Couple questions regarding breaks

Hello, I have an 82' Seca XJ750

A couple of years ago I put in a new fork seal kit and while I had the tire off I redid the break calipers and put in a new wheel bearing, but when I put it back together my break shoe was rubbing on one side every revolution like I'd bent a disc. I remember using a couple of 4x4's under the tires when I was pounding that new bearing in (using a socket if I remember right), I thought I did that so that I wouldn't damage the rotors but I'm just not sure anymore. Is it more likely that my wheel bearing isn't seated all the way or that I damaged the rotor? The sound of the rubbing was driving me nuts so I ended up removing the pad on one side and just ride around without front breaks now (I know, I know).

This leads me to the issue I'm having with the back breaks, I think the pedal is traveling too far and by the time I get to the breaking action my break light goes out. I think I read it should only have an inch travel, And it's probably doing 2 to 3 inches of travel but when I look at the switch above the break pedal I don't see how I should be losing that contact inside of the switch being as the cable isn't letting up. Is there something wrong with the switch itself or is this normal ?I plan on adjusting it, the indicator arrow is off the map in the 6 o'clock position. I just got some new tires I need to put on and going through the back breaks are next on my list (yes I ride a 35 year old time bomb) so I was planning on adjusting them then . I shouldn't ride it but I can't help it, it's too much fun!

When I do re do my rear breaks is there anything else I should absolutely do? I don't think I can afford a new suspension at the moment, sadly.

 

This.
http://www.xj4ever.com/rear drum brakes.pdf
Don't ride that bike until the front brakes are squared away. Did you grease the pivot pin on the caliper when you put it back on ("a couple years ago"!!!! ???).

 

My guess is that the rotor is slightly out of alignment. You might want to remove it and check it with a straight edge. If bent look for a replacement from Chacal or maybe eBay. It could also be that simply removing, cleaning and replacing it with all the bolts torqued evenly will fix it. I agree with Stumplifter--riding with no front brake is asking for trouble-- but then you already know that.

 

In regards to the front. Take the wheel off again. Remount it keeping your forks straight. Not flopped to one side

 

I used a straight edge and the rotor was definitely bent. Yesterday I found a rotor here in town for $20 that had some light superficial looking rust, I sanded off the raised spots with some fine grit sandpaper to make sure there wasn't any major damage and found a gouge about 1/4 inch long, 1/8" wide and 1/16 deep (I then sanded down the rough edges around the gouge. Is that going to cause any major problems to the point where I shouldn't use it at all? At this point is seems like I've got nothing to lose by using this as a replacement to not even having one, even if it means it won't break quite as well as it should. I don't know exactly what that gouge is going to do, fill up with break dust I suppose and just be less surface area to grip?

 

Yes.

Chew up your brake pad really quickly on that side, and reduce braking power.

 

Oh and I'm pretty sure I greased the pivot pin when I went through the calipers, I used a guide from the site here and didn't miss any steps (apart from buying new break pads).

 

If it passes the straight edge test I would at least give it a try. I've seen rotors with predrilled holes for cooling. If it causes a problem Chacal can get you a new one.

 

Can these rotors be turned? I looked at the gouge, it isn't quite as deep as I thought it was, more of a scrape but it definitely doesn't look good it almost looks like someone tried to scrape a leaf design on it. I also just realized both of the rotors that were originally on the bike had L's on them, that can't be good...

Nevermind I found this and answered my own question:
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 XJ900RK models), then you aren't going to be re-surfacing them......at least, "successfully re-surfacing" them, that is!

 

Worst-case the gouge precipitates the development of a crack. The crack expands, eventually the disc fractures under braking, and you have a very, very bad day.

Get a good pair of discs.