't get him thinking.........

 

you have no idea how true that is Chacal.... 1988 virago 750 fully dressed all chromed out in showroom condition, not a spec of dust, dirt, oil etc anywhere on / in / around this bike... original gauges not faded. no offense guys but it has to be the best looking bike i have seen at this age. never been down at 82,000 miles he just bought it 3 weeks ago.

 

Show him my pics and all the others people posted as a result, the ones of DELAMINATED brake shoes. He has an '88 Yamaha? HE BETTER at least LOOK IN THERE TOO. His could be delaminating and he wouldn't know it until the lockup...

 

Amen... While my front brakes appeared to be 'working', I was shocked when I pulled off the calipers. The pistons were sticking and in a definite need of a good cleaning.

I would guess the squeaking could be coming from a piston that is stuck on one side and not applying even pressure to the pad. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, mater of fact, don't do anything until you have pulled those calipers and verified for yourself that they are working properly.

What I saw scared the #@$ out of me. I am just glad I had only been doing short 'check out' rides coupled with a good dose of luck.

 

my seca has front breaks that are squeking when i push it gives a little resistance i think they are sticking my 650 maxim is gonna get a 750 seca front end that has been sitting a long time i figure i should pull and clean all the calipers and cut the disks does anyone know what is the minimum thickness for the disks

 

The minimum thickness for original rotors is as follows (these specifications do NOT apply to aftermarket rotors). The maximum allowable "runout" or warpage is 0.15mm high-to-low for all models, all rotors:

4.5mm for all XJ550 models, all XJ650RJ Seca and XJ650 Turbo models, all XJ700 models, and all XJ750 models.

6.5mm for all XJ650 Maxim and Midnight Maxim models, and all XJ1100 front and rear rotors.

7.0mm for all XJ900RK front rotors.

8.0mm for all XJ900RK rear rotors.


NOTE: original rotors are next to impossible to "resurface" once they warp or get gouged deeply....they're made of a hardened steel material that typical brake re-surfacing machines simply cannot cut, at all. The only way to "re-surface" them is to use a flywheel grinding machine (what's called a blanchard grinder) and even with those, if your bike has a rotor which uses an offset center hub (which is basically all of them, except for XJ650 Turbo models, XJ700 models, and 900RK models), then you aren't going to be re-surfacing them......at least, "successfully re-surfacing" them, that is!

 

No.

Just pull the Pads and "Chamfer" the edges.

Round-off the sharp, leading edges on the Pads.

 

My brakes stopped squeaking when I replaced the pads. They stopped THE BIKE when I replaced everything else.

 

If it werent for this forum I would also be ignorant to the fact that the original brake lines are about 5 times over there expected life and the rear shoe could potentially be a time bomb.
I'm sure there are many vintage bike owners that dont know this. You'd have to be stupid to read a few threads about brakes on here and then ride all summer without a complete rebuild. No matter how expensive it could get is your LIFE as you know it worth a GAMBLE???

 

what do i use to chamfer the edges of the brake pads

 

I use a small sharp fine file, you can use 400 grit sandpaper wrapped around a block of wood too.

Only need about 1/16" or less, just knock the sharp edge off (evenly.)